Fiona L. Woods's Blog, page 404

Douglas Preston-Authors United-Hachette vs. Amazon

Are we FOR us or AGAINST us?Panzer is doing a little clean-up work in the Catosphere today. Last week he told you about bestselling author, Douglas Preston's email to all his Authors United friends. Mr. Preston was alerting all of them to be ready for his next foray into Hachette's contract dispute with Amazon.

Well, my bad boy has the latest for you.

Mr. Preston and his cadre of knights on their white steeds are ready to do battle. They have sent a letter to each of the ten members of the Amazon Board of Directors telling them to pick sides in the dispute. According to these gallant knights, surely the Board of Directors will agree with them and pick the right side. Either the Board of Directors agree with Amazon's right to not carry certain merchandise during the contract dispute or the Board of Directors disagrees with Amazon's right to not carry merchandise and orders them to carry the merchandise during the contract dispute.

Panzer say, "Pick a sides? Okay, Amazon Board of Directors. Are you on the side for yourself? Or are you on the side against yourself? You are the Board of Directors. Come on. Pick a side."

To read the full letter, tootle over to Authors United letter

A New Panzerism

She had me fooled.Panzer on Romance:

Note to self:

Don't worry about wearing the tuna perfume,

when ...

the only cat in heat ...

is a ...

pole cat.

Peter Carey: No To Assange, No To Amazon, And No To Man Booker Prize

No! No! No!Panzer made a quick trip to The Bookseller site today. He found a post there by Sarah Shaffi documenting her interview with Peter Carey. During the interview Mr. Carey strayed from talk about his new novel Amnesia to talk about Julian Assange, Amazon's dominance in the book market world, and the Man Booker Prize.

Mr Carey revealed in the interview he turned down an offer to co-author a book with Julian Assange. He also spoke of his belief that Amazon gained its dominance in the retail book market because publishers allowed it. Finally, Mr. Carey stressed he is unimpressed with the Man Booker Prize since they have allowed American authors to be added and thus diminished the Prize.

To read the whole post, tootle over to Peter Carey

Amazon Files To Build Two More Office Towers In Seattle

Let's go to Seattle and check this out.Yesterday my kitty cat reporter told you Amazon's plans to expand its London headquarters. Today he has news about Amazon's plans for office expansion at the Seattle, Washington (U.S.A.) headquarters.

According to Jay Greene at The Seattle Times newspaper site, Amazon wants to add one city block with two more office towers to its plans for its downtown Seattle headquarters. This will be in addition to the three blocks Amazon has plans to construct six buildings on. That's a total of eight high rise buildings!

Panzer says, "Where will all the employees for those buildings come from?"

To read the full post, tootle over to Amazon files plans to build two more office towers downtown | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times

Amazon To Expand London Office Workforce To 5,000

I'm available for a London trip.Panzer stopped in at The Bookseller site today. Our bad boy Catosphere reporter found a post by Lisa Campbell about Amazon's future plans for it's UK head office workforce.

According to Ms. Campbell, Amazon is building 431,000 sq. feet of new office space in London. Amazon plans to be finished building in 2016 and will move into the new space in 2017. The office space expansion is to accommodate the anticipated increase of the office workforce from 1,700 to 5,000 persons.

Panzer says, "That's a lot of people Amazon is adding to the office workforce, but no mention of cats. Who's going to handle mouse control?"

To read the full post, tootle over to Amazon London

Apple's Price-Fixing Settlement Closer to Approval

Yes or No?Panzer visited Publishers Weekly today. He was following up on some news he heard about Apple. No it's not news about the new phones or watch. This is news about Apple's price-fixing case.

The post at PW concerns Apple's proposed terms of the settlement of the case. Judge Denise Cote has issued preliminary approval of the settlement terms. My bad boy found out this is not her final judgement, however, and the case still continues.

There's a link to a website for information included in the post. The post is long enough it requires a small cup of tea while you're reading it.

Panzer says, "If you're one of the customers involved in this case and plan to 'opt out' of the settlement, you only have until October 31 to make that choice known."

To read the latest information on Apple's continuing price-fixing saga, tootle over to Apple settlement

Yes or No?Panzer visited Publishers Weekly today. He was ...

Yes or No?Panzer visited Publishers Weekly today. He was following up on some news he heard about Apple. No it's not news about the new phones or watch. This is news about Apple's price-fixing case.

The post at PW concerns Apple's proposed terms of the settlement of the case. Judge Denise Cote has issued preliminary approval of the settlement terms. My bad boy found out this is not her final judgement, however, and the case still continues.

There's a link to a website for information included in the post. The post is long enough it requires a small cup of tea while you're reading it.

Panzer says, "If you're one of the customers involved in this case and plan to 'opt out' of the settlement, you only have until October 31 to make that choice known."

To read the latest information on Apple's continuing price-fixing saga, tootle over to Apple settlement

10 Things You Need To Know Before Self-Publishing

10 Total TipsPanzer was out in the Catosphere today and stopped in at the Blurb Stories blog. This was his first visit and he didn't know what he'd find. It turned out to be an interesting stop.

My bad black cat boy found a post about the ten things an author needs to know before they self-publish. The ten things include picking a platform, ebook and/or print, picking a typeface, designing a cover, the competition, and more. There are even links in the tips.

Panzer says, "If you're thinking of jumping into the self-publishing pond, you need to read this."

To read the full post, tootle over to self-publishing industry

A New Panzerism

He won't make that mistake again.Panzer on Return Policies:

Mom ...

the Pirate* bought the cheap cat food again.

Can we take him back to the pet store and get a better one?


* How the Pirate became the Pirate.

Scribd Turns One Year Old

We've been together since the beginning.The Panzermobile hit the Catosphere at high speed today. Panzer headed over to the Digital Book World blog.

My bad boy super pilot found a post about his favorite ebook subscription service.

And ...

guess what.

Surprise. It's not Kindle Unlimited!

It's Scribd.

Scribd is celebrating being one year old in October. That's nearly one year before Kindle Unlimited entered the subscription service market. That's nearly one year of building its ebook library up to 500,000 ebooks.

Panzer says, "You do know Cats and Crime is at Scribd, right?"

To read the full post, tootle over to Scribd's birthday