An article in today's Publishing Perspective reports that a startup called Metabooks is the latest company to take a stab at the 'enhanced' ebook market. 

According to Metabooks' Creative Director, Benjamin Alfonsi, the company's first project is an iOS-exclusive edition of John Berendt's bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  The book appears to be a stand-alone app--nothing new in the so-called interactive book arena--and includes a variety of content such as a full-length audiobook recording (Alfonsi refers to it as an "audio dramatization").   

Which is kind of an odd thing to call it.  Because aren’t audio...

This is a great article in the Malibu Surfside News about how Clarey Rudd, owner of the Bank of Books bookstore, is raising funds to create a museum that celebrates Malibu, California's long relationship with writers.;

Rudd's campaign sounds like a worthwhile project Frederick Hastings Ridge, mystery novelist Ross Thomas, Michael Crichton, and beat novelist John Fante are among the many authors who once called this picturesque beachside area home.  Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and author many other novels, was even named Malibu's honorary mayor back in 1933 when he had a...

According to the BCC and other sources, legendary fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died at the age of 66 from the effects of Alzheimer's disease.  Pratchett, creator of the international bestselling Discworld series, was a long-time supporter of assisted suicide, although he ultimately elected not to take his own life and died from the natural effects of his condition.

Sadly, I never met Terry Pratchett, so I have no stories to relate about him or his work.  By all accounts, however, he was quite an interesting man, and was obviously a fine writer.   He will be missed.

Just two days ago, I talked briefly about Mike Kozlowski's blog entry on Good E Reader that, like many articles before it, seems to suggest that the death of ebooks is a foregone conclusion.  As it turns out, any report implying the impending demise of the format is, in the words of Mark Twain, “greatly exaggerated.” 

Today, Publisher’s Weekly reported that overall book revenue were actually up 4.9% in 2014, with ebooks rising 1% to $1.29 billion and accounting for 27.2% of adult book sales for the year.

Not great, but not too shabby, either.  Especially for a format that some...

Mike Kozlowski at Good E-Reader reports that publisher revenue from ebooks has "plunged".  A 1% drop in 2014 revenue over the same period in 2013 is hardly call that a "plunge".  2014 was a rough year for many people.  Obviously, a bad economy affects the economy and how people spend their disposable income.  Personally, I think we should wait until 2016 until we start calling a slight loss in ebook revenue for one year a trend.