Retailing for less than $100, the HP Mesquite 7 stands out as a premier budget-friendly Android device. While Hewlett-Packard has previously offered heavily discounted hardware during clearance events, this model represents the company’s first intentional move into the sub-$100 market.

**Design and Build**
While HP offers several affordable tablets, the Mesquite—also identified as the HP 7 (Model 1800)—is unique for featuring an Intel processor. Internally, the device utilizes a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 chip supported by 1GB of RAM and 5.1GB of onboard storage, which can be expanded via a microSD slot. Hardware features include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a microphone, and a basic VGA front-facing camera.

The physical design consists of a matte white back that is prone to smudges and a standard glossy black front. The exterior is minimalist; the front is dominated by the display and a centered webcam, while the curved rear houses the speaker and memory card expansion. Connectivity ports and controls are located on the left and upper-left edges. Despite its low price, the build quality feels substantial with tight seams and smooth edges. However, its weight makes it slightly cumbersome for extended one-handed use, such as e-reading, without an accessory for better grip.

**Display**
The 7-inch screen features a 1024 x 600 resolution, matching the original Kindle Fire. Color reproduction is surprisingly vibrant for this price tier, avoiding the washed-out look common in competitors. The backlight offers a broad range of dimness, though it lacks the high-end luminosity of more expensive tablets. While horizontal viewing angles are wide enough for group viewing, vertical angles are limited, with colors shifting significantly if tilted more than 20 degrees.

**Camera and Battery Life**
The tablet includes a single VGA camera, which provides poor image quality and is largely’unsuitable for serious photography. Battery performance, however, is a highlight. While many budget tablets struggle to last more than two hours, the Mesquite reaches its advertised five-hour mark even during high-resolution video playback. Standby time is approximately two to three days. Users might further optimize longevity by installing third-party power management tools.

**Software and Performance**
The device operates on a nearly stock version of Android 4.1. This operating system is several versions behind current standards but remains functional and stable. HP has included its ePrint app for wireless printing, though users may prefer the more comprehensive HP All-in-One app available on the Play Store. One minor software drawback is the lack of a comprehensive quick-settings menu, though this can be addressed with third-party apps.

On paper, the single-core Intel Atom CPU might seem inferior to the multi-core ARM chips found in rival devices. Real-world testing tells a different story; the x86 architecture proves efficient, earning an Antutu score of 11,120. In practice, the tablet is responsive, handles casual gaming like Angry Birds with ease, and features a reliable touchscreen.

**Media Experience**
Audio and video performance are somewhat inconsistent. While the internal player successfully rendered high-definition video files with synced audio, the interface is extremely sparse. Furthermore, the pre-installed YouTube app exhibited sluggish loading times and required a manual cache clear to function correctly. These software quirks suggest that while the hardware is capable, the out-of-the-box media experience is unpolished.

**Final Verdict**
The HP Mesquite sacrifices certain features, such as HDMI ports or additional USB connectivity, and runs an older version of Android. Nevertheless, it remains a compelling choice due to its durable construction, reliable performance, and respectable battery life. For consumers seeking a functional tablet under $100, it remains one of the more dependable options available.

There’s a story going around this week that the Amazon VP of Kindle Content, David Naggar, advised publishers to slash their ebook prices to boost sales.

The story, as originally reported in the Daily Mail and The Bookseller, centers around statements and quotes like this:

The US giant uses a complex computer algorithm to recommend books to customers, taking account of how many people have looked at a title before, how many have bought it, its price and what sort of reviews it has received.

…

Mr Naggar, Amazon’s publishing chief, said: "I look at price as a tool for visibility. You can either spend a lot of money on marketing or you can invest it in a super-low price until they get the flywheel going of the recommendation engines – and this is just for Amazon.

"What self-published authors will do is they will publish a book and sell it for 99p right out of the gate… Publishers [with new authors] could much more afford to do that than self-published authors."

I followed up with Amazon, and they disputed the story in a couple significant ways.

