Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 75
September 27, 2017
Why Nonfiction Audiobooks Are The Perfect Choice For First-Time Listeners
Before I started listening to audiobooks, I will admit, I was a bit skeptical of the idea. A hardcore bibliophile, I have always felt a certain attachment to physical books, but once I tried listening to my first nonfiction audiobook, I was obsessed. If you have never tried this kind of “reading,” nonfiction audiobooks just may be the genre that gets you hooked.
Audiobook listening is a unique way to experience a book that is not only convenient for the reader on the go, but enriching to anyone who wants to be told a story the good old-fashioned way: out loud. Whether you’re listening to a novel narrated by your favorite actor or a memoir read by the writer herself, audiobooks give you a new way to connect with your subject matter and the story itself.
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Like traditional reading, audiobooks are amazing across genres, but when it comes to the best audiobook listening, there are even more benefits when the genre is nonfiction. Nonfiction is a broad genre, and under it’s bookish umbrella you can find everything from memoirs and biographies to historical and scientific writing. So whether you’re trying to learn about a new topic, understand another language, or get through a difficult read on an intimidating subject, audiobooks are there to help you understand and enjoy.
A lot of people avoid nonfiction books in favor of fiction for fear that nonfiction is dull, boring, or hard. As a huge nonfiction reader, I can tell you firsthand that the genre has plenty of excitement, emotion, and interesting action to keep any reader interested. But, if you are still worried that a nonfiction book on World War II will be too tedious to get through, audiobooks may just be your new best friend.
With an audiobook, narrators help enhance the story in new and exciting ways that simply reading words on a page can’t do. By using interesting tones and audible emphasis, or incorporating addition audio clips and other voices and even other actors, audiobook narrators have the power to to turn even the most mundane chapters into engaging story hours just like that.
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Stranger Things Season 2 Story Revolves Around the ‘Shadow Monster’
Stranger Things showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer tease story details for season 2, including that the mystery surrounds a shadow monster. Season 1 of Stranger Thingsdebuted on Netflix last summer, unraveling the mysterious disappearance of Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), the appearance of a young telekinetic girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), and the supernatural creature called the Demogorgon in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. Viewers fell in love with the Goonies-like band of kids at the core of Stranger Things – which includes Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) – as they tried to find their friend and fight the Demogorgon.
The series also followed Will’s mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) as she worked with police chief Jim Hopper (David Harbour) to find her son, while Will’s brother Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Mike’s sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) conducted their own investigation into the Demogorgon and the Upside Down. Season 2 of Stranger Things, which has been given the theatrical moniker of Stranger Things 2, will introduce some new players to Hawkins, including Sean Astin’s Bob Newby, Sadie Sink’s Max and Dacre Montgomery’s Billy. Now, some of the major characters of Stranger Things 2 grace the covers of EW’s latest issue, while the Duffers reveal new details about the season.
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While talking to EW, the Duffer brothers revealed the season 2 mystery will revolve around something called the “shadow monster” – a massive creature that appears to Will in a PTSD-like vision of the Upside Down, which were teased in the Stranger Things season 1 finale. Ross explained, “It’s all connected to this singular threat, which is tied into this shape that Will sees in the sky.” Matt went on to say of the entire nine-hour season, “Each episode is building on the last one. It gets much crazier than it ever got in season one.” Take a look at the Stranger Things EW covers in the gallery below.
Source:
http://screenrant.com/stranger-things-season-2-monster-details-ew-covers/
Casey Affleck’s Production Company Signs Deal With Amazon Studios
Casey Affleck’s newly launched production company Sea Change Media has signed an exclusive first look deal with Amazon Studios, Variety has learned. It makes sense that Affleck’s banner would want to hang its hat with Amazon. The actor picked up an Oscar for best actor for his work in “Manchester by the Sea,” which Amazon bought out of Sundance and successfully pushed for awards attention.
