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Nook Vs Kindle 3 Review and Comparison By Elaine Currie

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:11:00 +0000

Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook are the two serious contenders for the title of best e-reader. There are other electronic reading devices on the market, but Kindle and Nook dominate the scene while the others are fading further into the background. So, this is going to be a straight review and comparison of Nook and Kindle as the two market leaders.

Since the launch of the first models of Nook and Kindle, the enhancements of each subsequent version have brought the two contenders closer. It is harder than ever to make a decision as to whether to buy the new Amazon Kindle or the latest Nook. The two models under scrutiny here are the Kindle 3G (+Wi-Fi) and the Nook (Wi-Fi +3G).

Any attempt to compare and contrast Amazon’s Kindle 3 and B&N’s Nook is bound to highlight their similarities rather than underline any differences. The two e-readers are the same size to within a fraction of an inch. They are the same weight to within a couple of ounces. The battery life of each of them is 10 days of reading.

The Manufacturers’ refinements to these two devices have made it very difficult to place either brand in top place. People looking to buy an e-reader have been swayed first towards the Kindle, then towards the Nook and back again. The competition is closer than ever with the two models we are looking at today. It is simply not possible to say that one is obviously superior to the other. So how do you decide on a winner in the Nook vs Kindle battle?

The selection of an e-reader is very much a matter of personal choice. The best way to approach a review of Amazon’s Kindle 3 and the Barnes & Noble Nook is to consider how you will use a reading device. How much do you read, what do you read, where do you read? With a clear idea of the way you want to use the reader, you can make a choice on the basis of the following features of each device.

1. International travel. Do you want to be able to download reading matter overseas? The Nook only works within the United States. The Kindle 3 enables you to download books in over 100 countries via GSM network. You can, however, use both of them anywhere in the world to read books you have already downloaded.

2. Weight. The Kindle 3 is lighter (and slightly smaller) than the Nook. The difference is only a couple of ounces, but this might be important to you if you travel a lot.

3. Navigation. The Kindle has push button navigation only. The Nook has touch-screen navigation. Which makes you more comfortable?

4. Memory size. The Kindle 3 can hold up to 3,500 books. The Nook can hold up to 1,500 books. (However, the Nook has an expansion slot to expand the memory if you want to.)

5. Color screen. One other notable difference between the Kindle and the Nook is that the latter offers a color screen. This might not seem of great benefit in a reader, but this feature might be something you would prefer.

Either of these devices will prove to be excellent value for money. The ongoing competition between the two manufacturers has ensured that the quality of the products keeps going up while the prices are kept down. The choice is yours, and you can’t lose.

To find special low price deals on Kindle and Nook visit http://10topholidaygifts.com/ and be sure to get the best e-reader for you at a price you’ll love.

Writing a Cover Blurb For a Book by Glen Ford

admin — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:11:00 +0000

So you’ve written your first book. And you’ve decided to self-publish it. So now you’re faced with the question of what to write on the cover. Or maybe you’re a freelance writer and you’ve scored a gig to write cover copy.

Where do you start?

Well if it’s your own book you’re in luck. You see the place to start is with the problem your book is solving. You are solving a problem in your book aren’t you? And you did create a reader profile before you wrote it didn’t you? That profile and the problem are now the key to your writing of the blurb. They will guide you in writing that cover copy.

You see there are two purposes of having the blurb.

The first and most important purpose is the same as the title. Simply put, it is to get the potential reader to read your book. After all, if your potential reader doesn’t pick up your book, they won’t buy it. If your potential reader doesn’t open the book, they won’t buy it. If the potential reader doesn’t read the first paragraph, they won’t buy it. And so on. You need to get the reader to pick up the book and crack it open to the first paragraph.

That’s the first and most important task of the cover copy (aka blurb). Like most purchases the process has been studied. What the time & motion studies have revealed is important. You see, when a potential reader picks up a book the decision process goes like this. See a cover and be attracted by the cover. Pick up the book and look at the title. If the title interests you read the blurb. If the blurb interests you open the book and read the inside blurb. If the inside blurb interests you read the first paragraph. If the first paragraph interests you read the last paragraph. Buy the book.

So the blurb is the second most important writing on the cover of the book following the title and sub-title.

The second purpose is much less important. However, as any copywriter will tell you it is deceptive in its importance. What is the second cover blurb? It is the introduction of the writer. It is there to introduce the writer and prove their justification for writing the book. Think of it as a statement of social proof. Why should you believe the writer? You’ll find the answer in this section.

Generally these are two different blurbs. However, they can be combined or the writer introduction blurb can be moved to the inside of the book.

One mistake that is occasionally found is when the only blurb on the book cover is the introduction blurb. The main cover blurb describing the book is moved inside. The concept is that you need to open the book in order to learn what the book is about. And because you’ve opened the book you are one step closer to reading the first paragraph. Unfortunately, there is no incentive given to open the book in the first place.