For one thing, I was told that price is not a factor in Amazon’s search algorithm. That was an assertion of the Daily Mail’s story writer, not something Amazon told her.

Amazon also told me that Naggar’s statements were very much taken out of context by the Daily Mail. The rag twisted Naggar’s words to imply that Naggar was speaking about all publishers and all authors, when in fact Amazon said that Naggar was specifically talking  about how to maximize sales for unknown authors.

He didn’t say that all publishers should slash ebook prices; I’m told that Naggar was saying that publishers could boost the sales of new and unknown authors by pricing ebooks low so that readers would be more inclined to take a risk on someone they don’t know.

That advice came out of a discussion of the tactics indie authors in KDP use to drive discovery, specifically how some indie authors initially lower a book’s price to build awareness, and then gradually increase price until they find the point on the demand curve that maximizes book revenue.

Nothing I have heard from Amazon is all that shocking; in fact, there’s absolutely nothing new or controversial here.

I have heard any number of authors and pundits say that publishers are sabotaging the careers of new authors by pricing ebooks at $14.99. The high price discourages readers from taking a chance on an author they don’t know, and as a result kill trad pub careers before they can even get started.

There is literally nothing here I have not heard before, so really, any controversy in this story arose from the Daily Mail framing their story using things Naggar never said.

Publishing chief David Naggar says traditional shops should slash their prices

…

Amazon is involved in a new row with publishers after one of its most senior bosses told them that they should simply drop their prices if they want to sell more books.

Of course, that is SOP for the Daily Mail; when they don’t invent a story out of whole cloth, they twist statements and leave out facts to such a degree that they are publishing fiction.

Next!

image by Tomasz Stasiuk

There’s an old quip about asking the last person to leave a place to please shut off the lights, but apparently Barnes & Noble isn’t going to wait.

They have posted a notice on the front page of the Nook support forums with the news that the forums will be shutting down next Thursday.

If you can’t see the above image, it says:

Hi Everyone,

As some of you have noted, today we are writing to you all and sharing the news that the NOOK Support Forum will be shutting down on September 7, 2017. We would like to thank you for being such active users and for your contributions to this forum over the years.

Though the forums will no longer be around, we’ll still be here to answer all your support questions at https://help.barnesandnoble.com/ and on social media at the following links:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BN_care

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/barnesandnoble

Thank you again for your time in the NOOK Support Forum and we hope you continue to visit us on these other channels.

Feel free to comment below and/or PM me with any questions or concerns. It’s been a fun time hanging out with you all here.

The Nook support forums have been defunct for quite some time now, so this shutdown was to be expected.

The five forums averaged about a half-dozen new topics each month (combined). For a company that used to be a major player in ebooks, that is the next best thing to dead, and it makes a lot of sense for B&N to cut its cost by shuttering a venue that simply isn’t being used any more.

That’s the same reasoning B&N has used to justify outsourcing or shutting down most nook operations, in fact. The Nook ereader hardware was outsourced to Netronix, the Android tablet is now the purview of a Chinese OEM, the international Nook stores have been closed, and core Nook functions have been outsourced to an Indian tech firm.

Do you suppose that B&N ever gets tired of shouting "Retreat!"?

image by karen horton

In an age where authors and artists like VC Andrews and Tupac go on producing for their corporate masters long after they have died, Terry Pratchett has pulled off the impossible.

The Guardian reports that his unpublished books have been destroyed:

The unfinished books of Sir Terry Pratchett have been destroyed by a steamroller, following the late fantasy novelist’s wishes.

Pratchett’s hard drive was crushed by a vintage John Fowler & Co steamroller named Lord Jericho at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, ahead of the opening of a new exhibition about the author’s life and work.

Pratchett, famous for his colourful and satirical Discworld series, died in March 2015 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

After his death, fellow fantasy author Neil Gaiman, Pratchett’s close friend and collaborator , told the Times that Pratchett had wanted “whatever he was working on at the time of his death to be taken out along with his computers, to be put in the middle of a road and for a steamroller to steamroll over them all”.

