Cool Books

What to look for in an audiobook club When researching audiobook club reviews, the number one thing that you want to consider is selection. It doesn't matter how great the audio quality is or how cheap the downloads are unless the club has books that you want to listen to. The biggest audiobook players today have a wide selection, but you will find some that have locked up audiobook rights in exclusive deals, so before you sign up, make sure that the club has audiobooks by your favorite author. The big providers all have good sound quality and quality control, so those aren't factors like they once were. One thing to worry about is that individual books are recorded at good levels, so that you don't...

If you are like me, you will dread those long haul international flights. I am simply unable to concentrate enough to watch the movie - and anyway, the chances are that the movies available are not of my choosing. There is nothing worse than being forced to watch a comedy, which is not funny; or on a so-called "action movie," which has no action in it at all. The obvious alternative is to bring a book of your choosing on board and read it during the many hours during the flight. The problem with this option is that the light in the cabin is usually so bad and so misdirected that it's impossible to read the book without doing some damage to your eyesight! Enter the new phenomenon of the audio book...

td> It was only about a year ago that online booksellers had but one high-tech solution to look up book values; they could subscribe to wireless lookup services to gain a competitive advantage using an Internet enabled cellular phone. Recently some creative third-party service providers figured out how to put everything into a database so that there was no reliance on an Internet connection. Now online booksellers that are just getting started in the business face deciding on which type of service is best for them to use. There are definite advantages to both systems. An Internet connection and cell phone will assure you of having the latest and greatest information available for a specific title...

Ann Donald writes about best sellers fiction books and non-fiction books.  The book reviews she has done are insightful and show off her real passion for books and reading.  Publishers love her book store at Kalk Bay.  Here is one of her articles in the Sunday Times. Let the great books be read Between the lines Ann Donald: I'm one of those people who include Francis Wheen's How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World on the list of books everyone should read. Current Font Size: Nevertheless, the Pisces in me likes the notion of "hurie gurie" elements of our existence - it's the stuff, after all, of great storytelling. Parallel universes, daemons, mystical forces, foreseeing the future, magical...

go through up and downs in our lives. However not everyone reacts to these ups and downs in the same way. The lucky people take the down times in their stride and don’t let it have lasting impact on their minds and on their lives. But the majority of us are not that lucky. We can however take some action and not let the down times completely wear us down. Motivational Books are at he top of the list — These books are full of inspirational stories and advice from experts. Reading these books, will give us hope. The stories point us to the fact that we are not alone — other people have faced similar situations (if not worse) - they have faced these situations, tackled them and have...

I spent years leaning how to write ebooks that solve a problem in a niche market that sell profitably. This article includes some of the tips and tricks acquired during those years. A list of characteristics that all the top selling ebooks share: Great content - Find a problem and provide a solution with valuable and helpful information that is concisely and clearly written. For example, a problem could be that aspiring authors can't find a single all inclusive guide to walk them through every single step of writing and selling ebooks profitably. The solution is to create such a guide and market to this niche market. You can spark your imagination searching for relevant tips at: - EZineArticles...

-> It was only about a year ago that online booksellers had but one high-tech solution to look up book values; they could subscribe to wireless lookup services to gain a competitive advantage using an Internet enabled cellular phone. Recently some creative third-party service providers figured out how to put everything into a database so that there was no reliance on an Internet connection. Now online booksellers that are just getting started in the business face deciding on which type of service is best for them to use. There are definite advantages to both systems. An Internet connection and cell phone will assure you of having the latest and greatest information available for a specific title...

With the retail chain stores for books came a drastic decline in the number of small family-owned bookstores. Be it good, bad, or indifferent, it is a fact. Those that still pursue their dream of owning one are many times shocked when they start out and learn just how much time and money are involved in just getting started. There is a building to pay for, utilities, employee salaries, unemployment insurance, health/dental/vision care insurance for employees, property insurance, liability insurance, casualty insurance, phones, Internet access charges, website development and maintenance costs, taxes, and a host of other less significant costs. That neglects the cost of stocking their shelves to...

