‘Heroes Get Hired,’ A Free eBook For Veterans From NBC Publishing & Citi

February 20, 2013 – NEW YORK – A free eBook and guide for veterans, Heroes Get Hired: How to Use Your Military Experience to Master the Interview, has been released today by NBC Publishing. Sponsored by Citi and produced in collaboration with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) and the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN), this free enhanced eBook by Michelle Tillis Lederman provides a resource to aid veterans in the difficult career transition from military service into civilian employment. Featuring an introduction by Medal of Honor recipient and NBC News and MSNBC military analyst Col. Jack Jacobs (Ret.), as well as editorial input from IAVA and MSCCN, two leading veterans service organizations, the invaluable information provided in Heroes Get Hired includes specialized advice and coaching designed to meet the unique needs of veteran job-seekers and their families. Lederman’s eBook includes job search and interview tips, real-life success stories, and instructional videos that feature IAVA member veterans interacting with seasoned human resources professionals in order to visualize and demonstrate key concepts.  “As a part of NBCU’s continued commitment to veterans, NBC Publishing is proud to create a project that gives something back to all of the servicemen and women that have done so much for our country,” says Vice President and General Manager of NBC Publishing, Michael Fabiano, “It was an incredible collaboration between many organizations and individuals and really focuses on very practical methods to prepare for the interview process.” Citi’s support for Heroes Get Hired underscores the work of Citi Salutes™, a firm-wide initiative that focuses on career opportunities for veterans and their families, partnerships with veterans service organizations through Citi Community Development, and the development of Citibank financial products and services tailored to the greater military community. “Citi employs more than 2,000 military veterans, many of whom faced the challenge of transitioning directly from active-duty service to the civilian workplace,” said Suni Harford, Citi’s Regional Head of Markets for North America. “Through our support of this free e-book, Citi aims to make the job search process less daunting and more likely to end positively: with a great job and a long, successful career that builds on the qualities and talents of our service members and their families.” Heroes Get Hired: How to Use Your Military Experience to Master the Interview is now available in both enhanced and non-enhanced versions as a free download for e-reading devices such as Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Sony Reader, Kobo, and Google Nexus. For veterans and family members without access to a dedicated e-reader, Heroes Get Hired: How to Use Your Military Experience to Master the Interview will also be available in full, free of charge, at HeroesGetHired.com. # # # About the Author Michelle Tillis Lederman, author of The 11 Laws of Likability, is the founder of Executive Essentials, a training company that provides communications and leadership programs, as well as executive coaching services. She has delivered seminars internationally for fortune 500 companies, universities, high schools, and nonprofit organizations. She has been quoted in the New York Times, The Star Ledger, Working Mother and Real Simple magazines, US News & World Report, on MSNBC, and Monster.com among others. Her book, articles, quizzes and videos have been featured on USA Today, AOL, Forbes, CNBC, and About.com. Visit www.michelletillislederman.com for more information. About NBC Publishing NBC Publishing is a division of NBCUniversal Media, LLC that focuses on developing digital publishing projects from content created within the NBCUniversal and Comcast family of properties, as well as publishing original works with outside authors and publishing partners. Visit www.nbcpublishing.com for more information. Aabout Citi Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com and www.citisalutes.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://new.citi.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

For more information contact: Marie Wicht NBC News e: marie.wicht@nbcuni.com

Sony: No Baloney or Too Little Too Late?

A new suite of Sony Readers will soon be available and the big question I've been grappling with is whether or not this is Sony's last chance to be a competitive player in the e-Reader showdown.

With Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook making major inroads it's no stretch to conclude Sony has to work harder than ever to hold on to what slice of market share they have (had?) in the U.S.

It's too bad because Sony was one of the first to provide a well designed, fully functional e-Reader back in 2006. However, it never quite had a robust or easy-to-use online Bookstore to support it. Unfortunately, all these years and several models later, the latest devices still don't, especially when compared to Amazon's vibrant Kindle store. Even the valiant effort Sony has made aligning its e-Book program with big players like Google to expand their e-catalog with free public domain titles or Overdrive to enable digital "checkout" from local libraries, hasn't really seemed to capture the interest of consumers the way Amazon and Barnes & Noble have managed to do in recent months. And when Sony tried to develop a strong alliance with Borders to place devices in stores so people could try them in person, the effort simply fell flat. Yes, you can still purchase a Sony Reader from Borders, but then again, you can buy one from Amazon too.