The two-year deal will cover both film and television projects. Sea Change Media says it wants to back stores that shine a light on underrepresented voices. It goes on to say that its lodestar will be a “philosophy of inclusivity and collaboration.” Hollywood has been engulfed in a debate about the lack of films about women and people of color in recent years, so Sea Change Media is clearly looking to help promote more diversity in film and television. Whitaker Lader, who previously worked at the Sundance Institute, serves as the company’s head of production and development.
Amazon Studios has been signing a number of exclusive first-look production deals this year as it looks to bolster its development slate. It previously singed pacts with Bona Fide Productions ( “Little Miss Sunshine”), Killer Films (“Carol”) and Le Grisbi Productions (“Birdman”).
“This deal with Casey exemplifies our focus in expanding Amazon Studios’ relationships with top-notch filmmakers and content creators,” said Roy Price, head of Amazon Studios, in a statement. “Our goal is to be in business with high caliber talent in order to grow our slate of quality content for our customers.”
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Casey Affleck’s Production Company Signs Deal With Amazon Studios (EXCLUSIVE)
September 26, 2017
Vimeo Acquires Livestream and Launches Vimeo Live
Vimeo is adding live-streaming capabilities to its video-sharing website so that users can stream live events, including everything from concerts to sporting events.
The company said on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire the live video streaming service Livestream and is launching a new service called Vimeo Live. IAC-owned Vimeo did not announce the financial details for its acquisition of Livestream, a Brooklyn-based company that says it has more than 10,000 subscribers including businesses like Spotify and Dow Jones.
Once the deal closes, Vimeo said it will fold Livestream’s technology into its new Vimeo Live service, which will allow Vimeo’s paying community of “creators” to stream live video from anywhere and then archive that footage, which they can distribute and sell later through the site.
Vimeo’s subscribers, who currently pay as much as $50 per month to host their videos on the website, will have the option of signing up for a similar monthly or annual subscriptions for access to Vimeo Live’s new live-streaming tools. Vimeo’s website is already advertising those new Vimeo Live subscription plans, starting at $75 per month as well as a custom plan for businesses like media companies that costs $800 monthly.
“Live streaming is the #1 request from our creator community this year, and we’re focused on bringing a new level of quality, convenience and craft to this evolving medium,” Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud said in a statement. “With the launch of Vimeo Live and the addition of Livestream’s impressive team and innovative product suite, we can empower a diverse range of creators to produce beautiful live experiences with professionalism and ease.”
Vimeo Live will allow subscribers to broadcast live events in high-definition video with the option of hosting live-chat next to the video. And, once the deal for Livestream closes, Vimeo Live will also offer mobile live-streaming, including through the Vimeo app on Apple iOS, Google Android, Roku, Amazon, and Samsung devices, among others.
Vimeo’s push into live-streaming comes only a few months after the company announced that it had abandoned plans to launch a subscription video service in 2018. That service would have featured original programming from Vimeo, which had said it planned to spend “tens of millions” of dollars on original content in an attempt to follow in the footsteps of other streaming video services like Netflix (which is spending $6 billion on its own original programming this year).
Instead, Vimeo will look to compete with other digital companies that already offer live-streaming video, including Google’s YouTube and Facebook’s Facebook Live.
Source:
http://fortune.com/2017/09/26/vimeo-acquires-livestream-and-launches-vimeo-live/
Dubai tests drone taxi service
The two-seater, 18-rotor unmanned vehicle took off for a five-minute flight above a strip of sand on the Gulf coast.
The flight was watched by Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.
Dubai has big ambitions for becoming a smart city, with drones and robots central to its plans.
The drone was designed by German firm Volocopter and the firm said it hopes to have the taxis up and running within five years.
“Implementation would see you using your smartphone, having an app, and ordering a Volocopter to the next Voloport near you,” said chief executive Florian Reuter.
“The Volocopter would come and autonomously pick you up and take you to your destination.”
The drone had previously been tested in Germany in April.
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Rival Chinese firm eHang was supposed to be the first to launch a fleet of flying taxis in the city but its plans appear to have been delayed.
Blade Runner?
Dubai has positioned itself to become the smartest city in the world with ambitions to have self-driving vehicles account for a quarter of journeys made by 2030.
