We Have To Go Back (And Read This Book)

Thanks to John Gruber/Daring Fireball, I’m now anxiously awaiting the Nook re-release David Kazzie’s The Jackpot.

Here’s David’s recap of the whole experience of offering his book as an Amazon exclusive:

“The download rate increased steadily during the course of the morning, and by lunchtime, it was being downloaded more than 1,000 times per hour, occasionally pushing 2,000 per hour. And it was rapidly climbing the Free bestseller list. It got featured on a number of the big Kindle reader blogs that showcase free books each day (this was easily my luckiest break, especially since I didn’t know that people often submit their books to these sites in advance of their scheduled free dates). By Wednesday night, the book had hit the top 10, with about 14,000 downloads. Thursday proved to be nearly as successful, with another 11,000 downloads, and the book spent much of the day ranked No. 5.”

A funny thing happened on my way to waiting for the book to be available in my format; a friend on Twitter noted an interesting aspect of the book’s cover.

I’ll post the book cover here and see if you can spot the hidden message.

20120201-211714.jpg

In case you still can’t figure it out, SPOILER ALERT(!), the numbers featured on the cover are the Lost numbers with one added to them.

Instead of 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42
We’ve got 5, 9, 16, 17, 24, 43

One of the reasons David theorizes for the success of his book? The cover.

“Other factors that might have kept things snowballing: I write in a pretty popular genre (suspense/thrillers), and I’ve got a pretty cool cover.”

I may have to jump the gun & buy via Amazon instead of waiting for the exclusivity to end.

If you’ve read the novel, leave a comment.

Until the zombie season airs … we have to go back!

😉

Nooked

Despite having received The Nook, Barnes & Noble’s eReader, for Christmas as a present, I still don’t actually have the device in my hot little hands yet. It’s on back order and won’t ship until February 1, so I’m stuck trolling the internet for news, reviews & gossip with maybe a brief stop by my local B&N to fondle the display unit.

Wait.
That sounds gross.
Strike that.

In any event, here are some links and sites I’ve found in my travels that I think will be useful for Nook folks specifically, but also for anyone interested in the nascent eReader segment, plus a few free ePub (eBook format) sites thrown in for good measure.

  • MobileRead
  • They’ve got a dedicated Nook forum, but this seems like a great site for eReader fans everywhere, regardless of device, eBook format or software.

  • nookTalk
  • Very similar to MobileRead – a blog w/ forums – but solely Nook-focused.

  • nookaholic
  • A blog about the Nook written by a NYC-area college student.

  • nookboards
  • Blog & forum.

  • nook-Look
  • Free wallpapers & screensavers to make your nook pretty.

  • Google Books
  • Legacy books & magazines in ePub format.

  • Project Gutenberg
  • The grandaddy of all free eBook resources. Great even if you don’t own an eReader.

I’m also a bit intrigued by the similarly Android-powered “Alex” eReader that was on display at CES (not that I went or had my hands on one).

And I’m sure my opinions will change once I get my Nook, but having played around with the Kindles of multiple in-laws (say that five times fast) I think I’m going to be happy with any eInk device.

Ok.
I’m done.
No more talk of any more e-anything words.
Too complicated.

Talk to you when I get my Nook (and likely do one of those douche-y unboxing videos & posts). Off to Goodreads now to mark some books as to-read.

Happy Friday!

Kindling

After spending our most recent vacation with my in-laws (two of whom, my mother-in-law and brother-in-law own Kindles) I’d made up my mind that a refurbished Kindle might make a nice present, perhaps for my 33rd birthday or Christmas.

Then a funny thing happened. Amazon got all “Big Brother” with two books by the George Orwell (naturally), Animal Farm and 1984.

You can imagine what happened next:

Lots of folks up in arms.
Tons of “isn’t it ironic” tweets.
Folks (me included) thinking about switching their allegiances to Sony’s eBook reader.

Then the truth came out, stranger than fiction as it always seems to be. Turns out the real culprit in this crime were the publishers who told Amazon they had the rights to sell the book digitally when they did not, in fact, have those rights.

So Amazon’s actions actually protected well-established, prior-art-style copyright as most folks know it?

This isn’t some gigantic bait-and-switch that amounts to theft of a users’ property?

The entire concept of DRM & internet-enabled device/software/media management hasn’t just been dealt a deathblow (Don’t tell the RIAA)?

Yes and no.

In the short term, it’s not good for eBooks which have been exposed as nothing more than portable book-renting kiosks.

In the long term it’s good for Amazon, which keeps the relationship with publishers and (some) customers who see them vigorously defending copyright.

For me: I don’t want any part of a remote-controlled, technology-crippled, tether-bound money pit.

Unless, of course, I could distribute my blog there.

In which case, sign me up. 😉

What do you think about Kindle? Own one? Still want one (despite this news)?

I see digital distribution/engagement/consumption as a forgone conclusion, I just don’t know if I’m willing to tie myself to Amazon & the Kindle just yet.