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Posts Tagged ‘Barnes Noble’
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Last December I bookmarked an article on the New York Times website that I found very interesting. The article talked about Stephen Covey (you know, the guy whose book I reviewed on this website) and how he has granted exclusive e-book rights to two of his books to Amazon.com. Well, in reality he’s granted exclusive rights to a separate company who will then sell the books to Amazon.com, but there’s no need to get bogged down in the details. From the article:
Arthur Klebanoff, chief executive of RosettaBooks, said that Mr. Covey would receive more than half of the net proceeds that RosettaBooks took in from Amazon on these e-book sales. In contrast, the standard digital royalty from mainstream publishers is 25 percent of net proceeds.
“There are superstars, and superstars are entitled to more,” Mr. Klebanoff said.
Sean Covey, a son of Mr. Covey and chief innovation officer for Franklin Covey, a training and consulting firm that also publishes business books, said that the higher royalty rate was “a factor” in the decision to switch to RosettaBooks.
The elder Mr. Covey was also particularly attracted by Amazon’s plans to heavily promote the e-book editions of both “7 Habits” and “Principle-Centered Leadership.”
There are a lot of interesting tidbits in that piece from the article. First, name me any successful author that isn’t going to jump at the opportunity to make more money off of their hard work. If the path that Covey is walking down proves to be more profitable for him, personally, then I have to imagine that other contemporary authors will be enticed to grant exclusive e-book rights to certain publishers in the future.
Second, apparently the publishing industry should seriously consider this as the Coveys are stating outright that the higher royalties were a factor in their decision. Memo to the bosses at the publishing companies – time to give more revenue to the authors!
Of course there are other publishing companies that are taking a more proactive stance towards protecting rights which they believe belong to them – including e-book rights.
Other publishers have moved to stake their claim on e-book rights for older titles. On Friday, Random House sent a letter to dozens of literary agents stating that on all backlist books, it retained “the exclusive right to publish in electronic book publishing formats.”
You know, I’m not sure how these contracts are structured, but I wonder if Random House has a case here. It doesn’t seem to be the most outlandish claim that publishers would retain the rights to publishing their authors’ content in all its forms, does it? I don’t know.
What this article makes apparent to me is that authors are taking an active role in ensuring their content gets delivered to their audiences at affordable rates. On top of that, authors want to make sure that they are paid a fair compensation for content that is distributed electronically. And finally, the big publishing houses need to seriously consider a different royalty structure when it comes to the sale of a paper book versus an electronic book.
Posted in Computers, Internet, & Technology | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Normally, I write these blog entries a day or two in advance and then have them scheduled to automatically upload at a certain time of the day (usually around 11:30am). However, since there are a few random subjects that I’d like to hit on which don’t necessarily require a separate, standalone entry, I thought that I might create a quick, impromptu entry covering a bunch of random stuff.
To begin, at the beginning of January I began teaching for a well-known online/distance learning-based university. After doing this for about a month I have to admit that I’m not impressed. I thought the online teaching setting would give instructors a great deal of resources to utilize for their students to learn the course content – I was wrong. Or at least I was wrong with respect to the place where I’m teaching. I was handed a syllabus and told that I had to follow it. Then I was told that I had to utilize the online-based discussion forums and online submission tools in order to receive assignments. That wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t both filled with glitches that render their usage impossible. All in all, it makes the instructor (me) feel that I do not have much control over the class and its direction. That’s not a good feeling for an educator.
On top of it all, my pay rate (which is the least of my concerns with this arrangement) is a couple of hundred dollars per student enrolled in the course with an enrollment cap of 15. Not a bad pay rate really except that less than 5 students are enrolled in the course. Whoopie.
Two weeks ago, though, I began teaching a brand new course that I designed. This course is being taught at the local college and it has been good so far. I do have some concerns about the real-world preparedness level of the students in that at least half of the class chooses to not hand in assignments on time. I also have some concerns about the students comprehending the information that I give them in class. For example, one assignment asked students to identify a specific type of organization. We talked about these organizations for over an hour in class and two short reading assignments went in depth about the typical characteristics of these organizations. Again, more than half of the class chose groups that were not even remotely close to what the ones they were supposed to identify.
That’s somewhat troubling for the future workforce…
Hey – Lost is back on ABC tonight, huh? That’s pretty exciting. I’m looking forward to the final season of this show if only because I have to get it out of my mind! Does anyone think that all of the Lost fans out there will be completely satisfied with the “answers” that are given this season? I tend to think that the Lost writers have set themselves up for a catastrophic failure if they don’t answer every single question that is out there about the show. I guess that judgment should be reserved until after the season really gets into the swing of things. All I know is that a lot of people have invested a lot of time into watching that show and they better not blow it.
I will hopefully have some more encouraging news about my student loans coming up in the next few days. You can guess what that might be…
If you keep an eye on the market, then I’m sure that you’ve seen how Sirius XM is blowing up all over the place! For those of us that purchased this stock at a dime or two per share, we’re doing pretty good with our investment at this point. Last I checked, share prices were at 0.94. Not bad making 1000% return on an investment, huh?
And just think – if you listened to almost every big internet stock market website out there you would have sold this stock when it was down to a nickel per share. Talk about being shortsighted! That’s why I do my own research on the stocks that I purchase – the internet stock market sites have an agenda and I’m not interested in their garbage.
Oh, and I’ve been doing pretty well with Ford (which the internet stock market sites said I should have sold a year ago) and Barnes & Nobles (same story). The lesson learned here is to do your own research and trust your gut!
Eddie has been doing a fine job with running TBLWrestling.com. Hits are up an incredible percentage and I’m proud of his efforts. Good work, Eddie! I’ve been running TNAStars.com now for about a month and I’m pleased that it has already achieved some level of success. Both of these sites are hobby sites for Eddie and I and we only spend a few minutes each day putting up some updates. With such reduced involvement, I’m glad to know that the people out there like what we’re doing!