Over the years I've owned several Sony Readers and although each scored points for having a sleek design, they've consistently fell short due to mediocre functionality and a fairly poor interface. Part of the problem is that each time a new device is released, the redesigns and navigations tend to change so dramatically, that one has to re-learn how to use it. And this can be frustrating. Apple has demonstrated time and time again how to balance the new with the familiar. In other words, if I already own an Apple product, whether it be a iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone, or iPad, there is a consistency to the way I'd expect to control each platform. The navigation is simple, intuitive, and new features are typically welcomed as opposed to puzzling.

Now I confess so far I haven't actually held one of the latest Sony Readers to take it for a test run, but I've watched enough demos to determine when it comes to choosing one comparable e-Reader over the other, I would guess most folks will gravitate towards purchasing a Kindle 3 or Nook.

But even for those who were/are considering one of the new Readers, I imagine the higher price tags (the lowest priced model is $179, $40 more than the Wi-Fi only Kindle) have put the kibosh on any enthusiasm they may have had. Sony publicly claims their own studies show people are not overly concerned about price point when deciding what matters most before purchasing a dedicated e-Reader. I find this surprising 'cos I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't consider cost before purchasing electronics (unless it's made by Apple). So what's going on here?

Well, one explanation might be that throughout parts of Europe and Asia, Sony Readers are quite popular and firmly established as the e-Reading device of choice. But as the Kindle expands beyond American borders, this may or may not continue to be the case. Regardless, one would expect Sony to do everything it can to attract American consumers during these tough economic times, especially as we head into the holiday season.

What do you think? Is Sony still in the e-Reader game?

iBooks: The Magical & Revolutionary Way to Read

I've been using my new iPad for the past couple of months and have to say...I absolutely love it!

Now I could go on and on about what a pleasure it is using this incredible tablet to read periodicals like The New York Times; or how amazing watching videos and movies can be; or how productive time spent checking email and browsing the web is while commuting; or how much fun it is to play games like Parachute Panic with family and friends; or listen to music, stream audio, view photos, and so much more!

But I won't.

Instead I'd like to simply focus on what it's like to browse, shop, and read books using the iBooks application from Apple on this powerful thin slate made of metal and glass.

Let me first point out that I'm not a voracious book reader, so the E-Ink vs. LCD screen debate regarding eye-strain doesn't apply to my reading habits. That said, I do read a tremendous amount of articles on a daily basis, which in the past I would mostly do on the iPhone, so reading with a bright lit screen is something I'm very comfortable with and have never been aware of any eye fatigue as a result.

Before the iPad was released I read books on three different dedicated eReaders: Amazon's Kindle, The Sony Reader, and Barnes & Noble's Nook. Frankly none of them ever lived up to my expectations when it came to the user experience and I would consistently be reminded of this whenever using the Kindle or B&N eReader App on my iPhone. I was struck how the same Hemingway novel on my grey and black 6" Kindle would suddenly come alive on the smaller 3.5" color iPhone. And how the tactile motion of swiping the screen to turn a page instead of pushing physical buttons or moving a tiny toggle just felt more natural, which is saying a lot when you consider we're talking about viewing the printed word on a screen. Plus the ease of changing font size, bookmarking, and managing my library, all with the touch of a finger on the iPhone made me long for the day when these actions could be done on a larger screen.

So back in April when Steve Jobs demonstrated the iBooks App and iBookstore during his introduction of the iPad, it became quite clear that reading eBooks would never be the same. I'm sure Apple was fully aware they accomplished something extraordinary with iBooks, which could explain why the App is presented front and center as a download when first-time iPad users launch the App Store. It's a terrific endorsement for the act of reading from one of the most influential companies in the world and I would hope bibliophiles everywhere have some level of appreciation for it. Of course, it's also a very aggressive move by Apple to go head-to-head with Amazon for market share of eBook sales.

Naturally I downloaded iBooks and immediately began browsing the iBookstore, which is conveniently hidden behind a virtual wooden bookshelf that slowly revolves to reveal the storefront. It's a small but cool feature that never gets boring (for me anyway) 'cos it's as if Bruce Wayne himself commissioned this clever feature. Once in the store you can't help but notice the amount of available selections is limited compared to Amazon, but it should only be a matter of time before that improves. One thing I did find a bit surprising was how a user cannot view a larger version of a jacket image on the book's product page, though I've been told this feature will be introduced sometime in the near future.

But until then, the ease of browsing from one book to another or the ability to instantly read a sample chapter makes the titles that are currently available a pleasure to discover and buy.

If you've watched the Winnie the Pooh demo, then you're aware how beautifully text and illustrations appear within the simulated pages of the iBooks application. But it's not until you actually read on the iPad yourself that you truly appreciate the elegant way functionality such as brightness adjustment, font selection, and pagination appears, disappears, and reappears with a simple tap of the finger. It's pure reading bliss as far as I'm concerned.

