Web & Tech

The writing website Wattpad launched an app for Google Android smartphones today, bringing billions of pages from the site's library to mobile phone readers.

Since 2006, Wattpad has focused on creating a community of authors and readers sharing stories across digital platforms. According to a company release, the site has 2.5 million visits every month between the website and mobile site. Readers can access Wattpad on 1,000 different phone models including Nokia, BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, Google Android, Motorola, and Sony.

Here's a statement from Wattpad COO Eva Lau: "With over 20 new Android-based phones available before the end of 2009, Android has definitely reached critical mass ... We are extremely pleased to bring the Wattpad experience to all Android users."

Video footage from last week's 140 Character Conference is now online, so you can watch the panel where Macmillan's digital marketing team, Ryan Chapman and Ami Greko, teamed up with publishing ronin Richard Nash to discuss the impact of Twitter on the book industry—with some unexpected conclusions, such as: "Twitter won't save publishing; publishing will save Twitter."

You can also watch a discussion from earlier that day, where senior editor Ron Hogan spoke about the viability of Publishing As We Know It Today with novelist/memoirist Kaylie Jones and HarperStudio associate publisher Debbie Stier. We've also picked out a few more videos people interested in publishing and books might find illuminating...

(And let's not forget panel moderators Russ Marshalek and Kevin Heisler!)

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Responding to California's school budget problem problem, Pearson promised to create digital supplements for "biology, chemistry, algebra 2, and geometry textbooks."

Publishers Weekly reports the major textbook company responded to an appeal from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last week the governor said he hopes to switch students to digital math and science textbooks to help ease the budget deficit and the $350 million the state spent on school books last year.

Peter Cohen, CEO of Pearson's North America school curriculum, had this comment: "We believe it is important to take these forward steps toward an online delivery system and we are supporting the Governor's initiative, recognizing there are numerous challenges ahead for the education community to work through." (Via Publishers Weekly)

Among the participants in the two-day 140 Character Conference earlier this week were Macmillan digital marketing managers Ryan Chapman
and Ami Greko, who offered their quick assessment on what they'd been learning from the steady stream of experts and celebrities filing on and off the stage. On his blog, Chapman elaborated, and brought up a subject that's fascinated him of late: "The fin de siècle/industrial revolution gave us stream of consciousness, the nuclear age gave us post-modernism, and now the information age has produced…what? Writers need to experiment with narratives across media in the same way that alternate reality games have experimented with the video game." His example of a step in the right direction? Scholastic's The 39 Clues series, which combines books, websites, and trading cards as pieces of a $10,000 scavenger hunt puzzle.

We took part in another discussion about the publishing industry, where the consensus seemed to be that it wasn't the industry that's "broken," but the dominant business models at the companies most likely by virtue of size to get noticed by the national financial media. What's the solution? Well, if we knew that, we wouldn't have to keep having panel discussions about "the future of publishing," would we?

Monday afternoon, we filed an early video report from O'Reilly Media's Twitter Boot Camp in New York City about how fictional characters might thrive on Twitter, and the following day saw a video spotlight on Flashlight Worthy Books. Here's another perspective on how book publishers can make the best use of the fast-growing social network:

"You have to think outside the box about how you communicate with your customer base," said Heather Drucker, associate director of publicity at HarperCollins, during a break in the proceedings. "We have to focus on the online, and I'm excited about how I can use Twitter to talk about their interest in books."

You'll also want to watch a short interview with Boot Camp organizer Kat Meyer, where she discusses her goal of helping marketers and PR people learn to "use Twitter for good and not for evil." She explains how social media has transformed her professional life, especially through the ability to get direct feedback from readers.

Ever wonder where in the world Jonah was swallowed by a whale or where the apocalyptic visions of Revelations unfolded? There's an app for that.

HeLives.com has built a Bible Map using Google Maps, charting chapter and verse of the good book on Google's geographical tool. They eventually hope to have every Biblical landmark mapped on Google.

Here's a location-laden passage from Revelations, Bible-mapped: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, 'Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.'" (Via and via.)

Even multitasking 21st Century students still have to cram for literature tests, and Wiley Publishing, Inc. built them a CliffsNotes iPhone app for this digital age.

The company released five individual apps in the first wave of smartphone study aids--including guides for "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee--the series will eventually include 40 titles. The app provides summaries of plot and thematic elements, character relationship maps, quizzes to test your comprehension, and "audio CramCasts" about the books.

Here's more from the release: "Modality's content architects created two distinct review modes to allow for a more customizable study experience. A prescriptive 'Cram Plan,' created by the experts at CliffsNotes, orders the content of the app to maximize even small increments of study time. A more traditional e-reader interface presents the app's complete content in a fashion similar to that of the printed literature notes."

GalleyCat editor Jason Boog appeared on MediaBistro's Morning Media Menu podcast today, chatting about Scribd, style, and Kindle pricing.

Tune in at this link, and stay tuned. Next week the show will feature Chris Hansen, the host of NBC's "To Catch a Predator" show.

Here's more from the podcast: "We'll take a look at some of the biggest publishing stories from the newsfeed today. First, how is the AP Stylebook changing? (Yes, Twitter.) Also, how do authors adjust to the new Kindle world. Other stories: Is it time to sell Time Inc., what happens when authors and poets take over a newspaper and What We Learned This Week?"

In a thoughtful essay about Amazon and digital publishing, thriller writer JA Konrath revealed Kindle sales figures for a number of his books--a rare disclosure from a published author. Along with his figures, the author offered helpful suggestions for authors uploading books to Kindle.

Konrath is the author of the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels crime series and also publishes under the pseudonym Jack Kilborn. Since Grand Central published the Kilborn horror novel "Afraid" in April, the Kindle version sold 10,400 copies, each priced at $1.99. Konrath added "The List" to Kindle by himself in April, selling 1,612 copies at prices that ranged between $1.49 and $1.89.

Here's more from the essay: "With 1.5 million Kindles sold, I could sell 200 books per day, for 720 days, and still only reach 10% of all Kindle buyers. If we include all of the iPhone and iPod Touch owners who can download a Kindle ap, along with continued Kindle sales, I should be able to sell quite a few books before coming close to saturating this market. If the $90 per day trend keeps up, that's $32,850 a year. Not a huge amount, but not chump change either."

Smartphone aficionados have celebrated the new Palm Pre phone all week, and now they have an e-reader for the phone.

Indigo Books & Music, Inc. just announced they built a version of the Shortcovers e-reader for the Palm Pre. The application includes titles by Random House, Harper Collins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Harlequin. It can be found in the smartphone's beta applications catalog, and is a free app.

Pam Deziel, vice president developer marketing at Palm, Inc., had this statement: "We developed Pre for people who want an intuitive phone that helps them stay connected to their entire life--not just work or play ... eReaders are incredibly popular right now, and with Shortcovers, Pre provides a great reading experience for our customers." (Via Publishers Weekly)