Trending Up: What's Fueling and Feeding the Audiobook Boom? - Digital Book World (DBW)

Today, Panzer stopped in at the Digital Book World (DBW) site. He hasn't been there for a while. After some digging our traveling kitty reporter found a post about the growth of audiobooks.

A kitty nap-time audiobook, please.

According to the post by Beth Bacon, audiobooks have been generating increasing sales and readership. The post attributes the increases to four things. The first is the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, apps for cars, and in-home audio equipment. The second is the addition of younger listeners (20s) to the already established listeners (30s through 50s). The third is the ease with which authors, publishers and agents can produce audiobooks. And, finally, the fourth is the expanded availability of audiobooks in libraries and multiple online retail locations.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... In-home audio equipment? ... Apps for cars? ... Those are new ones to this little kitty."

Note: This is a l-o-n-g post. Bring a thermos of tea and five muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to audiobooks

3 Facebook Changes You Need to Know About - dbw (Digital Book World)

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today just enjoy the quiet day. Our traveling kitty boy decided to make a quick stop at the dbw (Digital Book World) site. There he found some news about Facebook.

Don't let them out of your sight.

According to the post by Chris Syme, Facebook has made three changes that authors need to pay attention to. First, Facebook has changed their 20 percent text ad rule. What this means for authors is the more text in your ads, the higher the cost, and the lower the distribution. Second, Facebook has changed the Friends and Family rules. Authors need to ask their fans to "designate your page as one they want to 'See First'." And finally, third, Facebook has changed your page layout. It's not your imagination. Your page is different.

Panzer says, "Facebook must have gotten tired of changing your privacy settings and decided to confuse you by changing other stuff."

Note: This is a medium post. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Facebook

Amazon's Grandinetti Speaks At DBW

I'm above the fray.

Panzer followed some whispering voices through the Catosphere to the Publishers' Weekly site. Our big black kitty reporter found an enlightening post by Calvin Reid there. If you're adept at reading between the lines like our kitty boy is, there's some interesting information in the post.

According to Mr. Reid, Amazon's Russ Grandinetti was at Digital Book World. Mr. Grandinetti was questioned by DBW representatives about the author unhappiness with Kindle Unlimited. Specifically, authors are dismayed by their diminished royalties since joining KU. According to Mr. Grandinetti, changes have been made to address the authors' issues.

Panzer says, "Hmmm ... If the issues have been addressed, why are authors still leaving the program?"

Warning: This is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g post and also has information on the Hachette contract, Amazon's size, and other subscription platforms.

To read the post, tootle over to Grandinetti speaks at DBW

Scribd Turns One Year Old

We've been together since the beginning.

The Panzermobile hit the Catosphere at high speed today. Panzer headed over to the Digital Book World blog.

My bad boy super pilot found a post about his favorite ebook subscription service.

And ...

guess what.

Surprise. It's not Kindle Unlimited!

It's Scribd.

Scribd is celebrating being one year old in October. That's nearly one year before Kindle Unlimited entered the subscription service market. That's nearly one year of building its ebook library up to 500,000 ebooks.

Panzer says, "You do know Cats and Crime is at Scribd, right?"

To read the full post, tootle over to Scribd's birthday

Kindle Unlimited Titles Off the DBW Ebook Best-Seller List

Who else will say not on my bestseller list.

Panzer couldn't believe all the yowling going on in the Catosphere today. He followed all the hissing and moaning over to the Digital Book World site. My kitty boy found out all the noise is coming from Amazon authors.

Panzer told you about the new Kindle Unlimited program last week. It turns out Amazon's "bestsellers" list will count "reads" under the program as part of the "sales" for their list. Because of this practice, Digital Book World will no longer list Kindle Unlimited titles on the DBW bestseller list.

Panzer says, "Makes sense to me. You don't get to count it as a sale when somebody checks your book out of the library. So, why should you get to count it as a sale when you read it for free with your monthly Kindle Unlimited program "all you can read membership" fee?"

To read Digital Book World's post on their decision, tootle over to Kindle Unlimited Titles Off the DBW Ebook Best-Seller List

Smashwords CEO on Why He as an Indie Author Supports Hachette Against Amazon

Stop! My ears hurt! My head hurts!

Okay ... now Panzer is really confused. He stopped in at the Digital Book World site today. Now not only are his ears ringing, but he's got a headache too.

Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, has jumped into the Amazon-Hachette dispute. Mr. Coker says as an indie author he supports Hachette in the dispute. After you read Mr. Coker's reasons for his decision, continue to the related articles section for more information on who's picking which side in the dispute and why.

Panzer says, "Ummm. Mr. Coker, are you still trying to get direct distribution of Smashwords' indie pubbed ebooks to the Amazon store? I don't think this will help."

If you want to read the latest on the Amazon-Hachette mess, tootle over to Smashwords CEO on Why He as an Indie Author Supports Hachette Against Amazon