Noel Sharkey, a computer scientist and robotics expert at Sheffield University, said of the drone plans: “The big challenge will be dynamic obstacle avoidance of other taxis, buildings, birds and delivery drones.
“The skies over Dubai could become uncomfortably crowded very quickly. The ground level of the city could become a dark place of intrigue and mystery like Blade Runner.”
Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41399406
Microsoft is releasing Office 2019 next year
Microsoft is announcing its next major release of Office today at Ignite in Orlando, with a planned release for next year. Office 2019 (arriving in the second half of 2018) will include the usual Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook client apps, alongside server versions of Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. Microsoft is planning to release preview copies of Office 2019 in the middle of 2018, and the software is primarily designed for organizations that aren’t using the cloud Office 365 versions.
Office 2019 will include better IT capabilities for businesses that aren’t using Office 365, and new ink features like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects, and ink replay. Excel will also include new formulas and charts for data analysis, and PowerPoint will pick up the morph and zoom animation features that Office 365 customers are currently taking advantage of. Microsoft says it will share more on Office 2019 in the coming months, but for now it sounds like if you’re on Office 365 you’ll still have the most up-to-date features.
Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16366150/microsoft-office-2019-features-release-date
How to Become an Amazon Best Selling Author
Research other titles in your book’s genre among books that are on the Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store list. To find a Kindle book’s sales rank on Amazon – scroll down and look for “Product Information.” If the book is in the “top 100” it will be given a sales rank for its categories. If it’s not in the top 100 no sales rank will appear in “Product Information.”
Notice whether the top books in your book category all contain the same “keyword” or phrase. Use the Amazon “type ahead” feature (the search bar on their site) and type in your key word or phrase and you’ll notice how it “types ahead” suggesting book titles for you. “Type ahead” phrases result from many people searching for a particular title. Incorporate that phrase or keyword into your title and your book will be found more easily on Amazon.
2. Have your book professionally edited.
Books full of typos, awkward sentences and grammatical errors are returned for a refund more often. Amazon rarely questions a return so do whatever you can to avoid that. The money you spend on professional editing is well worth it.
3. Pay to have your book formatted properly.
Amazon Kindle books look best with “Mobi” formatting. While you can upload a book to Kindle in a Word document it may not lay out properly, so do not skimp on paying to have your book formatted.
4. Create an attractive cover.
People do judge a book by its cover. When you go on Amazon the first thing to attract your attention is the cover. To create a good cover, spend some time browsing books in the same genre as your book. Pick the top 10 or 15 selling books and study their covers. Look at the typography, the layout and the color choices and take notes. You’ll come away with some excellent ideas for your own book.
5. Choose the right category for your book.
Categorizing books lets readers search for the topics they are interested in. Amazon leaves it to you to categorize your book when you upload it to your Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account.
To help readers find your book ask yourself this question, “If I were looking for my book, what categories would I look under?” Then list all the categories you think your book might fit into.
Next, research the top ten to 20 books selling on Amazon which are like yours. Check out how they categorized their books under “Product Information” and categorize yours similarly. Amazon allows you to choose two category paths. Make sure you take advantage of this and fill in both.
Drill down on the categories so that your book will stand out among its competition. For example, if you write a self-help book – don’t end the category path at “self-help.” What else is your book about? Add another related category sub-path beyond “self-help” to your book and then another until you’ve covered every possible sub-genre to your book might be searched for under.
6. Pick the right keywords.
When you upload your book to KDP you are given up to seven keywords or phrases to use for your book. Do your homework by researching keywords and phrases that people might search under to find your book. And do make sure to use all seven!
Use the type ahead feature on Amazon to see if any of the keywords or phrases you have in mind come up. Use the ones that come up on Amazon as they directly relate to on-site searches for books.
Check out popular keyword searches on Google AdWords too but, use these only if necessary after you’ve exhausted all the keywords and phrases you found on Amazon first. Amazon is its own search engine so when you identify a keyword or phrase on Amazon it is showing up because it is a popular search – so use it. (You can also go back and change keywords. This allows you to experiment with what works best for finding your book.)