On Friday the manager of Pratchett’s estate carried out his wishes, using an antique steam roller to destroy a hard disk that reportedly contained the only copies of Pratchett’s final books.

Considering that even Isaac Asimov and Robert Ludlum have been zombified and continue to produce new works, Pratchett has pulled off the nigh impossible.

And no, I am not exaggerating. According to EW, there’s a long list of authors whose works have been exhumed or whose names have been turned into brands:

V.C. Andrews, who died in 1986, still cranks out about two books a year (most are by Andrew Neiderman). Eric Van Lustbader has churned out five Jason Bourne thrillers under the name Robert Ludlum™ since the original author’s 2001 death. This fall, we’ve seen estate-authorized sequels of everything from A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh (David Benedictus’ Return to the Hundred Acre Wood) to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer’s And Another Thing…) to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series (Brandon Sanderson’s The Gathering Storm). At least Colfer and Sebastian Faulks, who published the James Bond sequel Devil May Care last year, are writers of some repute. But some of these brand extensions seem not much better than authorized fan fiction. (Anyone remember Alexandra Ripley’s Scarlett?)

I’m not even counting the exhumation of every unfinished (or nearly finished) manuscript or previously unpublished PostIt note by a noted author. This fall brings Michael Cricthon’s Pirate Latitudes, an adventure story set in 17th-century Jamaica apparently completed before his death, as well as Kurt Vonnegut’s story collection Look at the Birdie, William Styron’s The Suicide Run, and Vladimir Nabokov’s unfinished final novel The Original of Laura.

Of course, just because Pratchett isn’t joining The Undead Authors Guild today is no guarantee that he won’t join said embalmed ranks in the future.

Throw enough money at his heirs twenty years down the line and they might change their minds.

If you are one of the millions who blog on WordPress, your world is about to change.

Due out next year, WordPress 5.0 is going to feature a new framework called Gutenberg. It hasn’t been discussed much outside the WP developer community, but Gutenberg represents a radical departure from everything we know about WordPress.

In the current setup,  you write a post or publish a page, but under Gutenberg each paragraph, image, or in-text widget is treated as its own block of content. A post or a page is made of blocks which are then assembled into a whole when the post or page is published.

According to Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg, Gutenberg will have a whole host of benefits.  He wrote last week that it is "about a lot more than just blocks. Our Gutenberg moves every part of the WordPress ecosystem forward:"

• Developers and agencies will be able to create interactive templates that clients can easily update without breaking things or dealing with custom post types.
• Plugin developers will be able to completely integrate into every part of WordPress, including posts, pages, custom post types, and sidebars without having to hack TinyMCE or squeeze their entire feature behind a toolbar button. Today, every plugin that extends WordPress does it in a different way; Gutenberg’s blocks provide a single, easy-to-learn entry point for an incredible variety of extensions.
• Theme developers won’t need to bundle tons of plugins or create their own page builders. There’ll will be a standard, portable way to create rich layouts for posts and guide people setup right in the interface, no 20-step tutorials or long videos needed.
• Users will finally be able to build the sites they see in their imaginations.

All this great new functionality and versatility comes at a cost, of course.

Designers can’t build those new rich sites with the current WordPress interface, which is why the most of the menus we know and use today are going to be replaced.

Right now Gutenberg is available as a plugin, and it gives us a peek at what is coming. The current version of the plugin is limited to a content editor menu that closely resembles Medium (while at the same time encouraging users to craft rich media posts).

The gallery below shows screenshots of the old interface, the new Gutenberg interface, and the demo post that came with the Gutenberg plugin.

An author commented on Twitter that Gutenberg sounds like MailChimp-style blogging, and that is honestly a very good description. I have been using that mailing list service for about a year now, and I can see a lot of similarity between the Gutenberg and MailChimp interfaces.

