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An article in The New York Times (@NYTimes) describes the solution for authors who want to sign their book on someone’s ereader.  Autography LLC is a media technology firm in St Petersburg, Florida with a patent-pending method for inserting an autograph or other salutation into an ebook. This personalization can take place at the time of purchase or any time afterwards.

Here’s how an Autography eBook “signing” will work: a reader poses with the author for a photograph, which can be taken with an iPad camera or an external camera. The image immediately appears on the author’s iPad (if it’s shot with an external camera, it’s sent to the iPad via Bluetooth). Then the author uses a stylus to scrawl a digital message below the photo. When finished, the author taps a button on the iPad that sends the fan an email with a link to the image, which can then be downloaded into the ebook....

[W]ithin the year consumers should expect to see a variety of advances in digital signing, including ebooks that are sold with blank pages for that purpose. Some devices already have their own solutions, like Sony’s Reader, which enables authors to use a stylus to sign a page on its screen.

Read the article in full.

Four in 10 US consumers interact with retailers through social networking sites, according to a new survey from Deloitte (@DeloitteBA). Data from the 2011 Spring Consumer Pulse Survey (pdf) also indicate out of this consumer subset, 63% interact to find out about promotions and 56% browse products on retailer social networking pages. In addition, 38% of shoppers who interact with retailers through social networking sites review recommendations. And 43% of smartphone owners surveyed say they've used devices in stores to assist in their shopping.

Read the article in full.

These statistics reinforce the strategy of using QR codes on product packaging or in-store merchandising to communicate with consumers. But how you do it makes all the difference. In his MobileInsider column, Steve Smith critiques brands’ mobile marketing from a real-world perspective in the article Down the QR Code Rabbit Hole.

[I pull out my phone] in the aisles of Barnes and Noble [to click a QR code:] a Microsoft Tag was on back of an historical thriller Stardust that looked intriguing. Again, it kicked me over to a very attractive trailer — that wanted to go on for 7 minutes. Seven minutes! “Stop that,” my fiancée said. “Would you bring a TV to watch in the middle of a bookstore?” Worse, am I really going to sit in a bookstore and watch a 7-minute video in order to find out what the book is about?

Read this article in full.

You’ll also want to read The New York Times article, “Retailers Retool Sites to Ease Mobile Shopping.”

Let Somersault help you create an effective mobile strategy for your brand.

According to a study conducted in March by OnCampus Research (@CampusResearch), the research division of the National Association of College Stores, college students continue to increase their usage of e-readers, but most still prefer print textbooks. The survey of 655 students finds a 6% increase in ebook purchases in March compared to a study conducted in October, and more students are reading materials on dedicated reading devices while fewer are using laptops or netbooks. While only 15% of students say they own an e-reader, 39% report they use one, up from 19% in the October study. The number of students owning a dedicated reader in October was 8%.

Of those now owning a digital e-reader, the Amazon Kindle was the most popular, with 52% of college students owning one, compared to 32% five months ago. Other top e-reader devices included Barnes & Noble’s Nook (21%), Apple iPhone (17%), and Apple iPad (10%).

Students interested in purchasing a new e-reader are most interested in the iPad and Kindle (both 27%), followed by the Nook.

Print textbooks continue as the preferred media option among this demographic. Fully 75% of the college students in the March 2011 survey said that, if the choice was entirely theirs, they would select a print textbook. This is similar to the findings of the October 2010 e-reader survey, as well as one done in the fall of 2008.

Read the news release.

Chief Marketer (@chief_marketer) reports that “more than half of the moms responding to a study on parenting and mobile use say they first bought a smartphone as a result of having a child. Fifty-one percent admit they’re ‘addicted’ to their smartphone. And their favorite feature is the phone camera.”

Those are some of the findings of the 21st Century Mobile Mom Report compiled by BabyCenter.com (@BabyCenter). The report, built from a behavior study of more than 5,000 moms and a deep-dive study of a subset of 23 specific moms, finds that overall adoption of smartphones among mothers has risen 64% in the last 2 years. At 59% ownership, moms are currently 18% more likely to own a phone that can download apps than the general population.

Here are the study’s highlights:

• 78% admit they “love” their smartphone.

• 51% of Moms are addicted to their smartphone.

• 53% say the purchase was directly related to becoming a mom.

• Mom’s #1 feature is the camera.

• #2 feature is video capabilities.

• #3 feature is apps with more half having 10 or more apps.

• 25% of the apps on a mom’s phone are for her children.

• 68% say of Moms know how to use most of the features.

• 75% of Moms claim to troubleshoot their own phone.

• 33% use it for health and wellness (tracking family health & research).

• Moms top social activities are: newsfeeds, status updates, and reading answers to posted questions.

• 68% use their smartphone while shopping.

• 62% of moms use shopping apps to research or compare prices.

• Moms are 248% more likely than the average adult to text friends then call them.

• 46% claim to have taken an action after seeing a mobile ad on their phone.

• 29% say they like to scan bar codes and QR codes for further information on a topic.

Read the article in full.

Also read our blogpost "25% of Toddlers Have Used a Smartphone."