And now Apple has announced that soon we'll be able to view PDFs within iBooks, that the iBookstore will be available for the iPhone, and everything viewed between Apple devices will synch together quite nicely (at least I'm confident that'll be the case).

It's worth mentioning that those hoping to read outdoors with the iPad will be disappointed, so an eReader with an E-Ink screen would be the way to go, especially if you like reading at the beach. And as we know, lots of people do, which means dedicated eReaders aren't going away any time soon and here's another reason why: Check out this cool video featuring Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm, demonstrating a new display technology during the recent All Things Digital D8 Conference that is not LCD.

But if you're like me and enjoy the ability to do a variety of amazing tasks with just one device, then I think you'll find the iPad will transform and enhance your daily enjoyment of the things we love: Music, Movies, Magazines, News, Games, and especially...Books!

Got an iPad? What do you think of it so far?

Another Look at Nook: After Upgrade #3

This past weekend my Barnes & Noble Nook received a software upgrade, which would make this the third since the launch of this e-Reader.

In two previous Blog posts, part one and part two, I gave my impressions of the Nook and discussed the positives and negatives. Throughout I kept mentioning how an additional upgrade could significantly make this a better device.

So I was glad to learn of this latest download and had high hopes regarding its impact.

Unfortunately, instead of an improved reading device, what I got instead was the addition of games like chess and sudoku, the option to surf the web, and a few other revisions. You can read about all the new features here.

Now I don't know if there's been any huge demand from Nook users for such applications, but as far as I'm concerned, even if there was, B&N should have ignored it. This was an opportunity to once and for all address a number of key negatives plaguing this e-Reader. Most notably the refresh rate between page turns, which does now appear to be a tad faster, but still suffers from an odd meshing of the text as it changes from one page to the next. It's kind of hard to describe, but for a split second the page you're reading and the page you're about to read blend together displaying a black blob. It's really disappointing that upgrade #3 didn't at least manage to improve this experience so it would be as good, if not better, than when reading on Amazon's Kindle.

But let's talk about the Chess and Sudoku for a moment. The question here is why. Why bother adding these features when what most people are looking for is simply a great e-Reader. It would be one thing if the Nook was a device that was more like an iPad with a full color screen, but instead the chess board or the sudoku boxes appear in both the E-ink screen and the narrow color screen making for a dual experience that is split in two and ultimately unsatisfying. Plus the chess board is not fully visible on the color screen, so you have to constantly scroll up and down to view and move the pieces, which is very awkward. However, even within this small view size, the color looks so much better than the grey and white display above that the comparison just illustrates how visuals like these long to be in color and will have you wishing the screen above was just as vibrant.

But, playing the games is not nearly as awkward as trying to surf the web. I know technically this device can access the Internet, but it should be kept a secret because the experience is extremely clunky, difficult to navigate, and visually unpleasant. This attempt to position the Nook as a multi-purpose device was a poor decision and should've been reconsidered. All these new features do, in a world where Apple's iPad exists, is shine a big spotlight on the shortcomings of the Nook's capabilities. And I say this with no joy because I believe this device has real potential and could be a very good e-Reader that has an advantage in that it can be improved every few months with software refinements, but NOT if this trend continues.

Barnes & Noble wisely took a page from the iPhone by releasing an e-reader with minimal buttons so that 98% of the functions would be executed on a small color touch-screen, where the look and navigation can be changed dramatically. But this wise choice is not being used to their benefit. Instead of wasting precious programming time on games and poor web browsing, there should be much more focus on developing a great reading experience so all future upgrades are viewed as true improvements, not distractions. Being able to change the way the device works without requiring customers to invest in a new version of the Nook gives B&N the opportunity to recognize the customer's needs and deliver them over and over, each time gaining consumer confidence and loyalty.

My conclusion is such enhancements are meant to justify the current $259 price tag for the Nook, especially when it won't be too long before multi-functional devices like the iPad and Dell's Mini 5 Tablet will be priced competitively.

And now two new Nook devices are on the way? I have to say it's difficult to get excited about such an announcement when the current version has a few key remaining issues that need improvement.

Anyone else tried the Nook after this latest upgrade? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A Look at Nook: After Upgrade #2 (Part Two)

In a previous Blog post I had written a basic overview about Barnes & Noble's eReader called the Nook.

