Apple's Getting Back Into the E-Books Fight Against Amazon - Bloomberg

Yet another stop in the Catosphere today by Panzer.  Our speedy little kitty boy made a quick layover at the Bloomberg site. There he found a post about Apple's return to the ebooks market.

According to the post by Mark Gurman, Apple is ramping up to take on Amazon in the ebook market. The company recently even scooped up Kashif Zafar an executive with Amazon's Audible. Apple is working on a new version for the ereader app for the iPhone and iPod. The company's digital bookstore is also being upgraded.

Panzer says, "It won't take long for Apple to be a viable ebook market for authors."

I'm still looking.

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post. Bring a thermos of tea and half a dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Apple

B&N Unveils New Apps and New Holiday Sales Strategy - Publishers Weekly

Already thinking about Christmas?

Panzer was out tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard holiday music. Our inquisitive kitty boy followed all the noise to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about Barnes and Noble's plans for the holiday sales season.

According to the post by John Maher, Barnes and Noble has two new apps to make holiday shopping easier. The first is called Book Graph. When a customer chooses an online book to examine, the app gives them other similar books to consider. Included in the post is a link to the app. The second app is called SmartGift. After a customer purchases a gift they can send an email to the recipient. The recipient has the option to receive the gift or return it and pick another. There's also a holiday catalog/gift guide for the holiday season. Barnes and Noble also has a book drive for charity running until January 1, 2018. Customers can buy a book and donate it to the charity book drive.

Panzer says, "This little kitty thinks that second app is interesting. ... Mom can send an email to me that says 'I bought you a new cat sweater. If you don't like it you can exchange it for what you want.' ... Hmm ... Then I can exchange it for catnip. ... Sounds good to me."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a thermos of tea and three muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Barnes and Noble

Authors: Have You Blabbed or Scoped yet? - The Book Designer

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he saw some strange images flickering around outside the Panzermobile. Our big brave kitty pilot followed the ghostly sights to The Book Designer site.

According to a post there by Frances Caballo, those images Panzer was seeing in the Catosphere came from the apps Periscope and Blab. Turns out these two are new broadcast apps. You can live-stream videos of yourself and others. Periscope works on the iPhone or Android and Blab works with Chrome or the iPhone. Caballo included instructions for downloading and using the apps.

Thinking about it makes me tired.

Panzer says, "My time in between naps is already full. There's no time left to learn anything new."

Note: This is an extremely l-o-n-g post. You'll need a thermos of tea and a half-dozen muffins.

To read the post, tootle over to Blabbed and Scoped

Harlequin and Taito Release Interactive Story Application That Offers Users an Immersive Reading... | Business Wire

I want real adventures.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today. He found a news story over at the Business Wire site about publisher Harlequin's new immersive reading experience.

If you're like our big bad kitty reporter, you're saying, "The immersive reading experience? What's that?"

Well, with a little digging and reading, our kitty boy discovered the immersive reading experience can be interesting, fun and even a little creative. Harlequin in conjunction with Taito Corporation developed an application called Harlequin Experience. The app gives readers the ability to choose a character in a Harlequin story and become that character. The reader can then interact with other characters and events in the story.

Panzer says, "Hmmm. I'm not sure if I like their pretend world or not. I could just live my own real life and talk to real people and do real things."

 To read the post, tootle over to Harlequin and Taito Release Interactive Story Application That Offers Users an Immersive Reading... | Business Wire

Smashwords: Apple's New iOS 8 is Game-Changer for eBook Retail...

A hidden bonus for you.

Panzer is doing the happy cat dance! He was at Smashwords today and it's all good news over there.

Mark Coker has a post up about Apple's new iOS 8. Turns out the new operating system comes with iBooks app already loaded. That means, when readers do the upgrade or buy a new computer or mobile device with iOS 8, they will have instant access to Smashwords' ebooks in the iBooks store. It's going to be so easy to buy an ebook from the iBooks store. Mark advises authors to make sure they get their ebooks uploaded to Smashwords now in preparation for the new operating system and app.

Panzer says, "Look out Amazon here comes the iBooks store!"

To read about iOS 8 and what it means for Smashwords authors, tootle over to Smashwords: Apple's New iOS 8 is Game-Changer for eBook Retail...:

Free Podcast Author Interviews

Okay ... we admit it. Panzer and I were out in the catosphere looking for some free stuff.

We found a whole treasure trove of free podcasts. There are author interviews with Scott Nicholson, Zoe Winters, Mark Coker and over a hundred more. The interviews cover publishing, books as iPhone apps, writing, editing, indie publishing, marketing, audiobooks ... everything a writer could possibly be interested in.

Tootle on over to The Creative Penn  blog. Panzer is still over there. If you see him, tell that bad boy to get home or he's going to be grounded again!

Smashwords Partners with ScrollMotion

Smashwords announced they've signed an agreement with ScrollMotion that will allow all books in their Premium Catalog to be available as apps for the major devices, such as Smartphones. This will be a huge distribution step forward for Smashwords authors.

Read the announcement here:
 Smashwords: Smashwords Partners with ScrollMotion to Deliver I...