How will knowing this about today’s mothers influence how you publish content for them? Let Somersault help. And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Grand Rapids, MI (Apr. 1, 2011) – International publishing strategy and services agency Somersault Group™ (http://somersaultgroup.com) (@smrsault) announces it has purchased the naming rights to the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) (http://www.christianretailshow.com) (@ICRShow), being held this year July 10-13 in Atlanta, GA.

The 5-year deal marks the first change in name for the 61-year-old conference since it became ICRS in 2005. Beginning this year it will be called Somersault International Christian Retail Show (SICRS).

“There’s no truth to the rumor that the pronunciation of the acronym is ‘sickers,’” says Jonathan Petersen, Somersault word-of-mouth evangelist. “It’s pronounced ‘sycrus,’ which is ancient Greek for ‘to buy.’”

In keeping with previous CBA initiatives, such as More from the Core and “What Goes Into the Mind Comes Out in a Life”™, the convention name change is intended to inject energy and focus into the Christian retail sector.

“SICRS is the opportunity for Christian retailers from around the world to join together and learn from each other,” says Nautida Konventsiooni, chair of the annual convention. She says it’s also a time when retailers can button-hole publishers about the crazy decisions they’ve made in the previous year.

“I’m pumped about the new SICRS name,” says Artificielle Nom, owner of the 50,000 square foot Nom de Plume independent Christian store in Dighton, NM. “It’s going to rejuvenate the entire industry!”

Included in the name change deal is the agreement to locate all Christian “schtick” products to a far corner of the exhibit hall and make certain to direct all media reporters covering the convention away from that area.

About Somersault

Somersault Group™ (Somersault™) is a partner-managed LLC with offices in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. The company’s purpose is to enable publishers, agents, ministries, organizations, and Christian authors to quickly leverage rapid changes in communication technology, emphasize excellence in branding and marketing communication for an author’s business development, and extend the highest editorial standards to achieve the goal of helping people experience God’s kingdom. Somersault’s mission statement: to change lives by connecting inspirational content creators with readers using exceptional creativity, right-now technology, and old-fashioned personal care. To that end, Somersault has created SomersaultNOW, the online dashboard to keep publishing and marketing professionals informed. For more information about Somersault, visit somersaultgroup.com.

Wally Metts (@wmetts) is director of graduate studies in communication at Spring Arbor University. He’s also a consultant, teacher, and journalist. He writes the blog “the daysman.” In a recent post he reviews the current state of affairs in bookselling and concludes, “It’s the end of the bookstore as we know it. Wait, didn’t I see that in You’ve Got Mail? The Shop Around the Corner? But now it’s the big chains and not the independents that are struggling.” He identifies two new developments contributing to the current situation:

First, the Kindle got page numbers. The text book industry in particular must have experienced a collective shudder. And second, a new service, Lendle, now makes it possible to loan your Kindle book to a friend for 14 days. This too is big.

I’m not saying the Kindle is the biggest or the best ebook service. I’m just saying that the rate of innovation in ebooks generally is rapid and irreversible. And cost and convenience will win in the end.

He says it’s not the end of the book, just a new chapter.

Read this in full.

USA TODAY (@USATODAY) reports that, while “mega-chain” bookstores have crowded out independent bookstores over the last decade, it now seems that the indies are discovering a business model that might work in this digital age we’re in.

As measured by numbers, bookstores are in inevitable decline, says Michael Cader, founder of Publishers Lunch, a digital newsletter. At the same time, he says, some "modestly sized, locally connected independent stores have found a successful formula" for surviving in today's market.

[A]bout 200 independent bookstores [are] in a digital partnership with Google eBooks, launched in December. The unprecedented partnership allows customers of independent bookstores to buy ebooks via a link on the stores' websites to the Google eBook-store (which also sells ebooks directly).

And Oren Teicher, head of the American Booksellers Association, says in an age when millions of books can be found online, the “curator skills” of local booksellers “to match a book with an individual reader is more important than ever.”

Read this in full.

According to a survey by Empathica as reported by Warc, a majority of North American consumers prefer buying products in-store to doing so online.

Regarding purchase habits, 21% of respondents agree in-store experiences are typically better than the online equivalent, 15% take the opposite stance, and 36% state these channels are evenly matched. Despite this, 69% favor making most acquisitions in bricks-and-mortar outlets, while 22% afford the Web a parallel status.

One digital activity that has proved especially popular is using comparison sites, as 72% of contributors have utilized the Net to conduct research, monitor prices, and complete transactions.

Read this in full.

The Washington Post’s On Faith section (@onfaith) has an article by Michelle Boorstein about the status of Christian bookstores today. Here’s an excerpt:

Although religious retail tends to be more resilient during tough economic times, the market is in tremendous flux. After several decades of intense growth in Christian books, music and films, there have been no religious blockbusters in the past couple of years to drive sales during the holiday - a time religious retailers rely upon even more than their secular counterparts.

Thousands of Christian bookstores - long the backbone of the religious retail industry - have closed in the past decade. A good part of the churn is happening in retail generally as sales go online and become more competitive and more segmented. Religious music sales have been hit hard by digital sales (and piracy).

Read this in full.