Since then I've made a point of buying a few eBooks directly with the Nook, spent time using the color touchscreen to navigate, and tested the B&N App that enables continued reading on smaller mobile devices like the iPhone. Here's what I found:

First let's talk about the buying experience. Touching the green Shop button immediately brought up a welcome screen touting "The world's largest eBookstore" along with a list of products to choose from including magazines, newspapers, and more. I selected eBooks and what appeared was a list of B&N's bestselling titles. Yes, all 1,073,713 of them! I suppose I could've planned spending the next few months of my life scrolling from page to page to see them all, but clearly the better move (call me crazy!) was to select the Browse Subjects option. I was then presented with a list of usual suspects like Biography, Fiction, Mystery, Etc., and with a swipe of my finger scrolled up and down to view all the available categories. I found the best way to do this was to flick with my fingertip, because trying to move the listing with any pressure could mistakenly bring up an unintended genre. If you've ever used an iPhone, you'd find the screen on the Nook simply doesn't respond the same way and requires a more deliberate touch. I chose Fiction & Lit Classics and decide to search for Moby Dick using the virtual keyboard, which worked nicely. There's no Advanced Search, so the more accurate the entry, like both the title and author name, the better the results.

Several editions were available ranging in price, including some for free. At this point I felt it was a good time to try the Show Covers feature to display color jacket images within the bottom screen. This concept takes a page from Apple's cover flow, which we've become accustomed to in iTunes and on iPods, but unfortunately the side to side scrolling of book covers on the Nook is a bit slow and choppy. But it's a really nice feature and can be improved with the next software upgrade for sure. I found a version of Melville's classic that I liked, bought it, and in approximately one minute it downloaded. All told, not as fast as purchasing an eBook with a Kindle, but then again neither the Kindle2 or Kindle DX feature an additional color screen or the convenience of a virtual keyboard for searching. And again, with another upgrade or two, B&N has the opportunity to streamline the buying experience to remove some unnecessary steps and messages, which will go a long way to making it more user friendly.

A return to My Library found next to the book's title a tiny "LendMe" icon. This feature isn't currently available for all books and is only possible between Nooks (insert joke here). With that in mind, I don't feel this is worth discussing because at the moment it's probably a challenge just to find someone you know with a Nook of their own - Remember Zune? But in time this might end up being a bonus that benefits close friends, book clubs, or family members if the eReader grows in popularity.

So, I began reading my purchase with no intentions to share and while my eyes were fixed on the black & white E-Ink screen, the color screen went dark to avoid being a distraction. Pretty cool. And what's even cooler is how I could swipe this dark field with my finger to turn the pages, which I find preferable from pressing the arrows located on each side of the Nook's casing. Unfortunately, what wasn't so cool and downright frustrating was how this neat feature didn't always work properly. It seems the more the Nook is swiped, it trips up, but with a lot of patience the function eventually begins working again. Add this glitch to the list of really good features that hopefully will be improved with an upgrade. There are also a number of navigation issues in great need of redesign, reapproach, and reprogramming, so perhaps they too will be addressed sooner than later.

I admire how E-Ink works, I'm just not a fan overall. I prefer dimly lit rooms at work and especially at home so I find ALL eReader screens difficult to read most times. And the contrast between the bright colorful screen at the bottom of the Nook only serves as a constant reminder of how dull the top screen appears. Besides battery life, the argument for using E-Ink is that it's easier on the eyes. Personally I find myself straining to read E-Ink screens and just don't agree with this point of view. Plus here's a New York Times article that debunks that theory (so there!).

The color screen is based on Google's Android Operating System and if there is a next generation Nook in the future, it's possible B&N will forego E-Ink and redesign the entire device so that it uses a full color touchscreen. In a world soon flooded with iPads, Slates, JooJoos, and Couriers, this isn't difficult to imagine.

One additional function that would be great to see a future Nook include is playing audiobooks. I find it a bit odd that B&N sells MP3s that can be downloaded and played on a number of mobile devices EXCEPT for the Nook!

And finally...the B&N eReader App.

Well, I was looking forward to testing how the books I bought would synch between my Nook and iPhone, but I'm afraid this just didn't work for me. I tried several times during the past week and couldn't even get books in My Library to successfully download to my iPhone for the chance to compare the experience to using Kindle's App, which was created for the same purpose. I'm truly hoping this problem is unique to me and I will update this post when/if it gets resolved.

In the meantime, if you own a Nook or know someone who does, please take a moment and share your experience here.

