It Took COVID Closures to Reveal Just How Much Libraries Do Beyond Lending Books - The Observer

Today Panzer was just minding his own cat business and tootling around in the Catosphere, when the Panzermobile was shaken by clapping and cheering coming from outside. Following all the hullabaloo took our adventuresome kitty boy to the Observer site. There he found a post about U.S. and U.K. libraries.

 

According to the Observer post by Gillian Harvey, many people are not aware of all the available services provided by the U.S. and U.K. libraries.  With the Covid-19 lockdowns, today's libraries offer more than checking out physical books. Now library patrons can make use of numerous virtual services. These include online educational training for children and adults, recreational training such as learning to paint,  games for children, and more. This is an in depth post with lots of information.

 

Mom is taking a class there too.

Panzer says, "We already knew about this. We've been watching movies and TV shows Mom found at our local library's online site. Check out what your library has online."

 

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

 

To read the post tootle over to libraries

The Pulp Fiction Dime Novel Is Making a Comeback

Panzer made a short trip into the Catosphere today. Our intrepid kitty explorer went to the Observer site.  He hasn't been there for a long time, so it took a while and a lot of digging to find a post for you.

According to the post by Parker Richards, mega-bestselling author James Patterson has a new project called BookShots. It's meant to be a resurrection of the old time Dime Novels. The books will be novella length, less than 150 pages, paper books. Since these will be physical books, they won't be in competition with Amazon's Kindle Singles which are similar but digital.

Whew! I am so glad Mom is better.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... If Mr. Patterson's business turns out to be successful, I wonder if Amazon will follow suit with shorter physical books?"

Note: This is a medium read today. You should only need a cup of tea and a muffin.

To read the post, tootle over to pulp fiction

From Book to Ebook and Back

Panzer made a weekend trip over to the Flavorwire site. After some digging around there, our traveling kitty found a post by Jonathan Sturgeon about the return of print books.

Panzer already told you about The New York Times and the Observer's recently carried posts about the return of print books.  Flavorwire poster Jonathon Sturgeon takes a different approach to the resurgence of print books than the other two. While he does mention the new contracts between publishers and Amazon and the subsequent increase in ebook prices, he says it's too early to tell if that has caused the decline in sales. Instead, he approaches print book sales from the "human" standpoint. He quotes a poet who points out poetry can't be read properly on an ereader and another reader who says when reading for pleasure he wants a print book in his hands. So maybe there is more involved in the ebook sales decline than just the price increase.

I'm ready.

Panzer says, "Maybe ... You humans are a tactile species. You want to pet my fur?"

To read the post at Flavorwire, tootle over to back to books
To read Panzer's dead tree books post, tootle over to dead tree books

Do E-Books Earn More Money at Lower Prices? - Observer

Repeat after me: Less is More.

Panzer made a stop at the Observer site today. Our adventuresome kitty found an informative post by Brady Dale about the correlation between ebook pricing and sales.

Dale did a rather extensive online investigation to determine if there really is a correlation. He has quotes from Amazon on the Kindle Forum, from the Smashwords Blog and from writers/authors on the Kindle Forums. It does appear from his research that price plays a role in the number of ebook sales, however, if the price is too low, that can also negatively impact an ebook's sales.

Panzer says, "I've said it before and I'll say it again, can't you humans add and subtract?"

Note: This is a longer than usual post, so bring a larger cup of tea.

To read the post, tootle over to ebook prices and sales