Of course, that’s not necessarily a good thing. MailChimp is not exactly easy to use to either set up or compose a newsletter, and Gutenberg is going to have similar problems.

When I tried Gutenberg last night, I had trouble figuring out how to repeat the demo. It looked great, but the demo offered no real instruction – instead it gave one-line suggestions like "Press the really wide button on the image toolbar." when the button was nowhere to be seen.

Fortunately Gutenberg is still in beta, so there’s still time to fix the confusing interface.

If you would like to help, or simply get an early look at what is coming next, you can install the Gutenberg plugin from the plugin menu on your site. But beware: This is a beta release, and it could crash your site. Caveat emptor.

So tell me, have you tried the Gutenberg plugin yet? What did you think?

image by Sean MacEntee

When textbook publishers filed copyright infringement suits against third-party sellers (and Follett, even), the motivation was obvious. Just ask anyone: non-fiction sales are down (like O’Reilly said) so the publishers are trying to remove low-priced and sub-par competition from the market.

New survey data shows that college students are spending less on textbooks than ever before. The Student Watch report from the National Association of College Stores showed that students spent an average of $579 on their required course materials, down $122 from $701 in 2007.

That’s a drop of 17% in a decade where textbook prices increased faster than the cost of healthcare.

The complete report is behind a paywall. You can read a regurgitation of the highlights at PW, or the highlights themselves at the NACS website.

Two details that caught my eye were the increase in the use of free and paid digital course materials:

• nearly a quarter (23%) of students who purchased at least one course material bought a digital version, an increase of 8% from fall 2015.
• In spring 2016, 25% of students surveyed reported using a free method to obtain what they needed for class, up from 19% the previous year.

Surprisingly, student are still more likely to use the college bookstore than even Amazon when buying textbooks.

I strongly suspect that is misleading, though; while I used the college bookstore when I was a student a decade ago I spent most of my money elsewhere. The current trend of B&N Edu replacing its college bookstores with gift shops, and colleges outsourcing bookstore operations would also suggest that actual spending at college bookstores has declined.

NACS

There’s a story going around that Sony is working on an E-ink laptop, but if you double check the original source you’ll see that the usual disreputable blog is telling tall tales again.

According to the Taipei Times, Sony is working with E-ink to develop a laptop that uses E-ink screens:

There are growth opportunities in the company’s new product lines, such as e-notebooks, Ko said.

“We have been actively developing e-notebooks over the past one to two years together with our key customer,” Ko said

E-ink has teamed up with Sony Corp in a joint venture to develop a laptop product integrating its technology.

“This year is an important year for us to pitch this product to the market,” Ko said. “We are seeing replacement demand from the healthcare sector to the financing and education sectors,” Ko said.

This sounds very exciting, and it has been spun into meaning more than it says, but before you start saving up for an e-ink laptop I am going to have to deflate the hype.

At first glance it sounds like Sony is developing an e-ink laptop, but that’s not what the article says. It said the companies would "develop a laptop product integrating its technology", which  for all we know they could have a design that uses an E-ink screen on the lid as a secondary screen – or uses tie E-ink screen in place of a keyboard.

We’ve seen a number of similar ideas over the years from Microsoft and other companies, and so fr none have been a true E-ink laptop. (I also can’t recall that any have hit the market, but that’s another issue.)

And more importantly, E-ink CEO Frank Ko didn’t make this statement about the laptop. It’s mentioned in the article, but doesn’t say that this detail came from E-ink. Also, the word laptop is not mentioned anywhere in the original announcement of the joint venture, so it’s not clear where the TT got this idea.

While I think an E-ink laptop like the prototype Onyx Boox Typewriter would be very cool, we really cannot say with any certainty that Sony is working on one.

If you really want this type of device, you should go ask Onyx to hurry up.  They have the hardware skills, and they already have a prototype with a 9.7″ screen.

Sony, on the other hand, outsourced the development of its DPT-RP1 writing slate. That was designed by Marvel, not Sony, raising doubts that Sony could even produce a new E-ink device.