A Look at Nook: After Upgrade #2 (Part One)

The e-Books team at Barnes and Noble was kind enough to send me a Nook e-Reader back in January. I've been using it consistently ever since and feel like I can now give it a fair evaluation. So...here it goes:

When I first opened the box I was struck by the minimal cardboard packaging that housed the clear plastic case protecting the Nook. It looked sleek, advanced, and appeared as if it was floating within the recyclable shell. However, I'm sorry to say my admiration quickly turned to frustration and puzzlement when I found myself unable to easily remove it. I kept wondering if anyone at B&N's headquarters had actually attempted to open this first-hand. I carefully pulled, tugged, lifted, etc. but was so afraid of breaking the device that it literally took me a good 5 to 10 minutes to slowly but surely free it from the clutches of the package. I've heard others complain about having a similar experience so I hope B&N comes up with a better system.

The overall design of the Nook is a cross between a Kindle and an Alex, with an off-white exterior surrounding its dual screens: one black & white for reading and the other a narrow color touchscreen for navigation. It has a nice look and it feels pretty good in your hands. Even so, I immediately bought a cover because besides wanting to keep it protected, to me this makes it feel more like reading a book when held. They range in price from $19.95 to $125.00 and I picked one for $29.95 that I thought would be both simple and functional. I have to say I'm pretty happy with my choice and recommend it if you're a Nook owner that hasn't decided on a cover yet.

My Nook came preloaded with a couple of classics, like Dracula and Little Women as well as a sample chapter from The Lost Symbol, which is great since it gives you a chance to read a little and play around to get familiar with the device before having to buy anything. About a week later I received Pride and Prejudice and every now and then a sample poem, magazine essay, Blog post or some other content will automatically download to the Nook for me to check out and I like that.

I received my Nook after a slew of bad reviews, most notably by David Pogue of The New York Times, and must confess I was wondering if what I was holding in my hands could truly be as bad as Mr. Pogue and others reported. Most of those negative evaluations ran in December and thankfully by the early part of the New Year B&N had introduced a software upgrade to make some much needed improvements. This update launched once I registered the device, but I gotta tell ya, I almost completely missed it because the indicator that it was running appeared in the lower right hand corner of the E-Ink screen within a very small grey box that was difficult to read. But once I discovered this download was processing, I thought to myself, Ah, this will probably resolve the issues everyone's been talking about.

Well, not quite. Yes, a number of bugs were in fact eliminated and slight revisions were introduced, but unfortunately the biggest one requiring immediate attention, the slow refresh of all those tiny black dots that appear as words, go away, and return as an entirely new set of words (we're talkin' about E-Ink here), was still noticeably slower when compared to the Kindle or Sony Reader. As it is, this brief but noticeable two-and-a-half second flash between pages is one of the key things most people find a bit jarring, even when viewed on an e-Reader that's faster, so I was pretty disappointed when B&N delivered a bandaid instead of a real remedy.

But THEN in early February a second upgrade was announced, which I heard about from a tweet by one of the tech publications. I quickly downloaded the upgrade while on a train (again, tiny grey box/hard to see) and wallah!, suddenly my Nook had a slightly new look. The buttons on the color screen were no longer full squares, but were now a bit smaller and rounded. It's curious why this change was made, but my hope is that it demonstrates B&N's ability to take in constructive feedback and then respond to it effectively. It would be interesting to learn if this type of change was made due to "in-store" comments from customers as they were trying out the device. Perhaps a majority of users didn't quite understand what they originally saw on the bottom screen were buttons to be touched. If so, B&N has a unique opportunity to capitalize on the interactions between customer and employee and use them to their advantage.

Additionally, new revisions were made in the form of "wording" to describe functionality. For example, when selecting a title from the My Library menu, the screen displayed a large grey box that originally said something like "Opening program," which seemed cold and impersonal. But now the box reads "Opening your book" or "Opening your document" when viewing a self-loaded PDF. It's nothing earth shattering but these small changes show that B&N is working to make the user experience more inviting, which is nice, but the question must be asked...why is there a loading message at all? The competition has managed to avoid interrupting the user's experience and so should B&N. Oh, and that refresh issue I referred to earlier? It too seems to have been improved but by about a half of a second. So it now takes about 2 seconds to go from page to page on the Nook and about 1 on the Kindle. It's amazing how a split second can make such a difference, but when you're reading for long periods of time, those seconds really add up.

Another problem Barnes & Noble fixed with Upgrade #2 was the retaining of bookmarks within a personal document, which wasn't working beforehand. And this was a big one for me because I read manuscripts on my Nook and really needed this to work properly. And hooray, now it does. I must say B&N deserves credit for making it very easy to upload personal documents on the Nook. I've put on several PDFs by simply dropping them into a folder and to my eye the documents format pretty well. This is one area where Kindle falls short in my book but I'll address that sometime in the future.

Hopefully all the remaining quirks will be addressed with the next few upgrades and the Nook will just keep getting better and better.

