Social media is influencing how authors promote their books. Here's how - npr

Nobody asked me to do a book blurb for them.

Today's first stop in the Catosphere for Panzer was at the npr site. There our busy kitty traveler found a post book promotion.

 

According to Brittney Melton's post, book promotion is shifting away from book cover author book blurbs. The post covers where authors are now concentrating their book promotions.

 

Panzer says, "It's really hard to get book blurbs anyway."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle over to Social Media

Amazon CEO says company will lay off more than 18,000 workers - NPR

Today Panzer made a trip to the NPR site. There he found a post about Amazon employees.

 

That's a lot of people.

According to Bobby Allyn's post, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the company will be laying off over 18,000 employees. The layoffs will be centered on corporate workers. The post includes a link to Jassy's announcement about the layoffs at Amazon.

 

Panzer says, "18,000? Employees in what cities? What countries?"

 

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of cocoa for your reading. If you plan to follow the links in the post, you'll need to decided what else to bring to eat and drink while you read.

 

To read the post tootle over to Amazon layoffs

The surprising economics of digital lending - NPR

Panzer found an interesting The Indicator episode online at the NPR site.

 

Now for a little nap.

The episode begins with information about libraries and the cost to them of digital lending. It then transitions to a discussion of the copyright infringement case against the Internet Archive (IA). Then it ends with a discussion of libraries' interest in the case.The free episode is nine minutes long.

To listen to the episode click the 9-Minute Listen banner at the top.

 

If you don't want to listen to the episode, there's a transcript included at the site.

 

To listen to the audio version or read the transcript tootle over to Libraries and IA

 

Authors are protesting Amazon's e-book policy that allows users to read and return - NPR

Today, Panzer made a trip to the NPR site. There our illustrious kitty traveler found a post about Amazon's ebook return policy.

 

Why are you stealing from authors?

According to the post by Deanna Schwartz, authors are upset by Amazon's ebook return policy. The policy allows readers to purchase an ebook, keep it for a week, return it, and get a refund. The policy allows readers to legally (by Amazon's standards) steal an author's work and royalty payments, by reading the ebook in the seven days, returning it and getting the reader's money (the author's royalty payment) back. Several authors are quoted describing their experiences with lost royalties, including one author who owed Amazon money because of the reader refunds. The post contains several links, one of which goes to a petition to have Amazon change the return policy for ebooks.

Panzer says, "This little kitty didn't know people were just treating Amazon like a library."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea, a muffin and a chocolate chip cookie (biscuit) for today's reading. If you follow the links in the post, you'll need to decide what to bring to eat and drink.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon ebook returns

A Cat Led A Rescue Team To An 83-Year-Old Woman Who Had Fallen Down A Ravine - NPR

Today Panzer's lunch was interrupted by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Hopping in the Panzermobile, he followed all the joyous noise to the NPR site. With just a little digging in the posts there, he found one about a cat in Cornwall, England, that saved his human.

He's my cousin.

The post by Josie Fischels says the cat was meowing and meowing and meowing at the location where his human had fallen down a ravine. A neighbor investigated and then called a rescue team to help the woman.

Panzer says, "It was, of course, a black cat that saved the woman."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. A small glass of iced tea will be enough for today's reading. A tip of the fedora to The Conscious Cat site for the original link.

To read the NPR post about Piran the hero cat tootle over to black cat hero

Can Serialized Fiction Convert Binge Watchers Into Binge Readers? - NPR

Humans will buy anything.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he found an interesting post about serialized fiction at the NPR site.

The post by Lynn Neary is about a new publishing service called Serial Box. The service doesn't publish books, they publish "episodes" of books for subscribers. The company does not want the "episodes" called chapters. According to the post, the book is plotted out and then broken into sections. The sections are the "episodes." The post states the "episodes" are published over 10 to 16 weeks depending on the story's length.

Panzer says, "You humans have to read the Comments Section at the end to really understand the post."

Note: This is a shortish-medium post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading session.

To read the post, tootle over to serialized fiction

The Future of Audiobooks

Time is short. Let's go now.

Panzer was feeling adventuresome today, so he was looking for somewhere he'd never been before. Our big brave kitty stopped in at the NPR site.

Panzer found a post by Lynn Neary about where audiobooks have been in the past and where they are today. According to Ms. Neary's research, audiobooks started out as a very small niche that has now exploded into the mainstream. From a virtually unheard of marketplace 20 years ago to 35,000 titles in 2013.

Panzer says, "Now may be the time to jump into the audiobook market, but I wouldn't wait too long!"

To read the full post, tootle over to audiobooks

Kobo to Fund NPR Underwriting Campaign to Strengthen Kobo Brand in U.S.

I do like it!

Panzer doesn't want all his friends to think he only loves the Kindle. He loves all ereaders. Yes, even Kobo. We do have the Kobo app on our laptop and we do buy and read ebooks in that format. He also has his ebook Cats and Crime distributed for Kobo through Smashwords. So, when he saw this article in the Catosphere today, he just had to share it with you.

Kobo is starting an Underwriting Campaign with NPR. That means you'll be seeing "Funding provided by" ads now. Panzer says this is actually a good thing. Most people in the U.S. aren't really familiar with Kobo.

Panzer says, if you want to see why he's so excited, tootle over to Kobo to Fund NPR Underwriting Campaign to Strengthen Kobo Brand in U.S.