The Kindle Chronicles

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**The Kindle Chronicles**

A weekly podcast about the Kindle and eBooks with in-depth conversations with guests–authors, technology experts, book industry analysts, Amazon execs, educators, agents, readers, and more.

Latest Episodes:

TKC 473 Total Eclipse in Casper, Wyoming Aug 26, 2017

Show notes

Links

Wyoming Eclipse Festival

Vertical Horizons, co-founded by Howard Wishnow

Celestron EclipSmart binoculars

NASA's Eclipse web site

My 360 video of the eclipse - Part 1 and Part 2

Next Week's Guest

Nancy Pearl, author of George & Lizzie, her debut novel scheduled for release on September 5, 2017

Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD.

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TKC 472 David Steinberger Aug 18, 2017

Show notes

Co-founder and CEO of ComiXology

Interview starts at 9:40 and ends at 38:47

"When we made the business plan 10 years ago--it's hard to remember this, but iPhones didn't exist. None of us had any idea we were going to be heading into this world of carrying big pieces of glass around in our pockets or in our bags that would be so amazing for image-based reading."

News

"L.L. Bean Beats Amazon.com, Once Again, For Best Customer Service" by Pam Goodfellow at Forbes - August 3, 2017

"Amazon Echo multiroom audio not far off, report says" by Megan Wollerton at CNET - August 8, 2017

"Need Something Extra Fast? Amazon Instant Pickup Launches This Week" - Amazon press release August 15, 2017

"Amazon's Instant Pickup Service Shows Clearly Who Jeff Bezos is Targeting Next" by Eric Jhonsa at TheStreet - August 15, 2017

"Kindle Oasis in Short Supply, New Model Coming Soon?" at The eBook Reader - August 10, 2017

Tech Tip

Fire HD 8 - $80 at Amazon.com

Interview with David Steinberger

ComiXology

Guided View Native comics

Box 13: The Collected Graphic Novel

ComiXology Submit

Xkcd

John Lewis's March series

The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story

ComiXology Unlimited

Star Trek on ComiXology

Content

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal - August 17, 2017 episode includes James Patterson speaking about Amazon and his new book, The Store

The Store at Goodreads

"National security advisor attempts to reconcile Trump's competing impulses on Afghanistan" by Greg Jaffe and Philip Rucker at The Washington Post - August 4, 2017

Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam by H. R. McMaster

Next Week's Show

Next week's show will originate mainly in Casper, Wyoming, where I will travel to see the total eclipse of the sun on August 21st.

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TKC 471 Jon P. Fine Aug 11, 2017

Show notes

Amazon's former Director of Author and Publishing Relations

Interview starts at 0:22 and ends at 44:20

"I do think that there is an incredible level of smart, energetic, ambitious people at Amazon working in books. That's an incredible asset. I'm optimistic that Amazon will continue to be able to hold its own. I also see great opportunity for others. I have a very optimistic view of the future of storytelling. I think it's a great time to be a storyteller. You just have to be smart about the different ways you reach an audience."

Interview with Jon P. Fine

OptiQly, where Jon Fine serves as General Counsel

Brilliance Audio

Amazon Literary Partnership

E.F. Hutton ad from the late 1970s

Audible Creation Exchange (ACX)

"Seattle's Finest: Jon Fine is Leaving Amazon" by Porter Anderson at Thought Catalog - October 2, 2014

Next Week's Guest

David Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of ComiXology, the digital comics and graphic novel retailer purchased three years ago by Amazon.

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 470 Scott Parazynski Aug 05, 2017

Show notes

Author of The Sky Below

Interview starts at 14:15 and ends at 41:36

"My goal with this book is to show people that it's important to have high, lofty dreams, but it's even more important to then have the vision and the resolve to make them come true."

News

"Is Amazon getting too big?" by Steven Pearlstein at The Washington Post - July 28, 2017

"Amazon's Antitrust Paradox" by Lina M. Khan at the Yale Law Journal - January, 2017

"Amazon's Jobs Fair Sends Clear Message: Now Hiring Thousands" by Noam Scheiber and Nick Wingfield at The New York Times - August 2, 2017

Tech Tip

Amazon instructions for using your Alexa device to control your Fire TV

Interview with Scott Parazynski

The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space, and Speed by Scott Parazynski

Scott Parazynski on CBS This Morning - July 31, 2017

Upcoming Guests

Jon Fine, strategist for digital and traditional media organizations

David Steinberger, co-founder and CEO of ComiXology

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TKC 469 Harry Bingham Jul 29, 2017

Show notes

Author of The Deepest Grave (Fiona Griffiths Crime Thriller Series Book 6)

Interview starts at 12:26 and ends at 42:13

"The Big 5 publishers do have a model of 'We will buy your book for life plus 70 years. In other words, I will get my books back about the time Bernie Madoff gets out of jail."

News

Amazon earnings release - July 27, 2017

Earnings coverage by Recode and Publishers Weekly

Inside Edge Amazon Video original series in India

"This is Amazon's Next Big Target" by CNBC - July 26, 2017

"Books are back, and that's a very bad thing" by Graham Cooke at finder.com.au

"For 4 Seattle women called Alexa, it's funny, frustrating to share name with Amazon's device" by William Robert Ferrer at The Seattle Times - July 21, 2017

Scott Galloway: Amazon will be broken up (video) - July 13, 2017

"Trump Accuses Washington Post of being lobbyist weapon for Amazon" by Jacqueline Thomsen at USA Today - July 24, 2017

Tech Tip

Standard Ebooks

Interview with Harry Bingham

The Deepest Grave by Harry Bingham

Books by Harry Bingham at Amazon.com

The Writers' Workshop

Harry Bingham interview in August, 2015, on TKC 367

An Interview with Fiona Griffiths

Content

Mermaid by Jody Picoult, a Kindle Single with Kindle in Motion animation

The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord, e-book published by Open Road Media

Next Week's Guest

Scott Parazynski, author of The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space, and Speed, available for pre-order from Amazon Publishing with release on August 1, 2017

Outro

Ellamy Tiller and The Twang

High Strung Reunion

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TKC 468 Alex Cabal Jul 22, 2017

Show notes

Founder of StandardEbooks.org

Interview starts at 11:43 and ends at 40:40

"One of the criteria for the books that we accept is that we very specifically don't want to become a dumping ground for everything public domain. I think Project Gutenberg suffers from that to some extent. They are more of an archival website at this point. Anything and everything that was produced before 1923 gets on there, and a lot of stuff just wasn't good. A lot of stuff didn't survive for a reason."

