Ingram Expands Into Spain - Publishers Weekly

I'm definitely looking into this.

On Panzer's trip into the Catosphere today, he found some interesting news at the Publishers Weekly site. With just a little digging our inquisitive kitty discovered Ingram's Lightning Source has made an agreement with Spain's PodiPrint.

According to the Publishers Weekly news brief, Ingram's Lightning Source has entered into an agreement with Spain's PodiPrint to add it to Lightning Source's Global Connect program. Authors using Ingram will now have foreign distribution in Spain. Also included in the post are the other countries participating in the Global Connect program.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Maybe this little kitty needs to use Ingram for his paperback books distribution."

Note: This is a short press release. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Ingram

Meet the All-New Kindle Oasis: Featuring a 7-inch, 300 ppi Display, Waterproof Design, and Audible - Amazon Press Release

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was buffeted by cheering and clapping. Following all the hullabaloo took our intrepid kitty traveler to the Amazon Press Site. With no digging at all Panzer found a press release about the new Kindle Oasis.

According to the post, the Amazon Kindle Oasis has several new features. First is that the Oasis is waterproof for up to 60 minutes in freshwater. Second is its battery lasts for weeks on a single charge. Third is its 7-inch Paperwhite display. Fourth is it comes with Audible. Fifth is the Oasis has two memory options: 8 GB for your ebook storage or 32 GB for your ebooks and for large audiobook and other files. Other features are described in the press release as well. The press release also includes a link to place an order for the Oasis, which will ship on Halloween (October 31).

I deserve a nap after all this.

Panzer says, "MeWow! Waterproof! ... Now I won't get in trouble for my magic right paw pitch and the toilet bowl."

Note: This is an exceptionally l-o-n-g press release. Bring two thermoses of tea and a dozen pumpkin muffins and a dozen chocolate chip cookies.

To read the press release, tootle over to Kindle Oasis

Canada's Entertainment One Is Wattpad's Newest Content Partner - Publishing Perspectives

I'm feeling much better today.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today just enjoying the quiet. Our nearly totally recovered kitty boy decided to make a stop at the Publishing Perspectives site. There he found a post about Wattpad.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, Wattpad has announced a new content partnership with Canada's Entertainment One. (Wattpad is also a Canadian company.) Entertainment One distributes TV series and movies for other companies and produces and distributes its own TV series and movies, as well as licensing other materials. Wattpad began as a reading and writing platform, but has expanded into other areas through partnerships like this one. The post includes several links to other posts and announcements about Entertainment One and Wattpad.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty isn't sure if posting your writing to Wattpad is worth the effort anymore. Wattpad used to be a fun place to discover new writers. Now, it seems like it's turning into just another business."

Note: This is a h-u-m-u-n-g-o-u-s post with all the links. Bring a thermos of tea, a dozen muffins, half a dozen chocolate chip cookies and your sleeping bag for a nap in the middle.

To read the post, tootle over to Canada's Entertainment One and Wattpad

A New Panzerism

Panzer on going to the veterinarian's:

A riddle for you:

What does Panzer call a trip to the vet's office?

Answer:
Singing practice.
Mee-yohw! ... Mee-yohw! ... Mee-yohw!

You can sing along if you want. *

And a second riddle for you:

How does Panzer know when he's hit the right high note?

Answer:
The cars in front of Mom's car pull over and look for the red and blue flashing lights on the police car.



* Panzer is still recovering from last week's surgery at the vet's office, so here's a Panzerism from his book Cat Wisdom for Humans.

IBPA's Fall 2017 Update on the Amazon Buy Button Policy Change - IBPA

I'm feel better, Mom. Really I do.

Panzer's trip into the Catosphere today took him to the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) site. There our nearly recovered kitty found a post about Amazon's Buy Button policy.

The post is an email letter from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) about Amazon's Buy Button policy. The policy allows third party vendors to sell an author or a publishers' book at a reduced price and "win" the buy button for the book at Amazon. Specifically, the book is supposed to be "new." The IBPA, however, reports they and some member authors and publishers have discovered "used" books on sale as "new." According to the post, although Amazon has been contacted by authors and publishers with complaints, the company has chosen not to address them. Also included in the post are ways to document third party vendor violations and where to report them to Amazon.