John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro Arkansas to a cotton farmer and an itinerant construction worker father and a mother who was a homemaker. As a child, he dreamed of being a professional baseball player, but it was not to be. He attended Mississippi State University where he majored in accounting. He graduated with a law degree from University of Mississippi in 1981. John married Renee Jones in 1981 and they have two children, Ty and Shea. He practiced criminal and civil law in Southaven, Mississippi for 10 years. He was also a State Representative of Mississippi from 1983 until 1990. They make a farm near Oxford, Mississippi and a plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia there...

Audiobooks generally come in two formats: MP3 and WMA. Both of these formats will play on PCs and Macs and mostportable players, like the iPod. The book publisher chooses which format they want the title to be distributed in. When you purchase a downloadable titlefrom an online store, you are usually taken to a special area of the site where you can choose from a variety of fileformat based on the quality of the recording. Naturally, the higher the quality, the bigger the file and thus the longer it will take to download. If you have a high speed broadband Internet connection you will probably prefer to download the highest quality file available. If you have a slow Internet connection you can...

We live in a fast-paced world where time is at a premium and information andentertainment options like books and novels are harder to enjoy. That's why audiobooks are so popular. They can help you be more efficient, betterinformed and relaxed. You can now find just about any book or novel you want inaudiobook form, perfect for listening to in your car, on your computer or on youriPod. Audiobooks are being produced now in huge quantities. Once you find one you want, ittakes just a couple of mouse clicks to download it. You don't need to install anyspecial software. You don't have to join a club and pay a monthly subscription. Youdon't even have to break the bank as there are lots of titles for just a...

In a few short years, the amateur digital spewing phenomenon known as blogging has become an Internet fixture and has spawned a few explosive online successes (MySpace, YouTube) and more than a few bloggers whose opinions became valued professional resources (The Drudge Report, for political news and opinion). Like so many of the good things on the web, what began as projects of individual dedication became an important addition to our social and economic fabric. Now, the rise of podcasts has led to what may become an addition to our cultural fabric. There are a host of sites that will allow you to download audio books for a fee, as an alternative to buying the cassette or CD. The costs of these...

1) Audiobooks are available in many formats and thus can be heard in many ways, on many devices. After downloading, audiobooks are playable on computers, then can be burned to a disc, and can be loaded to an iPod or mp3 player. 2) The amount of books I read per week is greatly increased because the amount of time I have to sit down and read written books is very limited. Before audiobooks, I was able to squeeze in about 2 books a month. I still do read about 1 per month, but now, I add another 2-5 audiobooks that I listen to in my car or on my iPod. 3) Listening to audiobooks makes my downtime much more productive. An example is on the commute to work. Instead of listening to mindless radio...

Books that aren't read but heard? With today's technology, that's not far-fetched at all. Many websites are offering free MP3 audiobooks that you can download without charge. Below are a few of these websites. Audiobooks For Free is just that. It is a site that offers free MP3 audiobooks. The stories at this site are divided into three main categories, Fiction, Children's, and Non-Fiction. Under the Fiction area is where you can find free audiobooks in MP3 format of well-loved classics like Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle. You can also find modern novels, adventure stories, crime and mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and more under this specific area. The Children's area include free MP3...

Like most school kids growing up in the UK in the 1970's I attended French classes at school - 2 lessons a week, 40 weeks a year, for 3 years. During all this time, I don't actually know what I learned! I know that I didn't take the subject particularly seriously, but after a total of 240 lessons I should have had a better command of the language. Just how poor my command of French was, was illustrated in a family trip to France in 1978. As an eighteen year-old, I joined my parents on a car trip to France. The ferry trip was uneventful and we hopped into our car at Calais. My dad, being a typical pom, assumed everyone drives on the left hand side of the road - and within 5 minutes we had a head...