Earlier this week Barnes & Noble stunned many when it started spontaneously terminating the Nook Press accounts of indie authors. B&N claimed that the accounts had been terminated for violating its content policies concerning erotica, but many of the authors disputed the allegation, insisting that they hadn’t broken any rules.

It was impossible to say exactly what was going on when this story first broke (my suspicion was that B&N was clearing erotica authors out of Nook Press in anticipation of selling Nook to Kobo) but as Wednesday wore on it became clear that the termination were simply a misguided overreaction to perceived policy violations.

Many of the authors have since had their accounts restored after the negative press coverage forced B&N to rein in it puritanical impulses. Several authors, including  Georgette St Clair and Bobbi Holmes, have confirmed the restoration.

The accounts had been terminated under a part of the content policy which had technically banned all erotica:

Please be advised that submitting or posting any of the following content in your eBook file, cover image or product data may, in the exercise of Barnes & Noble’s sole and unfettered discretion, result in the removal of said content and/or termination of your account. …

• Obscene or Pornographic material: This may include content that graphically portrays sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.

A problem with enforcing this rule is that B&N has had this rule and ignored it for years. Also, a number of authors, including Bobbi Holmes, had said they had stopped publishing erotica years back and so could not possibly be in violation.

And let’s not forget that B&N was and is still selling 50 Shades, Lolita and the works of VC Andrews, all of which would clearly have violated this or other parts of the content policy.

In any case, this incident has been revealed to be an aberration.

Any author who finds their account still frozen should complain to Nook Press, and on social media.

This assumes, of course, that they want to continue selling ebooks through Nook Press. Now that Barnes & Noble has begun playing Russian roulette with author accounts Nook Press might no longer be worth the headache.

image by aeroix

While the Kindle is expected to dominate the e-reader market this year, it may not be the ideal choice for every consumer. The following guide explores which digital reading device best matches various user priorities and budgets.

**Finding the Best Prices**
If your priority is long-term savings on content, the Amazon Kindle is the strongest contender. While the publishing industry has standardized pricing for many new releases, Amazon utilizes its market influence to keep many titles discounted. Prospective buyers should note, however, that the Kindle ecosystem is closed; you cannot purchase books from other vendors to read on the device.

**Borrowing from Libraries**
For readers who want to utilize local library ebook collections, the Barnes & Noble Nook or the Sony Reader Daily Edition (PRS-950) are the preferred choices. Most libraries use the OverDrive system, which is compatible with many devices but notably lacks Kindle support due to Amazon’s avoidance of the EPUB file format.

**Internet and Connectivity**
If mobile web access is essential for checking email or Wikipedia on the go, a 3G-enabled device is necessary. While Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony all offer 3G models, Sony’s Daily Edition limits web browsing to Wi-Fi despite its higher price tag. This leaves the 3G versions of the Kindle and Nook as the most practical options for mobile connectivity.

**Budget-Friendly Options**
For those looking to spend under $150, the Kindle Wi-Fi is currently the most affordable major option. While a Wi-Fi Nook exists in a similar price bracket, it usually costs slightly more. Unless library compatibility is a dealbreaker, the entry-level Kindle offers the best value.

**State-of-the-Art Features**
The "best" technology depends on your specific needs:
* **Best Grayscale Display:** The Kindle leads in E Ink screen quality.
* **Color Content:** If you read children’s books or magazines, the Nook Color is the top choice.
* **Tactile Controls:** For users who prefer touchscreens, swiping gestures, and stylus navigation, the Sony Reader is the primary option, though it is significantly more expensive than the Kindle.

**High-End Multi-Tasking**
For consumers with a budget exceeding $500, the iPad serves as a versatile "all-in-one" device. It supports apps for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and soon Sony. However, it is recommended to avoid purchasing books directly through Apple’s iBookstore due to restrictive copy protection. Instead, use third-party apps like Stanza for public domain works or Bluefire for library loans.