So how do you write a blurb?

There are many ways but the best is to focus on your reader’s problem. You start with your reader’s problem. Describe it. Try to evoke the emotions that the reader feels around the problem. Give them some form of justification for feeling that way.

Then promise them a solution which can be found inside the book. If necessary give them some proof that the solution works. Try to avoid actually stating the solution but if necessary that can be done to increase social proof.

Use the information that you discovered regarding their motivations to help you motivate your reader to continue.

Do you want to learn how to write a book in 24 hours? Take my brand new free course here: http://www.learningcreators.com/

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

The Wounded Genius: Tennessee Williams

R/T — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:42:00 +0000

I just discovered and must share this “must see” A&E biography of Tennessee Williams, America’s greatest (and, after Shakespeare and Beckett, my favorite world) playwright. Enjoy!

(Follow the linked images at the end of the video to continue with the program. Well, at least most of it is here!)

Blogger and Writing Pro Encourages Writers to Blog a Book

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 18:00:00 +0000

As it gets harder and harder for aspiring authors to get their books picked up by traditional publishing houses, more and more bloggers are finding publishers simply coming to them with contracts in hand. If you keep up with books at all, you know that agents and publishers have picked up several author’s blogs and made them into books since about 2005. For example, Julia & Julia, PostSecret and Stuff White People Like all appeared as blogs before they became books. Of course, Julia & Julia also became a hit movie.

For this reason, Nina Amir, a blogger, speaker, and writing coach and consultant, decided to begin blogging a book about how to blog a successful book–a book that might be found by an agent or acquisitions editor trolling the Internet for publishable fodder.

When asked why she would even consider blogging a book about how to blog a book she replied, “I’m doing it because blogging a book represents a great idea. In the Internet Age?and given the current state of traditional publishing?writers have to become more creative. They have to take their careers into their own hands. They have to become their own PR representatives and promotion and marketing directors. They have to start their own publishing companies. They have to take advantage of the current technology.”

According to Amir, blogging represents just one publishing technology at a writer’s fingertips. Indeed, in addition to “How to Blog a Book,” she writes three other blogs and an on-line column for Examiner.com. She’s also an author and journalist.

Amir wants to encourage other writers to begin blogging their books. Even if their books aren’t discovered, she says this provides a great way to actually get a book written. Her blogged book will be completed before the end of May; she began on February 1. She never writes more than about 500 words per day; on average her posts have only 200-300 words.

Plus, the price is right. Some bloggers may choose to have a hosted blog, paying about $100 per year. Others may start out with a free blog.

Additionally, if a blogger writes good copy and promotes the blog well, he or she might actually gain more readers than with a traditionally published book. One of her other blogs, “As the Spirit Moves Me,” gets about 1,750 unique visitors per month. While Amir admits many other bloggers get millions of readers per month, she wouldn’t likely sell 100 books in a month. “The average nonfiction book sells between 250 and 1,000 copies in its lifetime, let alone in a year. I reach more readers with my blog than I would with a book in a bookstore,” she said. “That’s a great reason for any aspiring author or writer to want to blog a book or simply to blog.”

Blogs constitute one of the best ways to build the coveted writer’s platform. “In the past, going out and speaking to audiences provided writers with that platform. Today, you can build one from the comfort of your home. I’m not saying that a writer’s platform doesn’t benefit from some talks given here and there; it does. However, a blog read by thousands of people each day goes a long way towards impressing a publisher or selling your self-published book,” Amir reported.

Amir is the president of CopyWright Communications, a writing, editing, and publishing consulting company located in Los Gatos, CA. She considers herself a writing coach not only in the traditional sense—helping people get their words on paper—but in the nontraditional sense—motivating writers past their feeling that its just too difficult today to get published. Just as some people hire a life coach to help them reach their goals, aspiring authors hire Amir to help them move past their fear and frustration about the publishing process so they can reach their dreams of getting their work into print.

To interview Amir or to hire her to speak at an event, please visit CopyWright Communications

Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:54:00 +0000

By Phil Town

Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

Phil Town’s first book, the #1 New York Times bestseller Rule #1, was a guide to stock trading for people who believe they lack the knowledge to trade. But because many people aren’t ready to go from mutual funds directly into trading without understanding investing—for the long term – he created Payback Time.

Too often, people see long-term investing as “mutual fund contributing” – otherwise known as “long-term hoping.” But the sad truth is that mutual fund investors are, to a stunning degree, pinning their hopes on an institution that is hopeless. It turns out that only 4% of fund managers consistently beat the S&P 500 index over the long term, which means that 96% of fund investors see a smaller return on their nest egg than a chimpanzee who simply buys stocks in the 500 biggest companies in America and watches what happens.