Next week I'll focus on purchasing e-Books wirelessly with the Nook, the Google Android O/S that drives the color screen, and the companion e-Reader App for the iPhone.

If you own a Nook, what do you think of it so far?

Enhanced e-Books: What's All the Hubbub!?

This week I attended the Tools of Change conference (TOC) in Times Square, NYC. If you're not familiar with this event, it's a gathering of publishing and technology pros who come together to discuss the current and possible future of books and reading habits. Overall, I thought it was a very good show and was glad I had the opportunity to be there. In addition, I was a speaker taking part in a presentation called "Ten Secrets of Digital Publishing (They Won't Tell You About)", which was given to about 250 people. It was great to see so many folks in the room.

There were several sessions going on simultaneously covering important issues currently facing book publishers such as e-Book formatting, digital printing, social media marketing, etc., bookended by a number of morning and afternoon Keynotes. Some were good, some not-so-good, but each seemed to have one hot topic connecting them in one way or another. And that burning curiosity on the minds of just about everyone there was e-Books, e-Books, e-Books, or more specifically: Enhanced e-Books.

So what exactly is an enhanced e-book? Well, that depends on who you talk to, but generally, it's a reading experience that includes additional bells & whistles such as video, audio, images, and added functionality like the ability to shake, zoom, and more, depending what digital device you're viewing the book on. At the moment, devices using E-Ink technology like the Kindle, Nook, and all Sony Readers, cannot include video. However, these e-readers can display black & white photos, play audio, and also include features like being able to look up the definition of just about any word within the text, which is pretty cool. Obviously you can't do this with a physical book, so even on a basic level, text read on a monochromatic device capable of such a feature is in fact "enhanced." However most, or more likely none, of the titles available from Amazon, B&N, Sony, and others, allow publishers to add things like an exclusive audio of an author reading, or say a photo gallery of locations mentioned in the storyline, which is too bad, because this would emphasize how even reading a book in shades of black can offer more. You can listen to audiobooks on all these devices and the Kindle does use something called text-to-speech technology, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I believe small but effective enhancements like these that don't cost an arm and a leg to incorporate would be appealing to readers and possibly enough to be perceived as adding value.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the idea of developing enhanced products like Apps that offer a vast array of multimedia features, but overall, there really isn't any strong proof that the average consumer wants all this extra stuff. Can it be that people just don't realize they want it? Maybe. No-one really knows but we publishers are spending a good amount of cash to find out. There are lots of products available now in the App store produced by companies like Vook, Enhanced Editions, KiwiTech, and many, many others created in conjunction with the publishing house, or in some cases directly with an author, and it's all very interesting to watch. I've been involved in putting together a few Apps: one meant to be a fun, free marketing vehicle, the other a work of fiction by David Morrell called The Spy Who Came for Christmas that includes a book trailer, video interview, audio interview, radio spot, complete audiobook synched with the text, as well as the complete text of an earlier work by the author, all for $15.95, the price of the tradepaper edition. The other I had the pleasure of demonstrating during the TOC conference is called Cathy's Book by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman, an intense, content-rich App for teen girls, that's kinda difficult to describe, but here's a video that demonstrates all that it does. And though it's terrific fun and artistically rewarding to work on projects like these, we as publishers need to ask ourselves whether or not the amount of money spent to create books with such interactivity is worth it. In other words...will we make back what we invest?

I can tell you first hand that it takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to make a really great App chock-full of good content. By the time you plan, conceive, gather assets, edit, program, and triple-check your work for quality assurance, 6 to 8 months may have quickly gone by. Plus at the end of all the blood, sweat, and tears there could be a $20K (or more) price tag still to be paid. Honestly, this process has given me pause. And for me the three days I spent at TOC confirmed the most important thing we should do as publishers is to make sure our e-Book files, whether they be .pdf,.ePub, or whatever, are formatted properly, meaning they look as close as possible to the way they do in print. I know of a number of publishers that already take this to heart, but plenty don't, and it's not for lack of concern, but more about lack of awareness. The thing is, if we don't make the basic act of reading digitally a pleasure, why would consumers believe an enhanced version will be any better?

But this isn't easy to do and just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

We're talking about having to focus our efforts on delivering fully formatted files so we know in advance exactly how they will appear on each popular e-reader in the marketplace. We cannot depend on the e-retailers to do this for us. Note I said "popular" e-readers because I've yet to see one person in the real world using a Cool-er, iRex Reader, Alex, or Que, and don't expect to anytime soon, so the immediate need is generally about preparing files for Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader. But even with just these three main players we're still facing procedures that are extremely time consuming, require additional resources, not to mention production staff members with real editorial sensibilities. Unfortunately sending the exact same .ePub file to B&N (Nook), Sony (Pocket, Touch, Daily Edition), Apple (iPad), isn't going to resolve the issue because each device has it's own way of interpreting the file and most times the text just doesn't look as originally intended. It's enough to make you want to run out of the room screaming! Be that as it may, we have no choice but to address this head on if we expect to build a new digital future for books, whether the landscape be dynamic or monochromatic.