It's not very difficult to find free and cheap audio books online; it's a pretty easy process to actually search for these. You should however be aware of these 3 negative traps in order to make your audio book experience both a positive and enjoyable one. Once you become aware of these and more importantly know how to avoid them, you can freely play in the world of audio books without any worries about being taken for the proverbial ride. The first trap is trial memberships. There are plenty of sites that offer something like a 2 week trial, in order to access their library for free. What these sites bank on is the fact that most people will forget to cancel their subscriptions before the end of...

I grew up in a household without books, and wasn't introduced to books till I was about 12 years old and studying at school, I soon became addicted to them, as reading opened up a whole new world for me, a world of fantasy, adventure and world travel in both the present and past times. I still love to read and we have literally stacks of books in our house, but nowadays I prefer audiobooks that I can download straight off my computer. The main reason I prefer audiobooks to paper ones, apart from the fact that books are taking all the available space at home, is that I can listen to them whilst doing mundane jobs around the house or whilst traveling to and from work. I first started listening to...

One of the things I have learned about book promotion is that the more gimmicky your marketing becomes, the more valued your book becomes. The reason I say this is that whenever I find someone who has taken their book promotion to the next level, no matter how crazy it is and no matter how outside of the box , the promotion usually works in the author’s favor. One of the most gimmicky things I have seen that gives you more for your promotional dollars is an incredible marketing tool called the book trailer. A book trailer is simply a promotional video. Think of it as a movie premier of your book. Some authors waste no promotional dollars when it comes to putting out quality book trailers by...

Some new innovative freelance book writers are now considering doing book trailers, yes you heard it right "Book Trailers" just like Movie Trailers. How will they do this you ask? Via YouTube and guess what? Authors and writers are reporting back the results, they are working, yes, they are selling more books because of it. When you think of it, well it makes sense doesn't it? Why should the Movie Industry be the only benefactor of video clip trailer type marketing opportunities? Have you considered this type of marketing for your Book or eBook? You might wish to. One famous writer took video clips from his CSPAN Book Channel talk and spliced in the most energetic bytes. Then graphics were added...

ght come as a surprise to you that the concept of the audio book rental first became fashionable way back in the 1970's. At that time, audio books began to proliferate as mass distribution began to kick in. City and town libraries were the first establishments to offer audio books as a sideline to actually reading books! Gradually, those people who had recordings of their favorite novels began to branch out and look for further recordings. New sites began to appear on the web where folks could subscribe and then download public domain recordings of novels and stories that were no longer in copyright. At first, these sites had a limited choice of recordings and didn't provide modern fiction and non...

No matter if you are facing a long road trip with squirming children, a long and boring commute on a daily basis, or some other situation when you know you will be "stuck" in waiting mode of some kind, then there is no doubt that having access to an interesting and entertaining audio book or two can help make the time go by more pleasantly. In this day of all things internet, it should come as no surprise that there are many websites that provide audio book rental memberships. These membership sites give you access to a huge and always growing collection of all kinds of them on CD or MP3 format versions that you can download. There are quite a variety of rental services to be found online. Some of...

Many of our friends and our colleagues ask us questions regarding the price of audio books. First, they want to get details about free audio books. And, then when they usually ask which is better: audio book rental or audio book buying. There is no strict answer to this question. In the following lines we will try to help you find out which is better for you: Online audio book rental services or audio book buying services. Ask your self the following questions: 1. How much time a day do you have to listen to audio books each day? If you have less than an hour a day driving, exercising etc. it will be much more worthy for you to buy audio books instead of using online audio book rental services. 2...

Electronic book readers may just be the perfect gift. They are handheld electronic devices that are equipped to digitally download your next good read. There are a variety of them on the market, but they all function basically the same way. My teenager was describing the advantages of a reader to me and I will admit, I loved the idea of slowing down the invasion of paperback novels, hard covered classics, educational books, newspapers and magazines that infiltrate my home, so I thought I would do a little research. Astounded by so many versions of electronic book readers on the market, my timing to learn more led me into a hot bed of electronic articles and conversations speculating the new one that...

