// By Jessica 2 Comments
23 May
2012

DRM and Ebooks

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Marcelo on Pinterest

I know this is kind of old news, but it’s been on my mind and I wanted to talk about it a little bit.  A major publishing group (including Tor and Forge) announced that it would go DRM-free for all it’s ebooks.  DRM or digital rights management is any technology that limits the use of digital content after you’ve bought it.  I didn’t think much of that announcement until I read an article from The Guardian titled “Why the death of DRM would be good news for readers, writers and publishers” that taught me a a lot.  I highly recommend you read it.

The biggest thing in the article that blew my mind was this:

“[The] WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996 [....] make[s] it illegal for anyone except a DRM vendor to remove DRM. If Tor sells you one of my books for the Kindle locked with Amazon’s DRM, neither I, nor Tor, can authorise you to remove that DRM.” –  Cory Doctorow, The Guardian

This copyright law gives so much control to Amazon that it was mind boggling to me.  It seems to me that the only person that benefits from DRM is Amazon.  Imagine a world where you could buy your ebook from any vendor and it would work on your Kindle, Nook and iPad.  I know, right?  I’ll hop off my unicorn now.

I think that someday ebooks will dominate the book market.  I read articles every now and then that insist that “It’s a print world.”  Oh, really?  In my life of less than 30 years I can name so many things that used to be in print that are now digital.  For example: phone books, photographs, letters to friends (I seriously wrote letters to my friends and mailed them), encyclopedias, newspapers, bills, music, and more that I can’t think of right now.

It’s true that print hasn’t disappeared, but I need a good reason to buy something that is going to take up physical space in my house.   I still buy print books that don’t translate well into ebooks like ones with pictures or special bindings, but I see absolutely no reason to buy a novel in print if it’s just black words on a white page when an ebook can do exactly that and more.

I don’t think that print books will ever go away. I don’t want this to be a battle between which is better and which format will “win.”  I’m intensely fascinated with how the book industry is converting to digital and how books will change.  Will print books come with a code to get a free digital copy?  Will ebooks start having more videos, music and other interactive features?  Will print books start to incorporate more art into the pages to get you to buy the print version? Will publishers be better or worse off 10 years from now because of ebooks?   It was doubtful for a long time if the music industry would even survive converting to digital.  Now that music is mostly digital, I think that they not only survived but they are thriving.  But it’s a very different market than it was before.

So here’s what I want to know: Do you buy more ebooks or more print books?  Will that change a year from now?  What changes do you think will happen to books and the book industry in the next few years?  Do you think removing DRM is a good thing or is it just going to let piracy run rampant?

Posted on: May 23, 2012 1:47 am By Jessica Filed Under: News Tagged With: 2 Comments
Organize Your Blogging
// By Jessica 1 Comment
31 Mar
2012

Organize Your Blogging

Organize Blog Templates Checklists

In the spirit of Bloggiesta, I wanted to share with everyone how I organize my blogging to make my life easier.

I make a lot of checklists and templates for blogging because let’s face it – I’m a flake.  I’ve also noticed if I do the small steps as I go, it makes blogging a lot easier.  Because of my checklists, Goodreads is always up to date and so are my review archives and Amazon reviews.  I’ll share a few of my magical lists and templates to get your brainstorming so you can create your own.

Template for Book Reviews

Every time I write a book review, I copy and past this template from a word document into my post. That way my reviews come out looking the same every time. If I need to link something (like for a meme) I have the html address right in the template so I don’t have to look it up.

book cover center

amazon link center

Series (if applicable) in bold

Spoiler free even if you haven’t read the first book in this series. (italics)

review body

picture star rating center

Content Rating left, colored rating

link content rating with – http://www.booksatruestory.com/index.php/about-2/

I received this book for review from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not told what to say, I was not paid to write this review and all the opinions expressed are my own. (italics)(link author or publisher if you can)

Category – book review

tags including star rating, book review, content rating

fill out seo

Checklist for Book Reviews

After I post a book review on my blog, I go through the following checklist.  It doesn’t take very long and it keeps everything up to date.

