Guest Author Series - Author Danielle Thorne talks about her Sony e-reader

Author Danielle Thorne

STEPH: Welcome to to my ebook reader series, Dani. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

DANIELLE: Hi, Steph. I've been working online for over twelve years in various capacities. Besides reviewing and editing, I'm the author of five published books. Most of my free time is spent reading when I'm not outside or volunteering for school and church.

STEPH: What ebook reader to you have? How long have you had it?

DANIELLE: I received the Sony eReader (PRS-600) for Christmas in 2009. It also came with a black leather cover and a reading light.

STEPH: What do you like the most about it?

DANIELLE: The two things I like best are first, the cover, which makes it look like a small, leather bound notebook. It's easy to carry around. As far as the features, I like the ability to turn pages by tapping the screen. There are very few buttons to the Sony.


STEPH: What do you like the least about it?

DANIELLE: I do wish the Sony was backlit, but most readers don't have this capability that I've seen. The biggest downside for me, is that it isn't Wi-Fi capable. I have to download books to my computer then transport them from the computer to the reader with the accessory cord.

The only problem I have had is on occasion, it doesn't charge. I'm never sure if it's me or the Reader, but I've read a couple places online that others have this problem. It may be the charger, I don't have details on that. However, whenever I reset it and recharge it, everything is fine.

STEPH: What features are unique to your Sony?

DANIELLE: Because I have an "older" model, I think most of today's readers have the same features such as enlarging the text, making bookmarks and notes, and a dictionary. This reader also comes with a stylus so handwritten notes are possible if you need to make some in a pinch. You can also load photos.

STEPH: Is loading books onto the Sony easy?

DANIELLE: Loading is easy once you are familiar with the "Sony Library" software, but it is time-consuming compared to the Wi-Fi click and buy process.

STEPH What are some of the pros to your book reader?

DANIELLE: I definitely feel it's a quality product. I also like that it doesn't tie me down to any particular bookstore like the Kindle does with Amazon. I can even download doc.'s to my Sony, so that's a nice perk. It opens several types of files. I prefer to use PDF's.

STEPH: Was price a factor when you bought it?

DANIELLE: Not at the time, but it would be for a future purchase if I replaced it.

STEPH: Anything else you'd like to tell us about the Sony?

DANIELLE: I'm still on the fence for which brand to buy for my next reader, but if Sony came out with a Wi-fi version like the Kindle, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.


Danielle Thorne
www.DanielleThorne.com

STEPH: Thanks for popping in and sharing, Dani!

Author Jillian Chantel

Not to knock AA, NA, or any of those wonderful organizations that help a lot of people, but I feel like I'm at a twelve step meeting. Hello, my name is Jillian Chantal, I'm a writer at Desert Breeze Publishing and I own an e-reader.

My Sony e-reader has been my friend and has also been my foe. I have the Sony touch screen version. I got it over a year ago and initially was not enamored of it at all. One problem was that it didn't come with an owner's manual or even a one page "for dummies" diagram on how to use the thing. That was a big reason I didn't use it at first. I'm a bit of a technophobe. Well, not really phobic about it but I'm convinced I have some kind of chemical in my body that really, really hates electronics. If a device can go wrong, in my hands, it will.

Once I played with the little demon for a bit, I figured out how to upload books to it as well as the other features. That was nice but it really would have been great to have a user's guide. I enjoyed reading on it. I liked that I could adjust the size of the print and could carry the thing in my purse. It's very light. I'm happy that I can upload pdfs to it and can make notes. My version has the touch screen and I like that feature for some purposes but not for others. I use the little buttons at the bottom of the device to turn the pages because the touch feature requires almost a hard shove as opposed to a small little brush of the fingertips. I use the touch feature to choose the book I want to read and to open the other screens. One thing I do wish is that it had wireless download, although since I download to the computer first, I have the books in two places and that's nice, too.


A great thing about the Sony is the ability to travel with it- I can take a lot of books in one small package- no large, heavy books to carry in the airport; however, there is a down side to airplane travel with it. You can't have it on at the beginning of the flight nor near the end of the flight. That's about 30 minutes of good reading time lost. In fact, I've been in the middle of an exciting chapter more than once and had to shut it off. Now, let me say, this would be true for any such device so I don't hold it against my little old Sony.



One other thing I didn't foresee with this device is the amount of attention it attracts. Every time I try to read in public on my lunch break, someone asks me what it is and I have to show all that it does. Now, this is good as an e-published writer as I can show them it's nothing to be afraid of using and even bring up that I'm a writer. It's not so good when I want to read and be left alone. If I was a single girl, I might consider the interruptions by attractive men to be a good thing. As it is, I would rather read in peace, thank you.

