Category Archives: eReaders

April 12, 2011 · 9:49 am

Coming In May—The $114 Kindle 3 . . .


. . . but there’s a catch.

The price of a Kindle 3 WiFi is $139, and that’s pretty much the norm anywhere you shop.  The only deviation I’ve ever seen was a slightly lower price about a month ago at a BJ’s Wholesale Club in Dania Beach, Florida, at $136.

Now comes word that sometime next month you’ll be able to purchase a brand new Kindle 3 for the low, low price of $114.  Sounds good.  But there’s no such thing as a free lunch and, apparently in the world of Jeff Bezos, there’s no such thing as a free $25 discount.  So, what exactly do you give up for that quarter of a C-note?

Surprisingly, not much.  When the Kindle 3 goes into sleep mode, the display shows a portrait of a famous author of the past on what many jokingly call, “The Dead Author Screensaver.”  With the lower priced version, you’ll instead get promotional offers from Amazon and advertisements from other corporations.  According to this Publishers Weekly article, Buick, Olay, and Visa have already queued up for this latest advertising medium.

Additionally, Amazon will have a new Kindle 3 app and website called AdMash to go along with this little scheme.  Using AdMash, owners of the reduced price Kindle 3 WiFi will be able to vote for their favorite ads and give Amazon feedback as to which ads people want cluttering up their screen when their device is sleeping.  Apparently, all future ads will eventually be screened using data derived from AdMash users.

So, if $139 was still a little steep for your wallet, and if you can stand to look at an ad or two when you’re not using your Kindle, this just might be the opportunity for which you’ve been waiting.  Just click here to pre-order an ad-sponsored Kindle 3 WiFi.

But whatever you do, don’t forget to load up that new Kindle 3 WiFi with a copy of that critically acclaimed murder mystery Decisions using only $2.99 of that $25 I just saved you.  After all, what good is that new Kindle 3 WiFi if there’s nothing on it that’s fun to read?

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Filed under eReaders, Giveaways

March 31, 2011 · 8:41 am

Now, a Plea on Behalf of Jacqueline Howett


This may not be popular, but so be it. Enough is enough, people.  Yes, Jacqueline Howett screwed up in a major way.  Yes, it’s true she has yet to apologize for the behavior that got her into trouble.  But, come on now.  When BigAl’s Books and Pals posted on March 22 a review on the Amazon Product Page for The Greek Seaman, his was one of only four.  Here it is only nine days later and there are now 97 reviews posted, of which 78 give the minimum one star.

If even half of those 93 recent reviewers had purchased the book, it would be well below the 5,000 mark in sales rankings.  Indeed my suspicions can easily be confirmed by glancing through some of these “reviews.”  Most of them are from people who write that their rating is based upon the sample, and some are admitting to never having even read that much.  Like her or not, Ms. Howett’s book does not deserve to be trashed in such wholesale fashion just because of her behavior.

If you’ve purchased and read the entire book, or even a substantial portion of it if you couldn’t get through it, then fine.  I have no problem with that.  If on the other hand you’re making judgments based upon the sample alone or, even worse, what happened over on BigAl’s site, then you’re doing everyone a disservice.  As such, I would ask that you remove your review to allow a more honest and forthright appraisal of the work.  After all, even BigAl gave the book two stars, and he had some positive things to say about the plotting.

We’ve all had our fun, but now it’s time to move on.

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Filed under Books, eReaders, Writing

February 9, 2011 · 7:16 pm

DECISIONS on Kindle in the Wind


I just received word that tomorrow Decisions will be spotlighted on Kindle in the Wind, a blog site aimed at highlighting eBooks.  Many thanks, Lee Niles.  Really appreciate the boost.

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Filed under Author, Books, eReaders, Social Networking