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PBS MediaShift’s (@PBSMediaShift) Barbara E. Hernandez (@bhern) explains some alternatives to Amazon’s ebook self-publishing service.

In the ebook market, Amazon.com is the biggest name in the game. But, as criticism mounts — especially from people who believe that Amazon, and specifically, it's KDP Select Program, can hurt rather than help writers — alternatives like Smashwords (@Smashwords & @markcoker) are on the rise.

But can an independent author afford to bypass Amazon, especially when it provides so much exposure to self-published ebooks? So far, the answer isn't a clear one.

Most of Amazon's criticism comes because of the KDP Select program. For most authors at the Kindle Store, books are usually split between two prices — 99 cents and $2.99. At $2.99, Amazon's take is only 30% with 70% going to the author. At $2.98 and below, the author's take is only 35%.

But the KDP program offers more visibility on Amazon if authors agree to give their book away for free for five days during a 90-day period. The author must also sell exclusively at the Kindle store for those 90 days. While the subject is a hot topic on the Kindle boards, many authors are already a part of the program in hopes of getting momentum and their title climbing the Kindle charts.

Read this in full.

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market your content for your brand.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) editorial director Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) postulates on what the Microsoft/B&N deal could mean to book publishing:

Imagine a Windows-powered Nook Tablet (@nookBN) that breaks the iOS and Android stranglehold on the mobile device market.

Imagine turning a PowerPoint slide deck into an enhanced ebook and distributing it to a dozen e-booksellers with the press of a button.

Imagine a book discovery engine built into every version of Internet Explorer and connected to one of the world’s leading e-bookstores.

These are the dreams that book industry players were having last night as the news sunk in of a sweeping new partnership between tech giant Microsoft and the second-leading US e-bookseller, Barnes & Noble.

Read this in full.

In “B&N and Microsoft: Why It's Not About Ebooks,” Joe Wikert (@jwikert), general manager, publisher, and chair of the Tools of Change conference (@toc) says, “Success in this venture will not be measured by sales of ebooks. Microsoft should instead use this as an opportunity to create an end-to-end consumer experience that rivals Apple's and has the advertising income potential to make Google jealous.”

Read this in full.

It makes sense that B&N wants to keep improving its Nook Tablet. According to a new BISG (@BISG) study, dedicated e-readers are losing their hold, paving the way for publishers to introduce richer ebook content on multi-function tablet devices.

In another B&N development, Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) reports on GigaOM (@gigaom) that the Nook will soon be used for more than reading ebooks.

On the heels of yesterday’s news that Microsoft is investing $300 million in Barnes & Noble’s Nook and college businesses, B&N CEO William Lynch says that the company plans to embed NFC (near field communication) chips into Nooks. Users could take their Nook into a Barnes & Noble store and wave it near a print book to get info on it or buy it.

That could help someone gain quick information on their Nook about a book, making it easy to go from browsing to buying. Consumers could also choose to just buy a printed book in the store with the additional information gleaned from the Nook. The model would help ensure that showrooming leads to sales through Barnes & Noble, whether users ultimately purchase a print or ebook, instead of sending them online and possibly Amazon.

Read this in full.

In these fast-changing times, contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market your content.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

From Chart of the Day (@chartoftheday)

Mothers are spending a surprising amount of their daily time with media and they’re among the earliest adopters of new technology platforms, according to Nielsen’s (@NielsenWire) and BabyCenter’s (@BabyCenter) new study.

·         The research shows an increased rate of smartphone adoption with 65% of moms navigating their busy lives on the mobile Web.

·         Mothers are 38% more likely to own an Internet TV device and 28% more likely to own a tablet.

·         1 in 4 moms talk on the phone while watching TV or are online; and they like to shuffle through social media sites while watching online video.

While the figures are new, these trends have been building for years now. Previous Nielsen studies had shown that nearly 1 in 3 bloggers are moms, with women making up the majority of bloggers in 2011. Yet, just because moms are voracious digital consumers doesn’t mean they’re easy targets for brands and advertisers. According to the BabyCenter press release, “Three in four moms say that they skip all of the ads they can while watching television content — a rate that is 20% higher than the general online population.”