I've got a great little red leather cover on mine and it's just too cute. It makes it easier to hold when reading. It even feels like a book!

Wednesday Scoop from the Publishing World

Isn't that a cute picture? A Kindle and a iPad making friends? *grin*

I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported me on my recent blog tours. In July, I went on a blog for my novel, 'Destination: Berlin,' then in August I went on a blog tour for "The Giving Meadow." I enjoyed the tours very much, but I am a bit pooped. *grin* so I'm going to take a break and try to get back to my own blog schedule. I hope to get out a little bit on some of my other blogs I'm affliated with and I'll post those dates on the side bar as they come up.

Wednesday's here is always scoop from the publishing world and I usually take a look at Publisher's Weekly since they have the most recent and update info. This is a link to them: http://www.publishersweekly.com

SONY UPDATES IT'S EREADERS:
The rumors earlier this month were spot on. Sony is indeed releasing a redesigned and upgraded suite of its three digital readers—the 5”screen Pocket Edition; 6” screen Touch Edition and 7”screen Daily Edition—offering full optical touch screen functionality, nonglare black & white e-ink display along with reduced size and weight. The new devices are not only stylish—they come in silver, black and pink aluminum skins—but also offer stepped up power, crisp page-turning and increased storage capacity. Only one model, the top of the line Daily Edition, offers 3G/wireless. The Pocket and Touch Editions will be available beginning today; the Daily Edition in November.


Daily Edition
Despite the frenzy to cut prices in the digital reader marketplace, Sony seems determined not to go down that road. The Pocket Edition, with USB cable file transfer, is $179; the Touch Edition, also with USB cable file transfer and expandable storage, is $229; and the Daily Edition will sell for $299. Despite lowering its prices earlier in the summer, Sony has effectively returned the devices to their former, higher price points. It will be interesting to see if these prices hold in a market full of devices selling for significantly less. By the holiday shopping season it’s likely that there will be full color backlit LCD reading devices selling for $99 and the price of the b&w Kobo Reader, formerly $150, has now been lowered to $99.

STEPH'S THOUGHTS: I like Sony's new look. The Daily Edition which is compatable to the Kindle 3G is $100.00 more than the Kindle. Only time will tell if not lowering the price will work. Interesting Note: Sony is one of the rare EBook readers you can find in stores. I've seen them in Toys R US, Best Buy, and other techie places.

RUMOR MILL: The Kindle is supposed to be going into a certain few stores soon, Target is one I believe but I don't know if they are in stores yet.

Personally speaking, the more ebook readers in brick and motar stores the better. It helps to get the work out.


JUNE EBOOK SALES UP 119%!!
Electronic books continue to show explosive growth in the Association of American Publishers Monthly Sales report. The AAP reports that June 2010 gross e-books sales were $29.9 million, an increase of 118.9% over the $13.7 million in sales reported for the same period in 2009. Gross e-book sales for the first six months of calendar year 2010 are $180 million, a 203.8% increase in sales over the $59.2 million sales reported for the same calendar year date in 2009.

STEPH's THOUGHTS: Ebooks are the wave of the future and continue to grow. These figures are encouraging!


BORDERS LAUNCHES A PAID LOYALITY PROGRAM:
Borders is unveiling a customer rewards program called Borders Rewards Plus through which customers, for a $20 annual fee, can get discounts on merchanside and free shipping on most online orders. The new program is in addition to a free members program. B&N charges customers a fee to belong to its members program.

To entice customers to participate in the new program, which will become available on September 1, Borders is offering Borders Rewards Plus members the opportunity to earn "Borders Bucks" more quickly through September 6. As Borders explained: typically, members earn $5 in Borders Bucks for every $150 they spend annually, but during this period, Borders will double the spend to bring the member closer to the $150 threshold faster."

In addition to receiving discounts and free shipping, Borders Loyalty Plus members will also receive 40% off the list price of hardcovers (while members of the free loyalty program receive 30%).

STEPH'S THOUGHTS: Borders has been struggling for years and I think a loyality program is good, but to pay $20? Are the incentives worth it? I think what will save Borders is for them to embrace Kobo and the sales offered through ebooks.


THE KINDLE 3
he Kindle 3 is the best e-reading device currently available; arguably, the iPad blows any single-purpose device out of the water, but that’s a topic for another article, and if you prefer and E-Ink screen to the iPad’s LCD, the Kindle 3 is far and away the best device you can get. It’s been thoughtfully redesigned with small but meaningful updates on the design and functionality of the Kindle 2, which, while they don’t amount to a big change in how the Kindle works or what it does, they do make the Kindle 3 easier and more fun to use.

