Debbie Ridpath Ohi's Blog, page 97

Kindoma remote bedtime reading could be useful for authors

I was intrigued by this New York Times article, which talks about how Kindoma's new Storytime app lets grandparents and others read bedtime books remotely to children.

Another possible application: authors doing remote readings for small groups of students? Or larger groups, if the iPad is hooked up to a larger display.

I haven't yet tried the app, but the catch is that the app has to have the book in its library. Once the tech is streamlined and if successful, however, perhaps publishers would want to partner with Kindoma to make titles available. 

Kudos and Thanks

Thanks to the Kindergarten and 1st Grade students at Avoca West Elementary in Illinois for choosing I'M BORED as their 2013 ITC March Madness Champion. :-)

For more info about Avoca as well as winners in other categories, see this blog post. Thanks to Susan Geidner for alerting me to this news via Twitter.

Also:

Thanks to Writer's Digest for choosing Inkygirl.com as one of its 101 Best Websites For Writers in the May/June issue!

MicroBookTweet: MAYA WAS GRUMPY by Courtney Pippin-Mathurs (Flashlight Press)

Fun pics/story in MAYA WAS GRUMPY by @pippinmathur ( @flashlightpress) chases scowls away. Congrats, Courtney! twitter.com/inkyelbows/sta…

— Debbie Ridpath Ohi (@inkyelbows) April 24, 2013

More info:

Courtney Pippin-Mathur website

Courtney Pippin-Mathur on Twitter: @pippinmathur

Kirkus Reviews on MAYA WAS GRUMPY

Back on Mon. April 22nd

Between travel and work commitments, my online access is going to be sporadic between now and Mon. April 22nd. Have a great week, all!

Comic: Sometimes you just have to learn to let go...

Comic use policy.

Survey results: 49% survey respondents feel negatively re: Amazon's acquisition of Goodreads

Last week, I asked you how you felt about Amazon's acquisition of Goodreads.

143 responded: 64% describe yourselves as writer and/or illustrators, 31% are teachers or librarians, 11% are editors, 6% publishers, 2% booksellers. As you can tell from the numbers, some of you wear more than one hat.

The question: Amazon and Goodreads have announced that Amazon will be acquiring the book-based social networking site. How do you feel about it?

What you said:

 

I posted the survey immediately after the announcement, but I suspect that if I had posted it after Laura Hazard Owen's interview with Amazon and Goodreads, less people would have voted negative. If I was voting? Not sure yet. I love the idea of being able to rate books on Goodreads from my Kindle, but one of the strengths of Goodreads (in terms of brand) was that everyone knew it was indie. This was even more important after all the controversy about Amazon culling book reviews and authors manipulating their Amazon rankings.

According to LHO's interview on Paidcontent, Amazon says that Goodreads will remain an independent subsidiary of Amazon, like IMDB. Thing is, people and sites that use IMDB don't tend to be direct competitors with Amazon. Will all those competing sites/companies be willing to continue supporting Goodreads?

I may post this survey again a year from now, to compare.

And I wouldn't be surprised if, at this very moment, there is someone out there who is working on filling the space left by the Goodreads acquisition: a book reviews site with the potential reach of Goodreads...but that is still independent.

Some comments from survey respondents:

"One of the wonderful things about GoodReads is that it was completely independent of any bookseller, publisher, author and it was reader driven. I could go there and get honest reviews and recommendations without having to worry that they were influenced by the bottom dollar. Now here's another good thing ruined by a major corporation."

"Neutrally optimistic? I don't much care, it might be a little interesting from the outside. I don't use GoodReads, though I have an account, and I use Kindle very little - no gadget and I tend to read through calibre or FBReader rather than the app."

"My worry is Amazon is already the thousand pound gorilla in this industry and readers, and especially writers, need some independent tools. Goodreads has been a reliable one of these, precisely because it isn't a direct seller, so it maintains independence. Losing this is a shame."

"People have pointed out that Amazon does not have a history of buying companies and then running them into the ground like other large companies, so I'm holding out hope for goodreads (which I just recommended to some of my students)."

