The Daily Square

Todays links of interest: Gov. Schwarzenegger Launches First-in-Nation Initiative to Develop Free Digital Textbooks for High School StudentsInteresting. This is a program we hope takes off. Pronunciation Trips Up Amazon’s KindleFunny story about text-to-speech on Kindle 2. Book Club up for discussion as Richard Judy call timeThe Richard Judy bookclub has been a driving force in British publishing. Now that the show is cancelled, UK publishers are wondering how they will get the same kind of great exposure. Nine Twitter Tips for BusinessBasic suggestions, always worth repeating.

Todays links of interest: Checking The Pulse: Tweens And BooksThis just in: reading remains popular with pre-high school kids. They like it. They spend a lot of time online. Not so clear on what an ereader is. That all of this makes sense is a good thing. Kunati Books neglecting its authorsCanadian publisher apparently not paying, not responding, not commenting.

Todays links of interest: Amazon Launches Kindle DXColor us underwhelmed. Harlequin Has First Quarter Gains in Sales, EarningsLiking the Harlequin numbers and trends. Big Bad Bookstore QA: Vroman’s (Pasadena, CA)Great interview with Patrick Brown of Vromans. We’re excited that Patrick is talking loud and clear about choice and making sure his store gives customers the books they want, in the format they want. Such an important message.

Todays links of interest: Glenn Beck Signs Multi-Book Deal with Simon SchusterGlenn Beck enters into a lower advance, higher royalty (with profit sharing — do they really call it that in publishing?) arrangement. But really, children’s books? The mind boggles. AP’s Curley Has Fightin’ Words For GoogleWatching the Associated Press threaten to take all its toys and go home is painful. Truly painful. What do they think will happen when Google stops linking to them? Digital change: what’s an independent bookseller to do?Nice piece from BS hero Mike Shatzkin – -a roadmap for independent booksellers in a digital future.

Todays links of interest: The Perseus Books Group Adds FiledBy as Online Marketing PlatformStarting with Vanguard Press, Perseus is joining the Filedby family. W00t! Fiction Faces Hard Facts: Newcomers Are a Tough SellWhich, you know, isn’t really what this article is about. More like, since big houses are consolidating bets on surefire hits, small press is seeing increased opportunity. Publishers Nurture Rivals to KindleSorta, kinda.

Todays links of interest: Advice for authorsSeth Godin lays out important points for authors as they go down the publishing path. He mentions number two — start promoting your book three years in advance — twice because it’s so important. And it is. ‘I Want to Be the Online Charlie Rose’: A Chat with Bethanne PatrickAt Follow the Reader, the brilliant Bethanne Patrick talks about her modest goals. and more. #followreaderThis week’s #followreader discussion on Twitter revolved around bloggers and bookstores and how to make the relationship better. Great conversation! Thank You for Being HonestThere is a lot to digest

Todays links of interest: Free Speech Groups Criticize Dismissal of Wisconsin Library Board MembersOnce again, the few try to impose their will on the many. If you don’t like the books, don’t read them, but don’t try to stop others from learning and reading just because you’re afraid of reality. Amazon starts charging by the megabyte for delivering personal documents to your Kindle – adds support for DOCX and RTF file formatsLittle known secret: cost of accessing Whispernet is not free; it’s built into the price you pay for your Kindle books. New fact: Amazon is increasing costs to upload

Todays links of interest: Reports: Google, DOJ talked about Book SearchAnd this week in GBS just gets more and more interesting.

Todays links of interest: The New York Times Laments Forward Progress with the KindleJoe Wikert responds to the silliness that is the New York Times. Peter Arnell Loses AgainIn which one man has a very, very bad streak of luck. People, if you take the money to write a book, you have to fulfill your contractual obligations. Books Stay Part Of the Grocery Store MixOr, if you sell books where people are, they will buy them. Read that on a fortune cookie.

Todays links of interest: L.A. Times awards 2008 book prizesCongratulations to the winners! Franklin letters foundIt’s nice to know that there are still treasures to be discovered in our world. Microsoft To Re-Enter eBooks?Mike Cane contemplates the possibility of Microsoft entering the ebook market. It’s probably a given they will — Microsoft is not a company to let others play in a space without giving it a shot, too. Also, and maybe irrelevant, MS has library of scanned texts. Can these be repurposed in a useful (read: non-scanned graphic version) way?