I mentioned the iPad and as you might imagine it was the reading gadget that most everyone wanted to talk about at TOC simply because of all the amazing things publishers are expecting it to do. And with the promise of this incredible tablet looming, one presentation given by inventor, futurist, and author Ray Kurzweil, that really resonated was all about Blio, an eReader software program that displays books three dimensionally and with plenty of enhancements (if desired). But even sans multimedia, this 3D experience developed by the author of The Age of Spiritual Machines, is sure to look great on all tablet computers and may end being one of the best ways to present enhanced e-Books, since Blio can also be used on desktop computers, laptops/netbooks, and mobile devices like the iPhone. Keep your eye on this. It's poised to get a tremendous amount of attention by consumers and the academic community.

I could go on and on and will be revisiting this topic, but in summing up:

1. Publishers need to make sure "straight" (aka vanilla) text e-Book files are properly formatted for ALL e-readers.
2. With great "vanilla" e-Books we can then begin to explore pushing the boundaries of E-Ink devices.
3. Leave the bells & whistles like video, audio, graphics, etc., for Apps and channels like Blio and Zinio.

What do you think?

P.S. - There's another great industry conference that took place this past January called Digital Book World, and if you haven't heard of it, then I recommend you check it out. Much of the above was covered there as well, plus I had the pleasure of being a guest panelist to discuss the ins and outs of online marketing.

The e-Book Revolution Will Be Quiet, Slow, and Integrated

I'm a Google fan and like most, use it as my primary source for information when I search. I also use Google products like Gmail, Docs, YouTube, Maps, News, AdWords, and Chrome on a regular basis. Hell, I'm using Blogger for this Blog! And we all know millions from around the globe engage with other great Google services like Picasa, Earth, Voice, Etc., everyday.

Now Google Buzz, one of their latest efforts to break into the world of social networking, seems to be off to a rocky start, but regardless we're all paying close attention. Why? Because the Google name, like Apple, suggests innovation and the possible introduction of a new tool that'll enhance how we connect within one another. I mean it's Google so there must be something to it right? Especially since Buzz was released with such fanfare. But we'll just have to see how things develop 'cos Buzz is either going to be a terrific new addition to Gmail or it might go the way of Orkut, Knol, and Gears, which never really seemed to catch on with a wide audience.

BUT one thing coming this June that's expected to release in typical Google fashion, (meaning with quiet integration), is called Google Editions, and many folks in Publishing, including industry heavies like Evan Schnittman and Mike Shatzkin feel it's going to have a significant impact, and I couldn't agree more. Other than Apple's upcoming entry into e-bookselling next month, Google's emergence into this space will be the most competitive challenger to Amazon's Kindle Store and as a marketing guy who promotes digital content, I'm pretty excited about this.

If you like to read about the latest in technology or the book industry then you're fully aware of the controversy that's been brewing for years, and continues to, around the Google Books program. But I'd like to focus on what Google's entry into the marketplace as e-bookseller will most likely mean for current owners of dedicated e-reading devices and also the publishing industry as a whole.

Let me start by pointing out that I've always supported the participation by publishers and authors in what was originally called Google Print, now Google Books, because of the incredible discoverability of new, and more importantly, older titles within Google's core search. I've reviewed the results week after week for the past five years in reports provided by Google listing the books that come up in search results relating to people's entries and the number of times someone "discovers" a title by The Perseus Books Group is consistently impressive. We're talking about titles that are usually several years old that would not likely be found on bookstore shelves. So Google Books is prolonging the life of these volumes in a way previously unimaginable. Soon Google Editions will begin selling those same titles and making them instantly available to read on any electronic device with a Web browser. Note I didn't say "available to download" because there will be no downloading since purchases are stored for you on a virtual bookshelf. In other words, sitting in a cloud courtesy of Google. This sort of thing tends to make people nervous, but let's not forget, e-books purchased from Amazon and downloaded in their proprietary format also live in a cloud for instant access or in case you lose your Kindle. Personally I'm fine with this scenario. We could debate what it means to really "own" a book, etc., etc., but I don't want to get into that here right now. Instead, let's focus on the fact that a Google Edition means reading e-books on tablets like the iPad, JooJoo, or HP Slate; smartphones like the iPhone, Droid, or Storm; plus netbooks, laptops, and even the iPod Touch. In other words, with a device like any one of these and a Google account, you'll be reading in a snap!

