Tara Maya's Blog, page 37

Who Invented the Elevator?

(Samuel Rysdyk) Usually concealed within the middle of buildings, and hidden behind sliding doors, the elevator is inconspicuous, so simple and comfortable that it can safely be ignored. 

Yet, this mode of vertical transportation is necessary to our modern skyline. The elevator is an invention that was 2000 years in the making. In 236 BC Archimedes used ropes and pulleys to create what we would consider an elevator. Yet, passenger elevators were not broadly installed until the sec...

General NaNoWriMo Stats Round Up

General NaNoWriMo Stats Round Up

For NaNoWriMo main:

◦    341,375 participants, up a whopping 33% from 2011’s total of 256,618 writers.
◦    We wrote a grand total of 3,288,976,325 words, up 7% from 2011’s 3,074,068,446.
◦    This averaged out to 9364 words per person!
◦    We had 38,438 winners, giving us a 11% win rate!

For NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program:

◦    97,864 participants, up 21% from 2011’s total of 81,040...

Kobo On The Rise

(Forbes) Kobo is the major player in the ebook world that you’ve never heard of.
You’ve probably never heard of it because in the U.S. it is thought to have something like a 2% or 3% share in the growing ebook market. In Canada, however, where the company is based, it’s thought to be the market-share leader. It was acquired near the end of last year byRakuten, a company considered the “Amazon of Japan,” and hasstarted to build an ebook business there  (for what it’s worth: ...

Making Merry

"Making Merry" by Tiffany Toland-Scott

The Captive (Short Christmas Story)

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NYT to Publish eBooks with Byliner & Vook

(Galley Cat) The New York Times has opened two publishing programs, turning its massive collection of reporting into short eBooks that will be published with Byliner and Vook. The paper will publish “up to a dozen” Byliner eBooks ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 words apiece and including titles about culture, sports, business, science and health.

The series begins on December 17 with the $2.99 “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek” by New York Timesreporter John Branch.

Vook will work on th...

A Pie For Great-Grandma (Christmas Short Story)

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Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies

You can now purchase UNDEAD: Ten Tales of Zombies for only $.99. I'm one of the contributors with a brand new, never before published story of the most frightening zombie of all... the undead mother-in-law.



UNDEAD: Ten Tales of Zombies

Here's an excerpt...

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Funny T-shirts For Writers

Amazon and Google Open Digital Bookstores in Brazil

Excited Brazilians cheer the news they will get Kindles.
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc both opened their digital bookstores in Brazil on Thursday, hot on the heels of e-book offerings by local booksellers in a fast-growing online retail market.

The simultaneous introduction of the two services highlighted the wide-open nature of Brazil's $12 billion e-commerce market. Low Internet penetration and a swelling middle class have spurred bets on strong growth for years to come.

Amazon wi...