The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers have filed formal objections to Amazon’s bid to secure new generic top-level domains like “.book,” “.author” and “.read”. More »
When you’re a real hardcore comic book collector, you don’t often think about the idea of owning every single comic book ever made – but Marvel does. As one of the most well-known and well-read comic brands in the industry for many, many years, Marvel Comics began ushering in the digital age several years ago with digital versions of their illustrated stories on the web – and more recently in mobile apps. Now they’ve brought their ultra-popular unlimited access pass to a 13,000 comic collection – nearly their whole back-catalogue spanning over 70 years – humongous!
The difference between this app and the already released Marvel Comics app for iPad is your ability to see new issues. With Marvel Unlimited you’ll be limited to comics as recent as 6 months – for some of the most ravenous storyline addicts, this will be a bit of a boon. If you want to read entire collections of comics long gone, on the other hand, Marvel Unlimited will certainly be right up your alley.
The app itself is free from the iTunes App Store and you’ll be able to pick it up for either your iPad or your iPhone – or both, if you’re feeling like reading all the time, no matter what, non-stop. You’ll see both the Marvel Comics app and the Marvel Unlimited app in the store – feel free to pick them both up for more comics action than you can possible handle.
You’ll find that some comics have special ways of walking through their pages while some are much more traditional. If you have a peek at a new (and free) edition of Guardians of the Galaxy, you’ll find each tiny panel popping up with speech bubbles depending on who speaks first and which action happens when. If you check out Uncanny X-Men Volume 1, Issue 500, you’ll be able to zoom in on individual panels with a double-tap, the others being blocked by white while you peek.
The most traditional way you’ll see comics added to the fold here is a simple one or two page spread. You can zoom in with a pinch or a pull, but otherwise you’re flat as flat gets. Page turning is flat, there’s no extra 3D morphing going on, nothing like that. It’s a real one or two-page experience, front to back.
With Marvel Unlimited you’ll be paying either $10 a month of $60 USD for a whole year, and you’ll be able to read comics offline and keep what you want just so long as you’re still subscribed. With the Marvel Comics app you’ll be paying whatever you’d normally pay for each issue, and you’ll have access to “Marvel Now” – each time you purchase an issue in the real world, in a real comic shop, you get a download code that lets you grab it digitally as well.
But please, please for the sake of our future generations of comic book fanatics, please put your back issues in sleeves with boards and tape – and don’t smoke! And don’t leave them out in the sun! And don’t let them get damp!
Marvel Unlimited brings 13,000 comics to iOS for $60 a year is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you haven’t read it, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is about a dystopian future where books are illegal and destroyed in an attempt to suppress the populace. And as the title implies: fire is the weapon of choice for eradicating literature. More »
It might be hard to imagine, but there was once a time where thousands upon thousands of books and arguably the sum totally of human knowledge was not readily available at your fingertips. And while it’s no Kindle, Agostino Ramelli’s 16th century bookwheel was a valiant attempt to make that happen. More »
Barnes & Noble hasn’t been looking good lately, and the company’s Q3 2013 earnings that were announced today prove that something is going to have to change. Barnes & Noble reported a $6.1 million loss last quarter, which is a far cry from the $52 million the company netted during the same time last year.
As for revenue, Barnes & Noble made $2.2 billion during the quarter, which is down 8.8% year-over-year. As for NOOK sales, that division probably got hit the hardest, where revenue was down 26% compared to the same time last year, but as for digital content sales, the company saw a slight jump by 6.8%.
Of course, Barnes & Noble was expecting to take a big hit, so they’re about as surprised as we were (read: not surprised at all). NOOK made $316 million this past quarter, while the same time last year, it made $426.6 million. Overall, the company saw losses across the board, including their retail business, which saw a 10.3% decrease from last year.
However, it seems that the company may actually be changing things up a bit. Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio is pondering the idea of buying the company back from shareholders, and shaking things up with the NOOK business — mostly throwing out the entire playbook and starting from scratch, but we’ll have to see what direction the company takes this year. It could be an interesting ride for B&N execs.
Barnes & Noble reports $6.1m loss in Q3 2013 earnings is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Today Apple unveiled a new section to its iBookstore called “Breakout Books,” which features books published to the iBookstore by indie authors. The curated collection highlights titles that have earned four and five star reviews, so not every indie book will get its moment of glory in the new section.
The books are grouped in three genres: romance, sci-fi and fantasy, and mysteries and thrillers. Plus, there’s a fourth blended category called “more to explore” that features a handful of books mixed from the different categories. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Apple is highlighting indie works, but it’s the first time they’re putting them in the limelight like this.
Avid readers will also find that many of the books featured in this section are fairly inexpensive, with even some that are free of charge, meaning that there are a lot of great books that you can read without investing a lot of money. While the landing page for Breakout Books isn’t completely filled with recommended content, Apple says they’ll add more to the section once it takes off.
Since the beginning of the ebook craze, digital publishing has become easier and easier. It gives indie authors a chance to show their stuff to millions of people without spending tons of money for printing. Just like apps, games, and music, authors are taking advantage of the digital age, and are trying to get the word out about their books. This new section in the iBookstore will definitely help with that.
[via paidContent]
Apple launches Breakout Books to promote indie authors is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
In addition to giving North Korea a what-for, Eric Schmidt has also been working on some other projects. He’s got a book coming out about China, for instance, and after getting some time with the preliminary drafts, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that it’s taking some serious shots at the superpower. More »
If you still love shopping for books by hand at your local Barnes & Noble, enjoy it while you can, because the company has announced that its cutting its store force by 30% within 10 years, lowering the total number of bookstores for the company down to 450 to 500 stores in the US. Right now, the company operates just under 700 locations, with a separate store chain of 675 college-focused stores.
CEO Mitchell Klipper confirmed the news today, saying that the company expects to close 20 stores per year on average. In the past decade, the company shut down approximately 15 stores per year on average, but they were also opening at least 30 stores per year in new locations. However, that process met a roadblock a few years ago. The company’s peak number of stores at any one time was 726 in 2008.
While the closing of 30% of its stores is certainly not good news, Klipper tries to see the good things out of the downsize. He says “it’s a good business model,” because “you have to adjust your overhead, and get smart with smart systems.” It’s certainly not what the company hoped for by any means, but Klipper says that business models change throughout the years and you have to learn to adjust.
Barnes & Noble’s brick-and-mortar store business has been drying up more and more as consumers shift toward Amazon and buying ebooks online, but Klipper is confident in his new business plan, and while the company is closing many of its stores, they’re expanding their digital book arsenal to make up for the loss.
UPDATE: We received word from a Barnes & Noble spokesperson about the future closings of their various stores, and they note that the company “has not adjusted its store closing plan whatsoever,” and that the numbers being reported “are consistent with analysts’ expectations.” The spokesperson mentioned that “in 2012, Barnes & Noble opened two new prototype stores and in 2013 plans to test several other prototypes, as well,” saying that they are “fully committed to the retail concept for the long term.”
[via WSJ]
Barnes & Noble to close 30% of stores within the decade [UPDATE] is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
When Arthur Buxton stumbled across a super-organized archive of Penguin’s science fiction, he thought it would be interesting to look at how the covers of the books had changed over time. He was right—and the labor of his work is this striking visualization. Buxton explains: More »
As you hibernate, you need to occupy yourself. That means lots of movies and books to catch up on. A simple new app called Done Not Done will help you keep track of everything you want to read, watch, or listen to. More »
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
