Business Manager at New York University Press 

Interview Starts at 23:21

In terms of what we’re projecting for the end of ’13, we think we’re going to come in at about 14 percent all-electronic, and the vast majority of that is currently Kindle. Fifty percent of eBook sales are going through Kindle…Nook is actually way down our ladder. Nook is our fifth-best performing ePlatform. This is a lot to do with the nature of the books where we have a lot of library market, and they want PDF or they want straight ePub. I guess Nook just can’t compete with that.

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News

News release announcing Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads – March 28, 2013

Otis Chandler’s post about the acquisition

“‘First do no harm’: My interview with Amazon and Goodreads on the future of Goodreads” by Laura Hazard Owen – March 28, 2013

My exchange of Goodreads messages with Otis Chandler in August, 2010

“Amazon Buys Goodreads. Take That, Bookish!” by Jeff Bercovici in Forbes – March 28, 2013

“Rampant Speculation: How Much Did Amazon Pay for Goodreads?” by Kyle Stock at Bloomberg Businessweek” – March 29, 2013

Note: After I recorded the episode, numerous reports appeared sharply challenging Stock’s estimate of a sales price for Goodreads of “somewhere close to, but not quite, $1 billion.” To wit: Business Insider and Kara Swisher, whose sources put the purchase price at between $150 million and $200 million. 

Patrick Brown of Vroman’s Bookstore interviews Otis Chandler in 2009 (?) - audio file.

LibraryThing founder Tim Spalding’s post titled “How to succeed in an Amazon/Goodreads world” - March 28, 2013

Free Goodreads app at Amazon’s Appstore for Android

Tech Tips

Kindle Touch software update to version 5.3.2.1

Kindle Fire (2nd generation) software update to version 10.3.0

Kindle Fire HD 7″ software update to version 7.3.0

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ software update to version 8.3.0

Worldwide Kindle Support portal

Interview with Tom Helleberg

“Record-Breaking Kickstarter Turns Hamlet Into a Choose-Your-Adventure Epic” by Laura Hudson in Wired – December 20, 2012

“To Be or Not To Be: That is the Adventure” Kickstarter page

Ryan North

Signet Classic Shakespeare Hamlet by William Shakespeare – $4.99 on Kindle

Decision Points by George W. Bush – $13.99 on Kindle

Association of Research Libraries (Tom’s reference to “ARLs” in the interview was to members of this association)

University Press Content Consortium

EBSCO eBooks (formerly netLibrary)

ebrary

Nook

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide by Henry Jenkins – $9.99 on Kindle

Boulder (CO) Public Library eBrary case study

OverDrive

Content

Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now by Douglas Rushkoff – $12.99 on Kindle

Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford and Joshua Green – $12.10 on Kindle

Longform Podcast with Joel Lovell, deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine, discussing his profile of the short story writer George Saunders. (If paywall blocks you, try Googling “George Saunders New York Times Magazine.”)

Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders – $12.99 on Kindle

Amazon expands X-Ray to TV shows

Justified on Amazon Instant Video (free for Prime Members)

Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named “Well, You Needn’t.” This version is “Ra-Monk” by Eval Manigat on the “Variations in Time: A Jazz Persepctive” CD by Public Transit Recording” CD.

Next Week’s Guest

Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock