Publishers Launch BOOKISH for Book Lovers

 
Bookish is a new book site that launched last night. The aim of Bookish is to help readers discover and connect with books and authors.

This is a FREE site that is financed by three of the largest book publishers...Hachette, Penguin and  Simon & Schuster. 
In addition to book recommendations and author profiles, the site offers original essays, interviews and book excerpts.

The Bookish mission statement is "to engage more readers with more books, more authors and with one another". 

Bookish will sell both print and ebooks on it's site, but allows customers to buy from other sources including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound.

My Thoughts
Bookish is a brand new site with a great deal of potential. I am really excited about all the features that are offered here. This is much more than a book selling business or book review site. I am especially interested in the opportunity to stay informed on all the latest "book news" in the different subjects that I am interested in.

If you like children's books, Bookish provides top stories from the Bookish editors about children's literature. These articles include information on the newest and best books in the world of kid's lit. It also provides interesting interviews with children's book authors and illustrators. At the bottom of the page is a section called "Related News". Links for recent news articles about children's books are provided with short summaries. 

I think this site is a real WINNER!

Go take a look at BOOKISH and let me know what you think in the Comments Section below.

The eBook Revolution and a Happy Book Blogger

The year 2011 is quickly coming to a close. This year has seen some dramatic changes for the book publishing and marketing industries.  I can honestly say that the Amazon Kindle has made this a fabulous year to be a reader and a wonderful year to be a book blogger.

The ebook revolution has made a huge difference in the accessibility of books, reports, articles, magazines, newspapers and essays. Amazon has reported that they are selling more ebooks than print books. I believe this trend will continue and I think this opens new doors of opportunities for both authors and readers.

I would like to share a few of my personal observations about the Kindle and the way it has changed my life for the better.

• I downloaded the free Kindle for PC Application to my laptop computer in 2009. I ordered several ebooks and was very pleased with the experience of receiving them in a matter of seconds and reading them on my computer screen. The only problem was that I could not carry my laptop computer in my purse and it was a difficult to curl up in bed with a computer.
• I began dropping hints to my husband that I would like to have a Kindle ebook reader. He didn't know what a Kindle was until he noticed a co-worker using one at his job. She showed him how it worked and he liked it. He also knew that I would like it. In October of 2010, my husband surprised with a Kindle 3.
• I had been writing book reviews on this blog for over a year, but I did not have access to the kinds of books that I really wanted to review. When I got my Kindle, a whole new world opened up to me. I was able to purchase and receive new books on their release date, receive books from authors via email and access free ebooks from Amazon.Com. I am now able to check-out ebooks from the public library and read them on my Kindle.
• My goal for 2012 is to continue to read, review and promote ebooks using this blog, social media outlets and video book trailers. I am a happy book blogger who is dreaming of writing and publishing a book for the Kindle during the next few months.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken time to read this blog during 2011. I appreciate your time and your participation. I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope to see you again in 2012.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Never Give Up

Have you ever faced rejection? Do you feel like giving up? Arthur A. Perkins has written Stop Writing, Fool to vent his frustrations about his writing career. This is a short story about Mr. Perkin's (known as AA) painful addiction to writing.
AA has had the writing virus for over 30 years. He got his first rejection letter at the age 22. Twenty years went by without further literary temptation.
Then, a co-worker encouraged Mr. Perkins to enter a short story competition that was sponsored by a local television station. He sent off a 5000 word story but he never got a reply from the competition, nor was his manuscript returned. This experience led to many literary ups and downs during the next ten years. AA acquired a literary agent and even tried his hand at writing plays, but it seemed like he was destined to failure.
This story is almost funny...if it were not so sad. At first it appears that this man is completely defeated...prepared to finally give up this addition to writing that has caused him so much pain.
But wait. AA has not given up...he is not defeated after all. On the last page of this memoir, he states "if you wish to read a low-cost novel by the same writer, the following two full-length novels can be found among the thousands of ebooks in the Kindle store."
AA no longer has to deal with those dreaded rejection letters from publishers, he has SELF-PUBLISHED his novels and he is on a roll! He will never give up!

This is a short read that many people will identify with. The book is currently being offered as a FREE Kindle ebook.  Read it today....and check-out AA's other books on Amazon.

Please share your thought in the Comments section below.