**Overall Ease of Use and Reputation**
The Kindle remains the most frequently recommended device by mainstream media and organizations like Consumer Reports. Amazon’s extensive history in retail ensures a highly polished, user-friendly experience from the moment of purchase through to reading.

**Visual and Graphic Content**
For comics and graphic novels, the iPad’s large screen is the gold standard. For those on a smaller budget, the iPod Touch is a viable alternative due to its superior touch interface, which eases navigation on a smaller screen. The Nook Color is another possibility, though its specialized support for comic formats is currently less certain.

**Devices to Avoid**
Market experts generally advise against purchasing the Kobo, as it lacks 3G and offers fewer features than its competitors at a similar price. Lower-tier Sony models are also discouraged because they lack wireless connectivity and are overpriced. Finally, it is wise to avoid "off-brand" or generic e-readers; while they may be cheaper, their software often lacks updates and essential features. Stick with established brands for the most reliable long-term support.

Over at PW Andrew Albanese is asking the wrong question about used ebooks. He looks at ReDigi’s ongoing appeals of the copyright infringement suit it "lost" in 2013 and asks whether:

Should there be a legal market for reselling “used” digital files, like the secondary market that currently exists for books or CDs in the analog world? That’s the heart of the question now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, after a lively hearing on Tuesday in the case of Capitol Records vs. ReDigi.

The appeal hearing comes more than four years after district court judge Richard Sullivan effectively shut down ReDigi, an upstart online service that enabled consumers to resell their legally purchased iTunes files. Users could upload their files to ReDigi; ReDigi’s technology then removed the files from the seller’s device, and transferred them to a buyer’s device, keeping a 60% cut of the sale price.

The problem with asking whether there should there be a legal market for reselling “used” digital files is that it already exists. This ruling won’t reopen the door to such a market because that door never closed.

ReDigi has probably fallen off most people’s radars, so let me give you a quick recap.

ReDigi is a failed startup that launched in 2011 with the idea that it could host a marketplace for reselling digital music. Music labels sued in 2012, and "won" the case in 2013. I am using quotes here because the ruling left loopholes that allowed ReDigi to continue operating.

I explained it in detail in 2013, but the tl;dr version is that the ruling said that you can’t resell the digital file, but you can sell the medium it is sitting on. So it was entirely legal for ReDigi to structure its business so it was technically reselling individual copies sitting on its servers.

ReDigi then got a patent on their business model in early 2014, thus cementing their hold on the idea.

So no, there’s no need to worry about the sale of used digital content "becoming" legal – it already is.

What everyone should be hoping for is that the appeals court will look at the loophole, realize how ridiculous it is, and decide to close it.

Really, though, this is not a huge issue. The biggest roadblock in the way of a used ebook market in the US is that ebook tech is so dysfunctional that it effectively makes it impossible to launch an ebook market that worked like ReDigi’s.

Amazon is about the only company who could pull it off. They even have a patent, but so far they have shown no interest in following through.

Be very happy about that.

image by weiss_paarz_photos

There’s a story breaking this morning which – if confirmed as true – would mark a troubling return to a period where erotica was removed from ebook retailers simply for being risque.

Edit: it’s really happening.

Author Bobbi Holmes reported on her blog yesterday that she had received the following email from Nook Press:

Dear Publisher,

We have determined that many of your titles available for sale are in violation of our Content Policy. Accordingly, the offending titles have been removed from sale and your account is being terminated. We will pay out any and all outstanding royalties during the next payment period. If you attempt to publish similar content under a different account, we will terminate that account as well and withhold royalties from those sales.

The NOOK Press Team

Holmes’s publisher, Roberth, has posted a similar noticed on its site while at the same time denying that it currently published erotica in the Nook Store.

At first glance this reminds me of 2013, when Amazon and other ebook retailers pulled self-published erotica as a response to negative news coverage. (Kobo went even further, pulling all self-published titles of all genres and categories from all of its ebook retail partner sites).

