New Harry Potter material released in a video game!

The latest news - J.K. Rowling has written bits and pieces of stories from the Harry Potter universe, into a new format of "augmented-reality reading" that is supposed to make reading a richer, more interactive experience.

Released as Wonderbook, Book of Spells:
http://us.playstation.com/games-and-media/games/wonderbook-book-of-spells-ps3.html 


What's interesting is that the gaming industry is in a bit of a limbo right now; with everyone in a waiting mode to see what the next new innovation in gaming tech will be - could this "reading++" experience(I'm coining words, now) be it?


More details:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18327724

The DRM battle is on - what's your take?

DRM is like a key-less padlock from Flickr (CC)

The story behind Digital RM is this - DRM is a way for publishers to digitally control how, where and in what format you read a purchased book. For example, if you buy an ebook on the Kindle, and later if you want to read it on your new Nook, it is illegal to convert and read that book, if it is DRM-protected. In actual fact, it is easy enough to transfer it to your computer, convert using calibre and read on any format - pdf, mobi, doc etc.
However, it is illegal to do so for all DRM protected books. 

What does this mean for you?


Publishers use third party software to handle the DRM-locks on your books. If that software or server goes " dark" (shuts down) then the ebooks are gone too, like with Fictionwise ebooks protected by Overdrive software. You keep paper books for years, don't you expect ebooks to do the same?


Interestingly, O'Reilly publishing discovered that sales of their textbooks more than doubled since they dropped DRM books 18+ months ago


Cory Doctorow's view: A Whip to beat us with 
Ebook DRM provider goes dark, the books you paid for disappear

Kindle Fire - Launched 15th Nov!

The big giant Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, a Tablet!
There's been tons of speculation on the divide between the Kindle and a full-throttle tablet - or more commonly, "Kindle vs.iPad".
This isn't a surprise - Barnes & Nobles launched the Nook Color, and the news around the Amazon competitor launch has been all over the place.
Retailing at $199, reviews rave about the reading and store-browsing ease, but say that the browser is laughable.

This ties in with  my experience of the Kindle - works great for reading, but the browser is "experimental" and weak.


MY personal checklist on ebook readers/tablets has to be battery life and overall weight of the device. I'd like to go for days without recharging - hours of reading shouldn't take a toll on my hands or my device.
Sadly, it looks like those two qualities aren't to be found in the Kindle Fire.


Overall, Amazon should be more concerned that they will cannibalize sales of the Kindle Dx - Most customers would pick the iPad/Blackberry Playbook/Samsung Galaxy Tab over the Kindle Fire.

Simon and Schuster ebook sales now 15% of revenues

The recent Q2 results for CBS corp included the Simon and Schuster results too, under the Publishing section. While overall revenues went down in the past year, the ebook and digital sales grew and more than doubled in revenue. Which means that those sales now count for 15% of their business!

I'm excited - I hope this translates into easier ebook sales in multiple countries.
Wouldn't it also be great if ebooks are released on the same day as the hardback release, but priced lower? I know that cannibalization of hardback sales by ebooks is a real and prevalent issue but Publishers ought to start figuring out ways to combat this aside from Price. 

"Publishing revenues for the second quarter of 2011 decreased 3% to $183 million from $189 million for the same prior-year period, as strong growth in the sale of more profitable digital content was offset by lower print book sales.  Digital content revenues for the second quarter of 2011 more than doubled last year's second quarter digital sales and represented 15% of Publishing's total revenues.  Best-selling titles in the second quarter included The Greater Journey by David McCullough and The Original Argument by Glenn Beck."

Read the entire results here (cbsatlanta.com)

News: Ebook covers for the Wheel of Time

The artist for the Final Wheel of Time ebook has been announced! It is Michael Whelan who will be bringing life to the cover of A Memory of Light. (Tor.com)
I got carried away with the awesomeness of the previous covers: You can see the stories and the making of the cover videos here:
http://www.tor.com/features/series/wheel-of-time-master-index#ebooks

Finally, the brilliance of the Towers of Midnight ebook cover in all its glory shows the scene above where Perrin is crafting The Hammer (a fitting name I just made up). The image shows the exact moment when Perrin is done creating this masterpiece, and his eyes seem aflame. You can see the wolf emerging out of the hammer - like Perrin's soul has just united and accepted his wolf. The banner behind him and the war camp scene sets the background part of the image.
My favorite of all the WoT ebook covers so far - this is the perfect scene from the book, at the best angle, with such intense strength in Perrin's eyes.

New to the series? Read my review of the entire series here.

Sneak Preview of new Brandon Sanderson novel!

The amazing Tor.com has the first two chapters of Brandon Sanderson's sequel to the Mistborn novel. The Law of Alloy, to be released in November, is set in a time much after Vin and Co, where our heroine is remembered as a God.
Rumors say that this novel will also unveil at least 1 new Alloy used by the Allomancers.
Quoting from the prologue:

"Today, the dead town seemed completely empty, though he knew it wasn’t so. Wax had come here hunting a psychopath. And he wasn’t the only one."

If you haven't read Brandon Sanderson before, he has a free novel on his website - and aside from the Robert Jordan/Wheel of Time books, has established a new epic in The Way of Kings: My review here
Read the prologue and Chapter 1 at TOR here: The Alloy of Law (excerpt)
More excerpts will be out on Tor from the book over the next few months.

For the Potter fans - "Pottermore"

The latest news that has the Potterverse abuzz is JK Rowling's mysterious announcement:
The Pottermore webpage, and an associated Youtube countdown!
With less than 24 hours to go for the great reveal, our curiosity will finally be appeased.
Will it be a new book featuring a minor Potter character?
Will it be James' story?
Will it be a new character in the old Potter world?


What's your bet?
More info:
J.K. Rowling does some viral marketing for PotterMore(Salon.com)
Could Jk Rowling be revealing a new Potter book with Pottermore