Indie Publishing
The Digital Revolution Kills Jobs Faster Than It Creates New Ones
There are two kinds of people: those who complain about disruption and those who celebrate it. The former are the dying indie bookstores, music labels, film industry, little publishing houses unhappy with Amazon’s ToS – the latter are the start-up generation, VC investors, code monkeys and serial entrepreneurs. To those who preach the gospel of the…
Of Swords & Dungeons: An Interactive Gamebook For German Learners
After writing three detective stories for German learners in 2012 and seeing people embrace the format, I wanted to do something different and yet very similar in 2013. So, I decided to create an interactive fantasy ebook for German learners which would not just work on fancy tablets and smartphones but even on the fabulous…
How The Ebook Limits Innovation
Everybody knows what a book is: a stack of printed paper, held together by glue, staples, etc. If we talk about the ebook, however, it’s not that clear. What is an ebook? Is a huge Word document or PDF an ebook? What about Kindle books, Kobo books or Apple’s iBooks? For many years people have…
Books: The Secret Weapon Against Stress
A study at the university of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress levels by 68%. Technology has significantly accelerated the pace of life over the last century. Cities, factories, cars and television may have made our lives more comfortable but they have also taken a toll on our mental well-being. And we don’t even…
Track Indie Book Sales Reports The Easy Way and Visualize Your Data
The 15th of the month is an important day for all of us indie-publishers and writers. It’s a day both eagerly anticipated and dreaded. It’s the day Amazon releases their monthly Kindle sales reports – in a horribly messed up spreadsheet. For me, the 15th of the month is a day of general taking stock…
E-readers aren’t dead, Tablets are just snazzier
A report has been making the rounds lately which shows the “shocking” decline of e-reader sales and has been quickly interpreted as the “Death of E-reading” and the “Conquest of Tablets”. Instead of debating on numbers and statistics, let me add some anecdotal evidence from my own life. Pure Unmitigated Bliss of Reading Despite being…