But one key difference between that story and this one is that we have no confirmation that this was an intentional act by Nook Press and not some fool making a mistake.

This might be the start of a purge, but I have not found any sign that is the case. There are no other first-hand reports on KBoards, Twitter, or in Google search results from authors whose titles have been pulled. (I have a second-hand report, but that is not the same thing.)

I can confirm that nearly all Bobbi Holmes titles have been removed from the Nook section of the B&N website. (The print editions remain, however, rendering the ban pointless.) Nothing in the print titles suggest erotica, and I don’t see any erotica titles from Bobbi Holmes in the Kindle Store.

If you find out something new, please let us know in the comments.

Edit: The story has been confirmed by Georgette St Clair, who wrote on her blog that her Nook Press account was closed:

About 5 years ago I had published a few erotic romance books with a higher heat level than my shifter books, and B&N was one of the places that I published those books. These were published under a different pen name. I have never gotten a single warning or complaint from B&N about any of these titles; if I had, I would have taken it down immediately.

All of a sudden I get a notice yesterday that my account is suspended, and none of my books are on sale. I emailed B&N; no response. I started checking author forums and find that this has happened to NUMEROUS other authors of erotic romance, and most of them are getting follow up letters saying their accounts are suspended, forever.

Third Edit: St Clair now says that her account was restored.

PW has a second confirmation from erotica author Selena Kitt:

Selena Kitt, another author who complained publicly about the situation, said B&N acted "without warning" in canceling her account, and the accounts of other authors. She added that B&N’s claims that she and others had violated Nook’s content guidelines rung hollow as those guidelines were "non-existent until August 16 or so. We’ve had the same content published on their site for years."

So yes, B&N is apparently now purging erotica titles that they were happy to publish last month.

Second Edit: They claim that they changed their policies on 16 August, but from what I can see Nook Press has nearly the same content policy today is it did in February 2017  (Wayback Machine).

The only real change that I can see is that a few words were added here:

 but not limited to works portraying or encouraging incest, rape, bestiality, necrophilia, paedophilia or content that encourages hate or violence.

That’s all the new stuff, which is kinda weird. I was under the impression that content was already banned from most bookstores. Also, it doesn’t explain why Bobbi Holmes’s account was terminated when she wasn’t selling any erotica.

image by paparutz

Speaking of copying old ideas, Barnes & Noble is ending out emails to indie authors, asking them to participate in a new marketing service called Nook First Look.

Authors on KBoards report that they’ve received emails from B&N which said:

The NOOK First Look program highlights new releases from independent authors and publishers making these titles available to Barnes & Noble readers two weeks before wide release. NOOK First Look titles must be available through the NOOK Press platform and must be new releases in order to be considered.

To submit your eBook for consideration in the NOOK First Look program, please fill out this form with the following information. Please be advised that we can only accommodate one title per author approximately every 4-6 months so please choose your best title to nominate. As well, your title will be considered for the NOOK First Look program at the sole discretion of the NOOK Press team. We will contact you via email within a month if your title has been selected.

**When submitting this form, please note that your title must be no less than 8 weeks out from publication and all final files must be available 2 weeks before the wide release of the title. Final files must also be loaded to your portal no less than 72 hours before publication.

According to the authors who got the email, it links to a form on Google Docs.

Several authors have expressed disbelief that this is real, however a few minutes of Googling uncovered the Nook First Look page on the B&N website. The page promotes two books, with one offered at a discount.

This is an interesting idea, but there are a couple huge problems that are going to keep it from amounting to much.

The first problem is that B&N doesn’t sell a whole lot of ebooks anymore.  Their Nook revenues in the last fiscal year totaled $192 million (in comparison, Amazon paid out more to authors whose books are in Kindle Unlimited).

The second problem is that Barnes & Noble has yet to tell their customers about Nook First Look. I only heard because I know an author who got the email (thanks, Bill!); I did not read about it in the marketing emails I receive as a B&N customer.