I guess that’s about it. See you tomorrow!
Posted in Entertainment, Random Entries | No Comments »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
As an avid reader, I always like picking up full autobiographies or books where interesting people write about themselves and their experiences. A while ago I was at the Barnes & Noble and I picked up “blue collar” comedian Ron White’s mini-autobiography/comedy book I Had the Right to Remain Silent… But I Didn’t Have the Ability. I gotta tell you, this is a pretty funny book.
A large portion of the book is Ron White’s stand-up act transcribed into the written word. You have to watch his act once or twice to understand his pacing, but if you understand his pacing then you’ll be able to read through the comedy bits relatively quickly. And even though I’ve heard White perform most of this material before, I did find myself laughing out loud two or three times at some of his jokes. Fans of White’s comedy will surely enjoy reading his jokes almost as much as they enjoy listening to him deliver them.
The book intersperses pieces of White’s comedy routine between pieces of his life story. And it’s an interesting story to say the least. I don’t want to give away any of the more entertaining parts, but I think the story of White going to Mexico to work on some sitcom was pretty entertaining (in a sick sort of a way). Also, the stories also show how White has depended on his friendship with Jeff Foxworthy to help him break through some of the stigmas that were attached to him due to his drug use. White heaps a ton of praise and thanks on Foxworthy and it comes across very clear to the reader that White attributes a great deal of his success to his friendship with Jeff.
Overall, I think that this is a good book for the price. You can probably find it in the bargain bin at your local Barnes & Noble for a few bucks. So if you’re looking for a very quick, very cost effective read that will also give you some laughs while telling a great human interest story, then you’ll want to pick up a copy of Ron White’s I Had the Right to Remain Silent… But I Didn’t Have the Ability. Enjoy!
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, Jokes & Humor | No Comments »
Monday, May 18th, 2009
Generally, I’m not one of these people who read the personal empowerment series of books that you can find littered throughout the business section of your local Barnes & Noble. However, Stephen R. Covey’s The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness happened to be on sale for a dollar and a half because the book was damaged, so I made the purchase. And it was a decent purchase, too, as the book was a good read while I was on the treadmill at the gym. This is a book that focuses on positive leadership strategies to both life and the business world – a good book to read while sweating away the calories.
First things first – I didn’t read Covey’s related book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People so I cannot really offer much in the way of comparing one book to the other. I have the 7 Habits audio book, but I haven’t had the chance to sit down and listen to it yet.
The first book aside, though, I definitely recommend The 8th Habit for the young professional who may have little prior leadership experience and is trying to find a way to break through to the next level in his or her career. For those who are already overflowing with leadership experience, this book might be a nice refresher course and serve to remind you of some aspects of success that you might have overlooked. In either event, using the link above you can purchase this book for only a few bucks so if you’re interested, it’s definitely worth the purchase.
Covey breaks this book into a variety of sections and makes excellent use of charts and graphs throughout. He also intersperses the text with quotes from famous leaders, which I found very enjoyable (I’ll be lifting some of those quotes for the random quote generator located on the right hand side of this page). Chapters include topics like finding your voice, empowering those around you (which is essentially the “core” of the 8th Habit), and aligning basic strategies. One theme that is consistently brought up in the book is the idea that we – as a society – are leaving the industrial age and entering an information age.
Or, as Covey calls it, the Age of Wisdom. This is an interesting and yet obvious insight to those in the working world. The Age of Wisdom presents a fundamental change to employers and employees as the contributions of the masses will no longer be blood, sweat, and tears, but instead information. In other words, where the economy once thrived off of the backs of industrial age workers, the new economy is being built off of the minds of wisdom age workers. Interesting insight once you start to study the job market and notice how many highly physical jobs are being taken over by automated processes.
And the introduction of automated processes isn’t a bad thing at all! In fact, it’s great because it will force many people to begin studying and researching new ways to contribute to their employer. Sure, it won’t happen on a mass scale, but I agree with Covey that one day we’ll look around and find ourselves immersed in an information age society. Could be faster than you think…
For those of you who are into these types of books, I suggest picking up (an inexpensive copy of) this book and giving it a read. You’ll find it to be a fast read with nice messages that you can take away throughout. Enjoy!
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
While institutional investors are going bonkers over Wall Street and its constant switching between bull and bear markets, I’ve done pretty well so far. In fact, on Monday I hit a milestone with my investments – I reached over a 100% gain. For those of you who are not mathematically inclined, that means that (for example), I invested $10 into a company and now that investment is worth $20. And I think I’ve put together a decent strategy for this success.
(more…)
Posted in Money, Jobs, & Finances | No Comments »
Monday, January 5th, 2009
Last week I asked the question of whether or not anyone has found any big bargains out in the stores. I hadn’t found anything worth buying until late last week when I came across a ridiculously marked down 47″ Vizio LCD full HDTV at Wal-Mart. After being dropped a few hundred dollars there was no question about it and I had to get that television.
Aside from the television and an extended warranty plan I also picked up the items needed to mount the TV to the wall, a new DS game (which is interesting because I really don’t have time to play the thing these days), a bunch of new books from Barnes & Noble (thanks to a gift card from my older brother), a new luxury sheet set, new pillows for my bed, a new carry-on piece of luggage and travel kit, and some minor pieces of clothing. For what it’s worth, all of my cost cutting and budgeting over the last few years allowed me to purchase these items with no concern about long-term financial burden.
So…over the past few days I’ve done my part to help kick the economy in the ass!
In the mean time, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!
Posted in Computers, Internet, & Technology, Money, Jobs, & Finances | 2 Comments »
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