Panzer says, "It's interesting how the post says these third party vendors are getting the books they're selling."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring a thermos of tea and a half dozen muffins and three chocolate chip cookes.

To read the post, tootle over to Amazon buy button

E-book Sales Up in May, for First Time in in (suc) Two Years - Publishers Weekly

I'm feeling better.

Panzer is feeling a little better today. He decided to do some cleaning in the Panzermobile. Our recovering kitty boy found a wadded up post under the passenger seat. Smoothing out the post he discovered it was from last week's trip to the Publishers Weekly site and is about ebook sales in May.

According to the post by Jim Milliot, the trade publishers group Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced in a press release that for the first time in two years ebook sales showed an increase. The 2.4 increase was for the sales in May 2017 over May 2016. The AAP based the increased sales figures on information provided by the 1,204 reporting publisher members for the Statshot program.

Panzer says, "Umm ... It's only one month. Let's wait for June before you start celebrating."

Note: This is a shortish post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to e-book sales

EU orders Amazon to pay $295 million in Luxembourg back taxes - Robert-Jan Bartunek

Panzer is feeling a little better today, so he took a short trip into the Catosphere. Our sick little kitty boy made a quick stop at the Yahoo! Finance site. There he found a post from the Reuters news service about Amazon.

With antibiotics and pain pills I feel better.

According to the post by Robert-Jan Bartunek, the European Union (EU) is cracking down on what they consider special tax deals within certain member countries of which Luxembourg is one. Therefore, the EU has ordered Amazon to pay $295 million in back taxes to Luxembourg. Amazon contends the company already paid all of their required taxes to Luxembourg. Luxembourg also says the EU is wrong in their computations and judgement. There is a video at the top of the post about the European Union's tax assessments.

Panzer says, "This little kitty is confused. The EU gets to decide how much taxes a member country can charge and who they can charge?"

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

To read the post, tootle over to Amazon taxes

Kindle Unlimited Is Not Here To Make Friends - Gene Doucette

Ugh! The vet said four more days.

Panzer will be recovering for the rest of the week, so he'll be catching up by reporting on some of the posts he gathered before he got sick.

One of the places Panzer visited was Gene Doucette's site. He found a post there about Amazon's Kindle Unlimited (KU) service.

Gene Doucette begins his post with a description of the Kindle Unlimited (KU) subscription service from the reader's perspective and from the author's perspective. He then moves into Amazon's page counting system and how the reader's page reads are computed. Also included in this section is the funding pool from which authors are paid for the page reads. Finally, he discusses the merits of the Amazon exclusivity clause for authors.

Panzer says, "This little kitty has never used Kindle Unlimited, because he has a lot of Kobo and Barnes and Noble Nook readers."

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

To read the post, tootle over to Kindle Unlimited

A New Panzerism

Panzer on the Kitty Toy Hall of Fame:

Save your money, Mom. Read the list.*

1. Wadded up ball of paper
2. Paper bag (Tied for 2nd Place)
2. Cardboard box (Tied for 2nd Place)
3. Shadows on the wall
4. Grape
5. Fly




*Panzer is at the vet. Today's Panzerism is from his book Cat Wisdom for Humans.

EU is voting on 'dysfunctional' copyright proposal October 10 - TNW

Mom says I'll be better soon.

Panzer thought you might like to read some interesting news he discovered earlier this week before he got too sick to travel.

On a trip into the Catosphere our kitty boy stopped in at The Next Web (TNW) site. There he found a post about the European Union's (EU) proposal to make changes to the copyright law.

The post by Mar Masson Maack extensively quotes and uses information provided by Mozilla executive Raegan MacDonald. According to the post the copyright proposal would make open platforms responsible for what users post. This means platforms would have to filter and monitor every user's posts and uploads, or run the risk of being sued. Another portion of the copyright proposal would prohibit the use of a headline and quotes from a news site without a license from the publisher. Included at the end of the post is a link to Mozilla's "Call Tool" to contact the European Parliament.

Panzer says, "If this proposal passes, this little kitty wouldn't have as much information and news from EU countries for you."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. There are several links to other posts and sites included in the post. Bring a thermos of tea, a dozen cookies, half dozen muffins and a sleeping bag for a nap in the middle for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to EU's copyright reform