Barnes & Noble opened their Audiobook store this weekend. As a promo they are offering nine titles as free MP3 downloads. I noticed that each title is listed at a penny a piece, but when I clicked through, the total was zero dollars at the checkout stage. You do still have to enter a valid credit card to get your free audiobook, though.
These nine title will be available until 3 a.m. on May 16th.
I used to think that days like today were nothing more than some marketing gimmick conjured up by various trade associations, but today is different. “Buying local” seems to be the savior we’ve been looking for all this time. Which financial institutions are surviving the financial crisis the best? Local ones. Where is the best place to buy food, ensuring no crazy chemicals or pests have been involved? Locally. You want to support your community and keep your neighbors employed? Buy local.
It’s amazing isn’t it?
There is an official IndieBound.org Buy Indie FaceBook page and even a “local indie store finder” page. So get out, buy a book, have some fun and buy local.
I do a lot of thinking about ebooks and digital media, but Readerville pointed the way to a post by author Jennifer Weiner about something I have never really thought about: does it matter what an author looks like? Their example given is a good one:
the idea that she would likely have reacted differently to the author’s tale of marital woe had she known she was a gorgeous blonde who’d have no trouble finding a new mate.
I have to admit to often deciphering an author’s name as I reach for a book in the bookstore. Especially in the Current Events topic areas. You really do get different points of view from people living in different places, but I never applied to the sympathy and believability side of things.
I’m going to have to go through LibraryThing’s author database and look up all of my authors to see who lives up the image in my mind and who surprises me.
Academics from a few southern universities have compiled a short-list of “the greatest in Southern Literature” and will discuss/announce the “winner” this Wednesday night on South Carolina Education TV. There is also an “online poll” tab to click on so you can vote for your favorite.
The list of 20 titles that they compiled is:
Continue reading Most Influential Southern Novel