And that is why like most B&N ideas, this one is DOA.

July is the last month before the new KENPC changes take affect, and it went out with a bang. Amazon reported yesterday that the funding pool rose by $1 million in July 2017, to $19 million.

At the same time, data collected by Self-Publisher Bibel shows that the per-page rate decreased significantly from June 2017, from 42 thousandths of a dollar to 40 thousandths.

That is a drop of 20% in the per-page rate so far this year (January’s rate was 00.4754 cents), leading some authors to announce they are quitting KU.

• US: $0.0040 (USD)
• Germany: €0.0027 (EUR)
• UK: £0.0031 (GBP)
• Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy: €0.0040 (EUR)
• Canada: $0.0040 (CAD)
• India: 0.0785 (INR)
• Brazil: R$ 0.0098 (BRL)
• Japan: 0.5001 (JPY)
• Australia: $0.0035 (AUD)

P.S. Here’s a list of the monthly funding pools. It does not include the bonuses paid out each month.

• July 2014: $2.5 million (Kindle Unlimited launches early in the month)
• August 2014: $4.7 million
• September 2014: $5 million
• October 2014: $5.5 million
• November 2014: $6.5 million
• December 2014: $7.25 million
• January 2015 – $8.5 million
• February 2015: $8 million
• March 2015: $9.3 million
• April 2015: $9.8 million
• May 2015: $10.8 million
• June 2015: $11.3 million
• July 2015: $11.5 million
• August 2015: $11.8 million
• September 2015: $12 million
• October 2015: $12.4 million
• November 2015: $12.7 million
• December 2015: $13.5 million
• January 2016: $15 million
• February 2016: $14 million
• March 2016: $14.9 million
• April 2016: $14.9 million
• May 2016: $15.3 million
• June 2016: $15.4 million
• July 2016: $15.5 million
• August 2016: $15.8 million
• September 2016: $15.9 million
• October 2016: $16.2 million
• November 2016: $16.3 million
• December 2016: $16.8 million
• January 2017: : $17.8 million
• February 2017: : $16.8 million
• March 2017: $17.7 million
• April 2017: $17.8 million
• May 2017 :$17.9 million
• June 2017: $18 million
• July 2017: $19 million

Self-Publisher Bibel

Aldi has expanded its electronics inventory in Belgium by introducing an affordable eReader to its shelves. This latest addition, the Billow BK6031L, provides a new entry-level choice for consumers, though technical details regarding various specifications remain scarce.

The device features a 6-inch E-ink display equipped with both a frontlight for night reading and touchscreen capabilities. Internally, the unit carries 4GB of storage, which can be expanded via a microSD slot. However, potential buyers should note that official product listings do not mention Wi-Fi connectivity, audio support, or specific screen resolution. Reports from industry observers like Lesen.net suggest the device lacks wireless internet. If accurate, this means users will have to connect the device to a computer via USB to download books. The reader is compatible with both PDF and Epub formats, including those protected by DRM.

Some critics argue that the lack of Wi-Fi may be a hurdle for less tech-savvy users, suggesting that a standard Kindle—which is sold at a lower price point in neighboring Germany—might be a more user-friendly alternative. Nevertheless, budget e-readers with similar technical constraints have previously found success in various European markets.

While this may seem like a new venture for the discount retailer, it is actually the third time Aldi has marketed an eReader. Previous efforts include a 6-inch model released in the Netherlands in 2010 and a 7-inch LCD-based device sold in Australia in 2012.

Technical analysis from community discussions indicates the Billow BK6031L likely utilizes a Boxchip/Allwinner E200 processor. The hardware design is believed to be a licensed version of the Gajah 6011B, a design that has been rebranded by several different European companies under various names, such as the TrekStor Pyrus 2 LED and the Woxter Paperlight. Because these devices share the same underlying architecture, their firmware is often interchangeable. For now, the Billow remains a niche, low-cost option for Belgian shoppers looking for a basic digital reading experience.