The most noticeable improvement is the much sharper screen: it has a whiter tint than the screen on the Kindle 2, and the text is considerably crisper. It’s similar to the difference between the display on the iPhone 3Gs and the “Retina” display on the iPhone 4: even if you didn’t mind your old display, this new screen is so much better that it makes you think your old Kindle screen was comparatively grainy, so Amazon solved a problem you didn’t know you had.

Next, the Kindle 3 is a lot faster, than the Kindle 2. Page turns no longer have that little lag; they happen, if not almost instantly, in about the time it takes to turn an actual paper page. The new Kindle spends less time “thinking” in general, from opening and closing books, entering and moving around the Kindle store, to waking and sleeping. Again, the old Kindle wasn’t that slow, but this one is faster than any other e-reader out there.

Amazon also made a bunch of improvements to the body and physical mechanics of the device. First off, the Kindle is a good deal smaller--it’s somewhere between the length and width of a mass market and trade paperback, and about as thick as a pencil. It’s noticeably lighter, too. Best of all, the buttons are all much more satisfying to press. The page turn buttons--which are now smaller and mirrored on the left and right of the screen (no more big home button on the right side--it’s been moved down into the keyboard)--are nice and springy. You can actually blackberry-type on the keyboard, which is a huge improvement. Instead of the weird little joystick that’s on the Kindle 2, you’ve got an embedded directional control with a big “select” button in the middle which is perhaps a bit too sensitive. The new graphite body of the Kindle also has a satisfying, vaguely gripy back. The on/off slider is also now on the bottom of the device, which is confusing if you’re used to looking for it on the top, as on the Kindle 2.

The other cool thing Amazon’s come up with is a branded case with a built-in book light that slides out of the upper right corner. It’s powered by the Kindle’s rechargeable battery, so only turns on when the Kindle is in the case and switched on. The case costs a hefty $59, but it’s cool.

As far as the downsides, you are, of course, still locked into Amazon’s store, but that’s not going to change--Amazon, at its core, isn’t a hardware manufacturer, it’s a company that innovates retail. Neverminding it’s nice features, the Kindle is, finally, a portable gateway into Amazon’s store. The Kindle is also an E-Ink device, and all it does it display text; some users may be comforted by that limited functionality, others frustrated. Apple is likely to introduce a smaller iPad soon, which may push E-Ink, and dedicated readers, toward the background. We’ll see.

But this is the best E-Ink device you can get right now. The changes and updates, while very cool, might not, however, justify scrapping your Kindle 2 in exchange for a Kindle 3--they’re still pretty similar. Maybe wait for the Kindle 4, which is rumored to have a feature that will let you read books that, as of today, haven’t even been written.

STEPH'S THOUGHTS: My husband ordered the Kindle 3. Can't wait to see it as I LOVE my Kindle !

I welcome your thoughts, comments and opinions on the publishing world.
Smiles
Steph

A look at Ebook Readers

Well, I don't have an ebook reader - at least not yet, but ebooks are gaining in popularity and ebook reader's are a must. The most I hear about is the Kindle. Here's the stats on the new Kindle from the Kindle home page:

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

3G Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle; no annual contracts, no monthly fees, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

International Coverage: Enjoy 3G wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries.

Paper-Like Display: Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight

Carry Your Library: Holds up to 1,500 books

Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging

Of course, there are more features, I'm being brief here. I like all these features and more. The new Kindle is weighing in at $259. So....is it worth it?

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I have a Kindle app for the IPhone and in fact, I read Rita's Hestand, "Runaway Bride" off my Kindle app. I liked the conviencence (sp) of it. Since I take my phone everywhere, my book went with me. And it opened up at the touch of a button. I bought it at the touch of a button and it's hooked up to my Amazon account. There wasn't too much glare and the font was easy on my easy.

Who says I need an ebook reader, right?

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Then there's the Sony Ebook reader. They have a touch edition and the cost is only $199. The screen is 6" and it has access to Google books. It is compable with many ebook stores and has 5 different sizes for text. There's a 2 week battery with audio/picture player and the memory can be expanded.

I like this too. So it doesn't have access to Amazon's library. That is probably the only set back.

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Then I found the Barnes & Noble Nook. It's not available yet. Maybe Christmas? I wasn't sure. It has lots of features comparable to the other readers and access to the Barnes & Noble ebook library. It's got a touch screen and the battery will last 10 w/o wireless. Mind you, wireless sucks the life out of batteries, trust me on this.

Here's a link to the top 10 ebook readers - mind you this link is PRICEY and quite honestly, I don't want to spend over $250 for my ebook reader.

http://ebook-reader-review.toptenreviews.com/

Ebook readers shout out. What ebook reader do you have? What's the TOP 3 features you LIKE about it. What did you think of the price. Do you find having access to Amazon, Google Books or B&N convientent or a deciding factor in your decision to get one? Love to hear your thoughts.

Steph