For brands it would appear that mobile is the way to a busy mom’s heart as usage of mobile for product/brand recommendations has almost doubled in 2011 to 33%. With moms relying on smartphones more than ever before, brands may want to think about upping their mobile targeting ad campaigns to reach moms directly at the point of purchase.

Moms are 50% more likely to watch video online compared to the general population.

Read this in full.

Read the news release in full.

Also see our previous blogposts, “2 Out of 3 Moms Now Use Smartphones While Shopping” and “Motherhood Sends Moms to Smartphones.”

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you plan your strategy to communicate your brand’s message in the most effective way.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Research tab.

The above Infographic is by Adweek (@Adweek).

According to Tapping Into Tabletomics, a new study released by Viacom (@Viacom), tablet devices have emerged as the leading second-screen alternative to television for viewing full-length episodes. The new research examines consumer behavior and emotions around the tablet user-experience, with a focus on tablets as TV and the dual-screen experience.

Today's Tablet User:

·         62% use their tablets daily.

·         Daily tablet users spend an average of 2.4 hours per day on their tablets.

·         85% of tablet use is for personal reasons versus business.

·         77% of tablet use is alone.

·         74% of tablet usage is done at home.

·         Most media activities on the tablet, such as playing games and watching TV shows, peak with the 18-24 demo.

Read the full news release.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you prepare content for tablets.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

The winners of the 2012 Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award have been announced by the Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA) (@SarahBolme).

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award honors books produced by small publishers each year for outstanding contribution to Christian life. Book lovers and retailers selling Christian products voted on the nominated titles in each of 12 categories.

The winners in each category are:

Fiction
Yahshua’s Bridge by Sandi Rog (DeWard Publishing Company (@dewardbooks))

Romance
Hearts Communion by Marianne Evans (@Marmo212) (White Rose Publishing/Pelican Book Group (@PelicanBookGrp))

Christian Living
Walking in Broken Shoes by Susan Magnuson Walsh (Grace Acres Press (@GraceAcresPress))

Bible Study / Theology
The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved by J. Phillips

Devotional
Just Honor God by Dr. Rick Metrick (ShadeTree Publishing)

Biography
Mr. Awana by Art Rorheim (Grace Acres Press (@GraceAcresPress))

Relationships / Family
Deliver Me: Help, Hope, & Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy by Dianne E. Butts (@DianneEButts) (Connections Press)

Children (age 4 to 8)
Today I Found God by Greg Long (@LaughALongBooks); Nathan Wondrak, illustrator (Halo Publishing International (@HaloPublishing))

Children (age 8 to 12)
What Do Heroes Wear? by Gary Bower; Jan Bower, illustrator (Storybook Meadow Publishing)

Young Adult (age 12+)
Purity’s Big Payoff / Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-Off, Donna Lee Schillinger, editor (The Quilldriver (@OnMyOwnNowMin))

Gift Book
A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider, N. J. Lindquist (@NJ_Lindquist) & Wendy E. Nelles, editors (That's Life! Communications (@ThatsLifeComm))

eBook Exclusive
Keyboarding for the Christian School, Elementary Edition by Leanne Beitel (@lbeitel) (Christian Keyboarding)

See the awards site.

Also see our previous blogpost, “ECPA Announces 2012 Christian Book Award Finalists.”

And be sure to bookmark and use daily SomersaultNOW, the online dashboard for publishing and marketing professionals.

The US Department of Justice announced April 11 it was suing Apple and 5 major international publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster) for allegedly conspiring to fix — and subsequently increase — the price of ebooks in a bid to “require them to grant retailers — such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble — the freedom to reduce the prices of their ebook titles.” Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster have since settled their suits (see Publishers Weekly, “The Broad Strokes of the Hachette, HarperCollins, and S&S Price-Fixing Settlement”).