  • change shelf on goodreads to “blog” and remove “to-blog”
  • add the following link to goodreads review - This book is also reviewed on my blog a href=”http://www.booksatruestory.com”>Books: A true story /a
  • add review link to facebook and make sure it tweets
  • add review to amazon.com
  • add amazon  shelf on goodreads
  • update book review page
  • add star rating shelf on goodreads
  • email publisher with links if reading an ARC from them or netgalley
  • complete netgalley review if I got it from netgalley

I have a checklist and a template for every post I do including In My Mailbox and Waiting on Wednesday.  I use checklists to make sure I get everything done after a post goes up so I don’t forget anything.

Goodreads Organization

Here’s the checklist of what I do on Goodreads while I’m reading a book to keep everything organized.

When I start a book I add it to the following shelves:

  • currently reading shelf
  • any reading challenge shelves that apply
  • formatting shelves (like ebook, ARC, own etc)
  • currently reading blog shelf (so it will show up in my widget on my blog sidebar)

While I’m reading a book:

  • I take notes on my kindle while I’m reading to make it easier to write a review when I’m done.
  • If I have any questions while I’m reading the book, I do a google search and save my findings in a post on tumblr.  This makes it easier to write my Google Diary posts.
When I’ve finished a book:
  • Add it to the to-blog shelf (so I can easily see which books I need to post reviews on my blog for)
  • Write review immediately on Goodreads.  I keep my reviews to 300-500 words so that I don’t feel overwhelmed by writing them.  I just free write my initial reactions and use the notes on my kindle to help me gather my thoughts.  When I go to post the review on my blog, I consider what I wrote on Goodreads as my first draft and I usually expand it and edit it a lot before I post the review on my blog.  Then I copy and paste the final version of my review from my blog back onto Goodreads when I’m going through my Book Review checklist that’s above.

Do any of you have checklists and templates? What tricks do you use to keep organized?

If you have any questions about these templates and checklists, just ask! I wrote them just for me to see, so some things that make total sense to me might be confusing to other people.

Posted on: March 31, 2012 8:56 am By Jessica Filed Under: Events Tagged With: 1 Comment
// By Jessica 1 Comment
16 Dec
2011

When Do You Read?

When I first started this blog, I wanted to write a post about when I read and how I make the time for it.  I thought now was a good time to post this because, in case you didn’t know, you can get a special badge on your Goodreads account if you finish your 2011 reading challenge. YOU GET A SPECIAL BADGE AND I WANT IT.  I’m 5 books away from finishing mine and finding time to read is of the essence!  So, here’s how I find extra time to read. On average, I read 1-3 hours per day.  I’d love to hear when you squeeze in reading time and how much you read every day in the comments!

  1. Don’t watch TV – I never made a conscious decision to stop watching TV, but there hasn’t been many good shows on lately and I fell out of the habit.  I haven’t watched TV in months (I watch movies occasionally) and I have to say, I don’t miss it. I love reading instead.
  2. Read right before you go to bed – It is impossible for me to sleep without reading something.  I can usually get in a good 30 minutes while laying in bed before I drift off (thank goodness for my kindle saving my place when I fall asleep before putting it away).  I sleep like a rock and I think it’s because reading helps me relax.  My kids come in my bed at night sometimes and I hardly ever notice until I wake up in the morning. That’s what I mean by sleeping like a rock.
  3. Read in the bathroom – I do this all the time and I am not ashamed.
  4. Read at the playground – I have two kids so I don’t have a lot of free time.  One way I get reading in during the day is going to the park in the summer and McDonald’s playground in the winter and letting them run around crazy while I read a nice book.  It’s a win-win for everyone. Also, I’ve become very good at zoning out screaming.
  5. If there’s an opportunity to wait, there’s an opportunity to read – I never leave home without my kindle and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been waiting at the doctor’s office, or the tire store when I got to read while I waited instead of being irked that it was taking so long.  Sometimes, I’m even a little disappointed when I only have to wait for 5 minutes.
  6. Read on the treadmill – I don’t like working out, but it suddenly becomes bearable when I get to read on my kindle.  I increase the font size and prop it on the ledge that lots of treadmills have. Voila! You’re welcome.
  7. Read while you travel – Whether it’s by car, plane, or train, traveling is the best time to read.  My first thought when going to Texas to visit my sister was how much pure reading time I would get by waiting for the plane, and while I was on the plane…I was almost giddy.

If you don’t see me on my blog or twitter for a while, it’s because I’m reading like mad!  Good luck to everyone who hasn’t finished their challenges yet!

Posted on: December 16, 2011 1:42 am By Jessica Filed Under: My Reading Diary Tagged With: 1 Comment