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Patrick Carman Launches New Digital Storytelling Project
This week—quite fittingly on March 15—novelist Patrick Carman debuted "3:15," an app for Android and iPhone that introduces nine spooky stories and involves listening to an audio introduction, reading a text story, and watching its conclusion on video—the three components represented in the app's title.
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The Week in Children's Apps: March 17, 2011
This week brings an app based on 'Finding Nemo'; Dora the Explorer's new musical special; an app for kids to learn about world landmarks; a collection of illustrated children's books; and an app from cartoonist Phil Yeh.
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E-books Rock
Back in March 2000, the big publishing news was Stephen King's novella Riding the Bullet being published exclusively in e-book format. King was the first major bestselling author to publish in an electronic format.
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Wiley Adds 'Sub-Chapter' Option to Custom Select
John Wiley is adding a new option to its Custom Select program that will enable college instructors to select content at the sub-chapter level to use in customized course materials.
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In Statement, ALA Criticizes HarperCollins’ E-Book Lending Restrictions
The American Library Association has released an official statement in response to HarperCollins' decision to restrict library e-book lending, criticizing the publisher for threatening patron access at a time when library budgets are in crisis. "This new limitation means that fewer people will have access to an increasingly important format for delivering information," said ALA president Roberta Stevens. "At a time when libraries are struggling to remain open and staffed, this is of grave concern."
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Republican Senator Calls for Antitrust Hearings on Google
Does Google's dominant position in Internet search pose an antitrust threat? That's the question, after Senator Michael Lee (R-UT) last week called for the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee to conduct an oversight hearing on Google Inc.
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The Week in Apps: March 11, 2011
This week, there are apps based on Sandra Boynton's bestselling Going to Bed Book, Cinderella, a fairy named Penelope, two stories from Ladybug magazine, and more.
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The Week in Children's Apps: March 10, 2011
This week, there are apps based on Sandra Boynton's bestselling Going to Bed Book, Cinderella, a fairy named Penelope, two stories from Ladybug magazine, and more.
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Flat World Knowledge, University System of Ohio, Ink Site License Deal
Looking to expand its digital site licensing program, Flatworld Knowledge has entered into a joint pilot program with the university system of Ohio that will give 1,000 Ohio students access to digital textbook content for free.
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Round Table, SmarterComics Offer Free Downloads, More Nonfiction Comics
On the eve of the release of SmarterComics' line of adaptations of bestselling business and motivational prose titles, book packager The Round Table Companies has joined with SmarterComics to release the nonfiction comics titles as e-books, available for free download for 90 days beginning April 1.
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Authors Guild's Turow on Random's Agency Model Adoption
Authors Guild president Scott Turow has praised Random House’s announcement last week that it is adopting an agency model for selling e-books. "Book retailers have faced extraordinary challenges in recent years," he wrote, "a double whammy of recession and a shift to digital books that had cut many stores out. For anyone who loves bookstores, this is the best news out of the publishing industry in a long time. Random House's move may prove to be a lifeline for some bookstores."
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Game Changer? A Talk with Jane McGonigal
Last month, McGonigal published Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Just before SXSW kicked off, PW caught up with McGonigal to talk about who gamers are (you might be surprised) and the implications of gaming's swift rise for publishing.
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Ruckus Media Gets $3.5 Million in New Financing
Rick Richter's Ruckus Media Group has received an important vote of support in the form of $3.5 million in new funding. The Series A funding was led by Alsop Louie Partners along with private investors.
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Copia, CRA To Launch College Pilot Program
Copia, DMC Worldwide's e-reading software and book retail and social networking platform, announced an agreement with the Collegiate Retail Alliance, a coalition of 50 large independent college stores, to launch a pilot program at ten CRA member universities that will highlight Copia's educational utility. The Copia program will be branded to each individual store and will be accessible via laptops and desktop PCs, Windows 7 and Android smartphones, the iPad other tablet devices.
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Librarian Unhappiness Over New Harper e-Book Lending Policy Grows
The sometimes uneasy relationship between librarians and book publishers reached a new level of tension after HarperCollins—citing the explosive growth of e-book sales—announced a new e-book lending policy beginning March 7 that will limit the length of its library licenses.
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Random House Switches to Agency Model For E-book Sales
Random House, Inc., the last of the big six houses still using the wholesale model for e-book sales, announced plans to adopt the agency model effective March 1 and the company has begun implementing the switch with accounts today. A Random House spokesperson said the company is making the change now because it is the right time. The adoption of the agency model is "part commercial motivation for our customers; part investment in their digital sales growth and ours; part ensuring our authors that their e-books will be even more widely available anywhere anytime," the spokesperson said.
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The Week in Apps: February 25, 2011
This week, Holly Hunter reads the story of the three little pigs, and children’s book characters Horton (who hears a Who), the Little Mermaid, Fancy Nancy, and Biscuit come alive in digital format. Plus, another Berenstain Bears app, and apps spun off of books by children’s book author Hans Wilhelm.
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Going Digital: Nosy Crow's First Kids' App Hits the Market
Although founded by Kate Wilson, a veteran figure in British children's book publishing, Nosy Crow, a U.K.-based kids' publishing startup, is working to establish itself as an app developer focused on the children’s market. To that end, it has just released The Three Little Pigs, its first effort in producing a children's multimedia app for the iPad.
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The Week in Children's Apps: February 24, 2011
This week, Holly Hunter reads the story of the three little pigs, and children’s book characters Horton (who hears a Who), the Little Mermaid, Fancy Nancy, and Biscuit come alive in digital format. Plus, another Berenstain Bears app, and apps spun off of books by children’s book author Hans Wilhelm.
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Open Library Launches New “Digitize and Lend” E-Book Lending Program
Open Library, a group of more than 150 libraries led by the Internet Archive, has announced plans to lend browser-based digital editions of e-books, beginning with a new, cooperative 80,000+ e-book lending collection of mostly 20th-century books.
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