7. Write a good description.
Amazon gives you up to 3000 words to write a description. Use as many words as necessary to write a compelling description for your book. This is your book’s “sales page” so put on your copywriting hat when you write it.
8. Price it right.
People will not buy an overpriced digital book unless you are a famous author. If your book is less than 100 pages don’t price yourself out of a sale by listing it at the top price range ($9.99) for getting a 70 percent royalty on Amazon.
After playing around with the pricing on my books I found that, “less is more” in terms of book sales.
9. To give your book away or to not give your book away – that is the question.
Amazon has a program called Kindle Select. You enroll your book for 90 days at a time. You cannot be selling this book on any other websites including your own during the time your book is enrolled.
Enrolling your book in KDP Select allows “borrowing” of your book for free by Amazon Prime members. It also gives you the option of choosing 5 days out of the 90 days your book is enrolled to give your book away for free.
I enrolled my second book in KDP and gave away 464 free copies over two days. The book also rose to #1 in Free books in the Kindle store but, as soon as it wasn’t free it quickly sank right off the best-selling list. Before I gave it away for free the book was selling just fine and consistently ranking between #10 -20. It took nearly two weeks for it to rise back up again and to re-appear on the best-selling list.
My theory is that I saturated my market too quickly. I’m not likely to give my book away for free again. You may feel differently though and you should experiment with this. Some people love it and rave about it. If you are using your book to develop leads for your business and not to create passive income then definitely go for it. “Free” does sell.
10. Get reviews.
Give your book out to people and ask them to read it and please put a review on Amazon. Amazon reviews do help sell your books. Never ever pay for reviews. All reviews must be genuine and come from the heart of your reader.
11. Promote your book!
Display your book prominently on your blog. Write posts related to your book’s topic where you can showcase the book. Link to your book on Amazon and put that link in your posts. Start a fan page on Facebook and promote your book there. If your book is selling – thank buyers by tweeting on Twitter and a posting on Facebook. If your book hits the best-selling list – announce it on Facebook and Tweet about it. You’ve got to create your own buzz.
Organize a virtual book tour where your blogging friends can interview you about the book or review the book. Write guest posts related to your book’s topic and mention the book in your post.
Always keep your eyes open for ways to get publicity for your book. Offer to giveaway the PDF of the book to a reader who leaves the best comment about why they want to read the book and has shared the book on social media.
These are the strategies I use and they are working – and with a little effort and planning they can work for your book too. Here’s to seeing your book on the Amazon Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store List!
Source:
http://www.successfulblogging.com/how-to-become-an-amazon-best-selling-author/
Apple updates iBooks Author with wide color gamut support
Images can now make use of the wide color gamut found on recent Macs, iPhones, and iPads, Apple said in iTunes release notes. The company has also made it possible to import images and videos from Photos via the Media Browser or drag-and-drop.
The software also includes unspecified “performance and stability improvements.” iBooks Author is a free download, and runs on Macs with OS X 10.11 or better.
The release coincides with the launch of macOS High Sierra, though it doesn’t explicitly take advantage of new technology. High Sierra mainly adds support for standards like HEVC video, HEIF images, Metal 2 graphics rendering, and the Apple File System that originally debuted on iOS. It also includes improvements to apps like Safari and Photos, which might have warranted the iBooks Author changes.
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Audible for Fire TV Now Available
Amazon has just released an official Audible Audiobook app for the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. This will allow users to access their existing digital catalog and make purchases. There are free samples for every title available and they can be listened directly within the app.
Audible for Fire TV includes 180,000+ best sellers, new releases sci-fi, romances, mysteries, classics, and more. New users can get a free 30 day trial, where they can access to one free title. Existing subscribers can import their entire audiobook collection within the Fire TV app or browse the store and use a credit to get an title they want.
Ever since the Fire TV first got released, users have been begging for an official Audible app. It is now available as a free download. Sometime in the next few weeks Amazon will be releasing two new Fire TV models.
Source:
https://goodereader.com/blog/audiobooks/audible-for-fire-tv-now-available