When we go to the book store, we see hundreds of books. Behind each of these books is an author who put lots of time, hard work, and dedication into writing their book. While there are hundreds of authors published, there are many more wannabe authors who either write a book and dream of getting it published, or dream of getting a book published that they have yet to write. How do you get a book published if you aren't already an accomplished author? There are two main ways to get a book published: 1. Get a literary agent and publish through a traditional author. This is how we most often think of getting a book published. How do you get a literary agent? First, you write a book, short stories, or...

A memory book is something that your child can keep forever and even pass on to the next generation. Here are a few ideas to help get you started. Gathering Your Thoughts: Gathering the material for your child's memory book can be a project that can take months or years, it all depends on what it is you want your book to represent. Regardless of what the scope of your project is, you will want to start at the same place: the day you find out you are pregnant. Start to write down your feelings no matter what they are, even if you are scared to death. Just be yourself. This project is as much for you as it is for your child to be, and it is your first act of emotional bonding. You can also write down...

If you are having a tough time preparing a book proposal, then what I'd like to do is recommend a very good book on how to write a book proposal. It's a book that I personally own, and highly recommend. The book is; "How to Write a Book Proposal" by Michael Larsen, 2003. Have you ever wondered how to put together a book proposal to send to an editor or book publisher? The reality is that these folks are not interested in buying books they are interested in what the book can do in the market to make them money. Therefore, your book proposal is really a business plan/marketing-sales proposal. Indeed, the author wants to make sure that you consider this. He also explains the value of test marketing...

If you're an old-fashioned lover of books in their purest form (paper), you may have shied away from e-book readers and the digital book revolution. Still, it's hard to beat the convenience of having a thousand titles at your fingertips, especially if you're heading off on vacation and purse- or suitcase-space is limited. Maybe it's time to go with the flow and give the technology a chance! If you're ready to try an e-book reader, then you have several options. Let's take a look at the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader. Amazon Kindle The Kindle has been around for a while, and there are a couple of different versions at different price points for you to choose from. The...

Jinke A6 Introduction Jinke is doing some major overhaul with their Jinke A6 Electronic Book Reader. The latest addition to the family of Jinke, the A will come with a 6-inch screen, improved grayscales, and multi-touch capability. But instead of sticking to the E-ink Vizplex panel, the Jinke A6 will be sporting AU Optronic's SiPix panel. Boasting of greater flexibility and vividness than the by-now traditional e-ink, it may just be the worthy competitor to the E-ink Vizplex. Is this the innovation that Jinke A6 needs to stand above the ever-burgeoning crowd of e-readers? Features - Hardware and Software Jinke's greatest improvement is on their in-house storage. Jinke A6 boasts of 2GB internal...

If you are in the market for a cheap ebook reader, then one option for you is to try the Kindle 2 ereader. Or another option is to go for the Franklin ereader, which can be considered the cheapest ebook reader that you can lay your hands on at present. This in spite of the fact that the Franklin ereader is not suited to everyone’s tastes. The Franklin ereader is not without shortcomings. For instance, Franklin ebook readers does not feature the latest e-ink technology. However, the 240 by 200 pixel, large polarized LCD screen that this ebook reader comes with more than makes up for this deficiency. Since polarization of the back lit screen reduces glare and hence, does not cause undue stress to...

Would you say that reading was one of your hobbies? If the answer is yes, then how would you describe your pass-time? Do you have a passion for reading or a passion for books? This isn't an exercise in semantics - the question is prompted by recent developments in reading and publishing technology. E-book readers really took off in a big way during 2009 - greatly helped by the release of the Amazon Kindle 2.0 and, later in the year, the larger Kindle DX model. E-book readers had been around for quite some time before that - the Franklin eBookman launched in 1999, over a decade ago - but it wasn't until 2009 that these devices really took off. Whatever the reason, during 2009, they were very much an...