Read the summary by The Wall Street Journal, “Publishers Seek to Resolve Ebook Case” and the paper by Knowledge@Wharton (@knowledgewharton), "Ebook Price-Fixing: Finding the Best Model for Publishers — and Readers."

Coverage of the news by The New York Times includes “Book Publishing’s Real Nemesis,” “Competition Needs Protection,” and “Cut in Ebook Pricing by Amazon Is Set to Shake Rivals.”

For an historical perspective on the matter, see this NPR commentary by Jason Boog (@jasonboog), editor of GalleyCat (@GalleyCat).

“This wasn't the first time the industry had needed a quick and dirty price fix. During the Great Depression, publishers faced off against another seemingly invincible retail juggernaut: Macy's Department Stores.”

On ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (@the_pc_doc) expands the topic and asks, “Should the DoJ investigate ebook DRM and hardware lock-in?”

“For example, Apple only offers iBooks on the iOS platform, so when one day your favorite iDevice goes the way of all electronic devices, you either have to buy a new device or lose your entire iBooks investment.”

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you navigate the turbulent seas of ebook publishing.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Although many Californians who own Kindles, Nooks, and other e-readers love their gadgets, they still prefer books the old-fashioned way — on paper — according to a survey by USC Dornsife (@USCDornsife) and the Los Angeles Times (@usclatpoll).

Even with sales of e-readers surging, only 10% of respondents who have one said they had abandoned traditional books. More than half said most or all of the books they read are in printed form.

The pleasure of reading endures in the digital age, even with its nearly boundless options for entertainment, according to data collected from 1,500 registered state voters. Six in 10 people said they like to read “a lot,” and more than 20% reported reading books for more than 10 hours a week....

And age is clearly no barrier to new habits. Folks over 50 are embracing some new reading technology at about the same rate as younger people. Twenty-two percent of those ages 18 to 49 own e-readers; 20% of people 50 and older have them.

Read this in full.

Also see our previous blogposts, “The Next Time Someone Says the Internet Killed Reading Books, Show Them This Chart” and “Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market content in either ebook or pbook formats.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

In the Personal Tech section of The New York Times (@NYTpersonaltech), Alan Finder explains why you may or may not be able to digitally check-out your favorite books from your local library; and, if you find them, exactly how to do it.

Five of the six major publishers of trade books either refuse to make new ebooks available to libraries or have pulled back significantly over the last year on how easily or how often those books can be circulated. And complaints are rampant about lengthy waiting lists for best sellers and other popular ebooks from the publishers that are willing to sell to libraries....

These complexities may only increase with the announcement [April 11] that the Justice Department had filed a civil antitrust action against major book publishers and Apple, accusing the companies of colluding in 2010 to raise the prices of ebooks [on this subject, see the Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) article, “ABA Calls DoJ Ruling ‘Baffling’” and its other coverage]. In the meantime, though, if you can find the ebook you want in the library, it’s easy to check it out. You can browse a library’s digital holdings from the comfort of your living room at any time. You don’t have to go to the library to borrow a book, and even better, you don’t have to go there to return it. Books vanish from your device when they are due. And you can get access to a library’s ebooks from myriad devices, including e-readers, tablets, and smartphones.

You do have to learn one of the two basic systems. One is for Amazon’s Kindle, which works directly through Amazon.com and is the easier of the two. The other requires you to download software from the Adobe website, and works for other e-readers.

Read this in full.

For a historical view on the topic of libraries and ebooks, see Mathew Ingram’s (@mathewi) article on GigaOm (@gigaom), “Kindle Lending: Book Publishers Still Not Getting It.”

Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you navigate 21st century digital publishing.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Alexis Madrigal (@alexismadrigal), senior editor at The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic), offers this chart of statistics drawn from Gallup (@gallupnews) surveys to show that book reading has not diminished with the rise of digitization; on the contrary, it’s expanded. Interesting!

Also see The Christian Science Monitor's (@csmonitor) "Ebook revolution: We're reading more than ever" and our previous blogpost, "Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading."

If you’re a book lover like we (@smrsault) are, be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard; especially the Research tab.