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A cute animation. Love the concept:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And an experimental short.  A big, “Huh?”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

With the dolphin browser also added in the last couple weeks, the tablet has finally gotten a few decent productivity apps. I find myself using both My Writing Nook and Evernote at work, and hope B&N finally gets their act together.

As far as the Nook device goes, I love it. Battery life is great- I listen to podacasts all day at work, and with the wireless off and brightness turned down, it uses about 50%. Calibre converted most of my Kindle library to epub, and I like having the sd memory for my own use. Screen is awesome for Netflix viewing, and I’ve discovered TV.com.

However, still thinking of rooting it. Sorry, B&N, but you need to get a video and mp3 store up yesterday. And while the heavily curated app store is a good.idea, you’re loading it too slowly and are missing some much needed apps: no audio book apps, no podcast managers, no alternative media players.  And what the heck is with bluetooth? Your devic eha sit but it’s locked away? Really?

So, great device, poor ecosystem.

Oh, an dthe WordPress app is pretty neat.

Image via Wikipedia

Books are like zucchini.

Imagine this: You’ve set aside a nice corner of your garden to grow some zucchini. You’ve never grown zucchini before and overplanted. You’ve got zucchini growing everywhere. The neighbor keeps tossing it back over the fence. The freezer is full of shredded zucchini. You’re actually searching epicurious for a new chilled zucchini soup recipe.

You need to sell your zucchini. You can’t go to your local grocery store- they have their own buyers. The local restaurant owner looks at you like you’re mad. You can’t set up a zucchini-ade stand in the front with the kids. You need a market.

So someone reminds you of the local farmer’s market. You go and rent a space for $20 and set up a table. And you wait. You Sit and do some people watching. Over there is the local herb farm. They’ve got gift baskets. Hey- There’s that restaurant owner selling homemade soup from the back of his van- you know the van with the graphics on it advertising his restaurant. That’s not fair. You can’t sell any zucchini, so you end up giving a lot of it away at the end of the day.  And next week, you’ll be back with some more, but you’ll be better prepared.

It used to be simple. Writers used to sell to agents and editors. There was no “Market.” This was like selling the zucchini directly to the restaurant or grocery store. Agents and publishers were the gatekeepers making sure the product was fresh for the consumer. They were easy to find: Go to the library, Check out ‘Writer’s Market: This year” or LMP and start searching. Look at the wirter Magazine and avoid the Book Doctor and Vanity Press scams. Send out your work, wait several months and then sob uncontrollably into your pillow after you’re rejected. Repeat.

Those days are gone. These markets don’t exist. Swallowed up by conglomeration or the internet, fewer and fewer publishers are buying unpublished writers. Heck, fewer and fewer publishers are buying proven writers.

You’ve still got a product to sell and you still need a way to sell it. So new markets have sprung up. Amazon, Smashwords and the rest allow you to sell directly to the consumer from the e-quivalent of an open air stall. Anyone can walk by and see your product, and choose to purchase.  Yeah it’s tough, and yeah you’re competing with professionals. But it’s becoming the only game in town. To get an editor to look at your work, you have to prove you can sell it first. It’s not a Catch-22. It’s just up to you.

So Here’s a list of Markets where you can start selling your work:

• Amazon Direct Publishing- The 80 lb. Gorilla. this is where you go first.  Why? You’re kidding, right?
• Pubit!- The 400 lb. Gorilla. Barnes and Nobles site. The nook seems to be here for the long haul, and it’s bringing your brick and mortar with it.
• Smashwords- the 200 lb. Gorilla, As an aggregator, gets your work out to multiple stores at once. Sony, Kobo, Aldiko, B&N, Apple and more. Also offers coupons. all for the same 15% cut your imaginary agent would get.
• Google Books- Google’s primary business ain’t books, and it shows.
• iBookstore- Still Not Easy.
• Scribd- Get your short works out here.
• Wattpad- I’ve never been impressed with Wattpad. It strikes me as a bunch of highschoolers publishing fan fic. But look at how many people use it. Oh, And there’s this author who has 13 Million reads on Wattpad. I Can’t afford to ignore this anymore. Can you?
• Goodreads- The FB of readers. Look, iOS has 40 million devices in use. FB has 800 Million.But you know how they don’t market reading as the  primary use? There’s a reason for that. Goodreads is nothing but Readers and Authors shouting over each other. It’s fun and just what you need.