Throughout the coming year we'll see tablet computers running on the Android platform from well-known companies like Dell, but it's hard to imagine that Google isn't planning to produce an incredible tablet of their own expanding on the impressive O/S behind the Nexus One smartphone. At the right price a Google tablet could be a real alternative to the Apple iPad and the device that takes advantage of everything Google has to offer and more. Plus Google has an opportunity to rapidly grow its Apps store and organize it in a way that allows true browsing. I love iTunes, but its App store is unwieldy and not necessarily strong on introducing new content beyond the initial splash pages.

But the key to everything is how Google Editions will continue to match book content with people's interests while searching a multitude of subjects, presenting opportunity after opportunity for titles to be discovered, bought, and accessed anytime from just about anywhere. This will be especially powerful for non-fiction. I relish this approach and believe it'll be enthusiastically embraced by the general public resulting in a wave of new readers who previously hadn't considered buying e-books in the past because they didn't want to shell out the money for a dedicated e-reader such as the Kindle, Sony Reader, Que, Skiff, or Nook. And if you already bought a dedicated device then you won't be attending the Google Editions party anytime soon. With this in mind doesn't it make sense that the dedicated e-reader option will lose it's appeal? Clearly this is why the teams at Kindle, B&N, Kobo, and Zinio made the wise decision to introduce Apps and software for the smartphones and computers as well as to secure a presence on devices like the iPad. Will Sony soon follow suite? Maybe, but will either of them ever be nimble enough to sell enhanced e-books (with video, audio, etc.), book content in portions (aka "snacks"), or mash-ups (customized products) anyway? It's to soon to tell, but this is where I believe Google Editions can truly distinguish itself from the pack.

I have no idea whether or not the Google Books team is thinking along these lines. Perhaps it's initially too complicated to even consider ideas like these due to all the licensing/rights issues, title availability, technical challenges, and whatever else might make it possible for such diversity. But I do know shortly after Google Books was first launched improvements have been introduced about every 6 to 8 months, small and large, resulting in a better user experience. So I'm convinced they'll strive to ensure the act of purchasing e-books will be a good one and that any kinks will be addressed rapidly. This might be "uberly" optimistic, but I'm hoping by December 2010 I can search for information on say, Teddy Roosevelt, discover a number of available biographies, and either buy one in full or have the choice in determining that chapter five is all I need...and then buy it; or that I have the option to buy chapters "one through three" from one biography and "four through six" from another to create my own customized e-book on the life and times of TR. Once I've gotten the content my way I'll be reading it on my iPad while commuting on the train, continue reading on my iPhone while standing on line at the post office, and later that week access my Google Editions account from my brother's computer to show him the book I've been reading. Unless I'm mistaken, I'll also be able to let him use my account so he can read the book too. And because it won't matter what type of gadget he'll use to access my account, his reading experience will be the same as mine. Talk about really lending a title to someone you trust with minimal hassle. Yes!...I'm fully expecting Google to innovate here by introducing this and additional new ways of consuming e-content relating to books that haven't been considered before.

And there's something else worth mentioning. Using a simple string of code, any website or Blog will be able to embed a Google Editions widget, which will essentially give anyone the opportunity to easily sell e-books. This will contribute to the growth, branding, and consumer awareness of Google Editions, just as we've seen previously with Google AdSense, Books, and more.

It's great to see services like Kobo already getting people familiar with the multiple device concept and Amazon as well as B&N, both with strong brand recognition, are doing what they can to give customers the ability to read books, magazines, and newspapers beyond the Kindle and Nook. But will their Amazon customers stay loyal and patiently wait for a color, touchscreen Kindle that will deliver rich content like Apple's iPad? Perhaps at first, but over time, I'd be surprised. And will B&N even consider going beyond E-Ink and invest in a next generation Nook? It must be acknowledged that Amazon has done a very good job avoiding tech talk whenever possible by making e-book purchases as easy as they could. This is extremely important because we have to get past talking about ePub, DRM, and Operating Systems to the average consumer since they don't care about such things, nor should they have to. Reading digitally has to replicate the ease of renting a movie-on-demand from the cable companies. There's no explanation about the nitty-gritty of how it's being delivered, because all anyone wants is for the movie to begin so we can sit down with our bowl of popcorn and enjoy it. I anticipate Google Editions will deliver a signature experience and surpass all other e-booksellers by making reading on devices the best it can possibly be. Let's just hope they do a better job with customer service issues then they reportedly did supporting the Nexus One! ;-)

What's your opinion?