Originally posted on The Writers Vineyard

That was the title of an article in the Globe and Mail last week. The topic discussed was the marketing of books and the requirement to be online.

The author of the article doesn’t buy into the argument that an online presence is necessary, instead suggesting that old fashioned methods like posters on telephone polls is the way to go. He also states that getting chosen for Oprah’s book club, nominated for the Giller prize or “Canada Reads”, or getting prominently displayed in Costco or Indigo is the way to get on the bestseller lists.

(more…)

Originally written for eBookGuru - The Digital Magazine Devoted to eBooks

Amazon sparked an outcry in the blogosphere late last week when it deleted two books from people’s Kindles. Ironically the eBooks in question were George Orwell’s “1984″ and “Animal Farm”, prompting headlines like

Some E-Books Are More Equal Than Others

Amazon recalled the ebooks because the publisher lacked the rights. (more…)

Originally written for eBookGuru - The Digital Magazine Devoted to eBooks

A Kindle in Every Backpack. This is the title of a proposal by the Democratic Leadership Council that argues that the government should provide students with Kindles. The proposal argues that this could improve education quality and save money.

It’s an intriguing concept (more…)

Originally written for eBookGuru - The Digital Magazine Devoted to eBooks

But it isn’t everything. Often usability trumps price. Most Linux based operating systems are free but witness the paucity of Linux desktops compared to Windows and Mac Systems. As of May 2009 Windows commands 88% of the market share for operating systems.

The same applies to eBook readers. (more…)

Originally written for eBookGuru - The Digital Magazine Devoted to eBooks

I recently came across an article on CNET about the shortcomings of the Kindle and how these short comings represent opportunities for competitors to exploit.

“Competitors will attack Amazon’s market position by launching new features, expanding content beyond books, dominating markets outside the U.S., reducing costs, and improving relationships with publishers.”

I’ve long argued that the Kindle was too expensive (more…)

Originally posted on The Writers Vineyard

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

What’s in a name? Good question Shakespeare, thanks for the segue.

When I wrote The Gender Divide, the title came to me very early on in the process. (more…)

Today Amazon launched the Kindle DX. The DX is a widescreen version of the Kindle and was designed to display periodicals and textbooks. At $489 USD it is more expensive that it’s already pricey siblings but that works in the textbook market, where this kind of money is practically a drop in the bucket in terms of what students have to pay for textbooks.

Amazon has struck deals with Pearson, Wiley, and Cengage - the top three textbook publishers - to provide content for the DX. (more…)

Originally posted on The Writers Vineyard

I’m very excited. My science fiction novel, The Gender Divide, was just released by Champagne Books on May 1st.

In celebration, I thought that I would share with you a little about how I came to write The Gender Divide.

It all started when I had just finished re-reading Blind Waves, (more…)

A recent article from ‘Down Under’ talked about the gap in lifetime earnings between men and women. Despite the fact that female workers in their 20’s and 30’s are paid as much as their male counterparts, the article points out that men will earn more than women during their working lives.

A 25-year-old man’s potential earnings over the next 40 years is $2.4 million, compared to $1.4 million for a woman of the same age.

While the reasons for this are not really surprising (more…)

Here is the new cover art for The Gender Divide (click to see a larger version).

It is very different from the old cover art, (more…)