But it’s worse than that. The net effect of hitching your wagon to mutual funds is that over a lifetime they’ll fritter away as much 60% of your nest egg in fees. Once you understand how funds engineer this, you’ll rush to invest on your own.

Payback Time’s risk-free approach is called “stockpiling” and it’s how billionaires get rich in bad markets. It’s a set of rules for investing (not trading but investing) in the right businesses at the right time — rules that will ensure you make the big money.

Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

Published on: 2010-03-02
Released on: 2010-03-02
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
288 pages

See more details: Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

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Barnes and Noble to Launch Tikatok Children’s Publishing Website

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:46:00 +0000

Barnes and Noble, Inc. announced it has unveiled its plans for Tikatok, a children's book publishing website, which it acquired in September.

Created in collaboration with a team recruited from MIT University, Barnes & Noble said that Tikatok is the first Internet publishing platform for children. The site, which serves parents with children between the ages of 5 and 12, offers a safe studio environment for budding child authors, complete with a patent-pending StorySparks system that helps to walk children through the process of creating and writing stories.

Barnes and Noble said its plans include a series of piloted events for kids in various Barnes & Noble stores throughout the country, in which children will learn the process of writing, illustrating and publishing their own books.

Events will take place on the following dates:

Friday, March 12, at 12:30 p.m. at the Upper East Side Barnes and Noble in New York City;

Sunday, April 11, at 1 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble in Oxford Valley, Pennsylvania.

Flirt

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:44:00 +0000

By Laurell K. Hamilton
Average customer review:

Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18)

When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn’t the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington’s grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington. Not really. And not for long.

Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18)

Published on: 2010-02-02
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
192 pages

See more details: Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18)

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UK: Bestseller Books & Reviews (UK) > Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18)

The Art of Racing in the Rain

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:03:00 +0000

By Garth Stein
Average customer review:

The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope—a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it

The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel

Published on: 2009-06-01
Released on: 2009-06-09
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
336 pages

Customer Reviews:
A dog’s eye view of humanity
I might secretly be a dog person, or maybe subconsciously … but if you were to ask me I would tell you I’m not a dog person. Oh, but how I loved Enzo.

On the eve of his death, Enzo (a dog) tells what amounts to his master’s life story. Stein’s attention to detail was amazing – the book read like it was written by somebody who took the time to stop and think “what would a dog feel/do in this situation?” As a result, Enzo is memorable and lovable. He’s at once a crotchety old man, and an innocent youth. He’s wise, he’s naive, and he is devoted.

I’m not going to lie to you, this book is very sad. But it is also laugh out loud funny at times, and filled with love, devotion, philosophy and hopefulness.

It’s a beautiful book and definitely one of my favorites of the year.

See more details: The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel

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UK: Bestseller Books & Reviews (UK) > The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel

PreachingToday.com Announces Annual Preaching Book Awards

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:11:00 +0000

PreachingToday.com, a non-profit ministry of Christianity Today International, has announced the winners of its annual Preaching Book Awards. PreachingToday.com names preaching books of the year in two categories: one focused on the preacher's skills and the other on the preacher's soul.

This year's winner of the skills category was Setting Words on Fire, author Paul Scott Wilson, published by Abingdon. Honorable mention in the skills category was given to Why Johnny Can't Preach, author David Gordon, published by Presbyterian & Reformed.

In the soul category, there was a three-way tie for winner between Deep Preaching, author Kent Edwards, published by Broadman & Holman; Dying to Preach, author Steven Smith, published by Kregel; and The Glory of Preaching, author Darrell Johnson, published by InterVarsity.

The award winners were chosen by votes from two preaching experts and the editors of PreachingToday.com.

The article announcing the awards can be found here:
www.preachingtoday.com/skills/2010/theptbookawards.html

Catching Fire

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:30:00 +0000

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

Published on: 2009-09-01
Released on: 2009-09-01
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
400 pages

Customer Reviews:

No sophomore slump here
I got a galley at the BEA Conference this year. Before I started to read, I was terrified that Suzanne Collins couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations after the extraordinary Hunger Games. I’m thrilled to say that she did not let me down. I don’t want to give anything away as it would only ruin the rollercoaster ride of a read, so suffice it to say that all of our favorite characters are back to join Katniss as the spark of revolution catches fire. Collins is masterful. The story is at once personal to Katniss, Peeta & Gale, but it also makes social statements that can apply to society at large. Characters show the best and the worst of humanity. And at several points, I found myself finishing a chapter, stunned at the turn of events. Collins kept me on the edge of my seat. I hope she’s writing quickly, because I can’t wait for the concluding volume of this amazing trilogy.

See more detail: Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games

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Good Books » Amp

Nook Vs Kindle 3 Review and Comparison By Elaine Currie

Writing a Cover Blurb For a Book by Glen Ford

The Wounded Genius: Tennessee Williams

Blogger and Writing Pro Encourages Writers to Blog a Book

Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

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