One of my favorite new online services is back online with a new twist. Wowio.com is an online service that lets you read books for free or for pay. All you do is sign-up for a free username and then you can access all of the books uploaded by wowio‘s publishing partners, in an ad supported window. Or if you like, you can buy a pdf copy of the book and download to your desktop/pda/laptop/e-book reader/etc.
I’m not sure how the new partnership models will work out for the publishers, but if Wowio can have another year of growth, like they did last year, then they could become a force to be reckoned with (and no doubt the model for many copycat services).
Pausch, author of The Last Lecture, died of pancreatic cancer today. I’m not one for touchy feely anything. That includes motivational books too. Don’t know why. They just never resonate with me. But this book, this video, are the exception (here is a shorter WSJ recap of the video). He is right on. Every word of it. It’s common sense. It’s practical. It’s hope. It’s love. I’m glad he was a teacher. People like Pausch need to be in a place where they can pass along their attitudes and knowledge.
I just started following Yale Univeristy Press on Twitter. Are there other cool publishers that I’m missing? Please pass along if you know of any.
It’s interesting to follow publishers as they move into new areas. It seems most are hesitant to explore things like Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, etc. So I’m glad to see some trying it out and doing a good job at it. And by good job, I mean sending stuff out other than “get 20% off book x this week”.
Press releases are ok, but if I’m following a publishers feed or engaging them via social media it’s because I’m interested in them on a topical level. So far Yale University Press‘ feed is doing that.
I just started following 