"Will wait to see what changes are made. There have been a lot of complaints about issues at Goodreads. They might be fixed now, might be better or worse. BUT.. I wish esp. writers/pubs would stop the OMG the sky is falling everytime Amazon farts. If it was Apple or B&N there would have been silence. It gets really old."

"So far, they haven't ruined my fave bookstore, The Book Depository, and I was greatly afraid when they bought that. I only use Goodreads to really keep track of my reading... ...however, I'm not keen on Amazon buying just everything - that doesn't make me very happy - but it's a good excuse to gracefully bow out of Goodreads; I cannot STAND the whole Amazon rating/review things, and the crazy it inspires in authors, and if that's coming to town, I'm out."

"If I wanted to review books for Amazon I would. If I wanted Amazon to mine my data and reading habits I'd have a kindle."

"It all depends on whether Amazon changes or limits the experience."

"Cautious, sad they're only taking care of Kindles."

"Cautiously pessimistic?"

"They'll probably want to link everything to one profile--all my reviews and conversations. Just as they want to link my kindle! I don't want my book reviews linked to the stuff I write about vacuum cleaners or underwear. Bah."

"Best-case scenario: the acquisition will be a positive one for those who already use Amazon and have Kindles, and that it won't affect those of us who only use Goodreads at all. But I'll still be keeping an ear to the ground about possible replacements, just in case Amazon makes too many sweeping changes to what is a great site as-is."

"I don't trust Amazon. The jury is out. I'm concerned."

---------------------------------

Also see my other Inkygirl surveys.

Amazon To Acquire Goodreads

Amazon has just announced that it's reached an agreement acquire book-based social network Goodreads for an undisclosed amount. How do you feel about this? Answer via this quickie 2-question survey, multiple choice and anonymous. Anyone who answers will be able to see survey results so far.

Also see other Inkygirl surveys and survey results.

Comic: The Wrong Time To Query An Editor

 

Any other comic geeks out there? You need to get OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL

Above: cover for Ookla The Mok's new album, OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL. Cover art illustration by Art Baltazar, an American comic book artist whose Tiny Titans won the 2011 Eisner Award For Best Publication For Kids.

I've known Rand Bellavia and Adam English of Ookla The Mok for many years; my music group (Urban Tapestry) and Ookla (they were just called Rand and Adam back then) became friends when we were both just starting out. Our paths don't tend to cross that often anymore, but we're looking forward to seeing them both next month at FilKONtario. If you don't know what filk is, feel free to check out my What Is Filk? post.

Anyway, this album has been playing nonstop in my basement office for the past month.

I used to read & collect print comics (Dr. Strange, Power Pack, Elektra, The Dark Knight, Swamp Thing, Elfquest, Chester Brown, Seth, others) until I started to rethink (1) the amount of money I was spending, and (2) the amount of storage space I had. I gave most of my comics to a friend who was thinking of starting up a comics library, but I did save some of my favorites as well as buying compilations to replace some individual issues. I still read comics, but mostly digitally.

Anyway, OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL is pure fun, focusing entirely on Evil and Bad Guys. Tons of geek culture references throughout, not just from comics but also other media, from Stars Wars to Disney to Doctor Who. Catchy earworm melodies and strong lyrics make this a must-have album for the comics fan.

You can download the lyrics from OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL from the Ookla The Mok website, and you can listen to the entire album before buying.

Sidenote: Rand is a librarian! Or rather, a Library Director. You can listen to a song I wrote for him many years ago: Library Boy.

Related links:

Ookla The Mok official website

Ookla The Mok Facebook page

Review: Ookla The Mok Vs Evil (Word Of The Nerd)

Ookla The Mok on CDBaby | Ookla The Mok On Amazon | Ookla The Mok On iTunes

2013 Keep Toronto Reading: If I Could Save One Book.... #KeepTorontoReading

To help support the Toronto Public Library's "Keep Toronto Reading 2013" campaign, I created the video above. 

The question: If the library was burning, which book would YOU save?

Join Toronto's One Book city-wide book club (hey, you don't HAVE to be in Toronto to enjoy the book) and read Ray Bradbury's classic novel, Farenheit 451. Then take part in one of the city-wide events during April: see the Toronto Public Library's Keep Toronto Reading 2013 page.