News

"Amazon launched 22 years ago this week--here's what shopping on Amazon was like back in 1995" by Caroline Cakebread at Business Insider - July 20, 2017

"Here is the First Book Ever Ordered on Amazon" by Megan Garber at The Atlantic - October 31, 2012

Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought by Douglas Hofstadter

"Amazon possibly working on new stand-alone messaging app called Anytime" at AFTVnews - July 13, 2017

"PSA: here's how to put your old Amazon shipping boxes to good use" by Natt Garun at The Verge - July 15, 2017

Give Back Box

"Amazon's next Echo will be more like Apple's HomePod" by Devindra Hardawar at Engadget - July 12, 2017

Amazon Treasure Truck

"The First Alexa Phone Gets Amazon Even Closer to Total Domination" by Brian Barrett and David Pierce at Wired - July 18, 2017

Interview with Alex Cabal

Standard Ebooks

Project Gutenberg

"The $5 million 'Blurred Lines' legal fight over the song's 'vibe' could permanently change the music industry" by Paul Schrodt at Business Insider - December 15, 2015

Calibre

Books mentioned that are available at Standard Ebooks:

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

North of Boston by Robert Frost

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, translated by George Long

A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington

Content

Amazon Rapids feature Signature Stories

Next Week's Guest

Harry Bingham, author of The Deepest Grave, the sixth book in the Fiona Griffiths detective seri3s

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 467 Len Vlahos Jul 14, 2017

Show notes

New co-owner of Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver

Interview starts at 19:56 and ends at 43:00

"Bookstores have evolved over the years to become very much experiential retailing, and we're no different."

News

"Amazon Prime Day breaks record; sales grew by more than 60 percent" by Lauren Thomas at CNBC - July 12, 2017 (includes video of analyst Jan Kniffen)

Amazon press release on Prime Day - July 12, 2017

Furbo Dog Camera

Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine

Tech Tip

Libby by OverDrive

CloudLibrary

Interview with Len Vlahos

Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver

Books by Len Vlahos: The Scar Boys, Scar Girl, and Life in a Fishbowl

Starred reviews of Life in a Fishbowl in Publishers Weekly and Booklist

Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken - Audible and Kindle

The Chaos of Standing Still by Jessica Brody - available for preorder, delivery on November 28, 2017

"SNL writer-turned-senator Al Franken talks Colorado politics ahead of Denver stop" by John Wenzel at The Denver Post - June 14, 2017

Tattered Cover Event Calendar

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TKC 466 Jaimal Yogis Jul 08, 2017

Show notes

Author of All our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride

Interview starts at 9:50 and ends at 35:52

"All memoirs build a container that's something of a lie. (You can never say it all.) But this book gets a little closer to the truth in that surfing and Zen are just big characters among many." (Photo by Peter Dawson)

News

Camino Island by John Grisham

"Amazon bookstores to participate in Prime Day for the first time" by Tonya Garcia at MarketWatch - July 5, 2017

Prime Day in Amazon Books stores

Echo Show

Nintendo Switch (gray)

Jeff Bezos's tweet with link to New York Times column by The Haggler

"The Secrets of Bezos: How Amazon Became the Everything Store" by Brad Stone at Bloomberg - October 10, 2013

Tech Tip

Click here to find Audible upgrades on your Kindle books.

Interview with Jaimal Yogis

Jaimal Yogis on TKC 236 in February, 2013

Books by Jaimal Yogis:

All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride (Published July 4, 2017)

The Fear Project: What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me About Survival, Success, Surfing...and Love (2013)

Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer's Quest to Find Zeon on the Sea (2009)

Saltwater Buddha The Film

Content

Standard Ebooks

Comments

Caseable cover for Kindle Voyage

"15 first-class Kindle Voyage cases and covers" by Piotr Kowalczyk at Ebook Friendly - February 19, 2017

Next Week's Guest

Alex Cabal, founder of Standard Ebooks

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 465 Kevin Kelly Jul 01, 2017

Show notes

Author of The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

Interview starts at 18:40 and ends at 43:00

"All the visions that most people have of the future are all dystopian, and they're afraid. They're worried. And yet the reality, the scientific evidence is that we are much better off today. Any of your listeners are 10 times better off than 10 or 20 years ago. "

News

"Early data suggests Amazon's Echo Show could be a hit with consumers" by Jonathan Camhi at Business Insider - May 24, 2017

Echo Show - $230 at Amazon.com. Buy two, save $100.

Prime Day Insider Guide

"The 5 best Amazon Prime Day deals you can actually get right now" by Samantha Gordon at USA Today - June 30, 2017

Interview with Kevin Kelly

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly

The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age by Sven Birkerts

Samsung Gear VR and Controller

Magic Leap

Recomendo newsletter

Next Week's Guest

Jaimal Yogis, author of All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride, The Fear Project: What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me About Survival, Success, Surfing...And Love, and Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer's Quest to Find Zen on the Sea

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 464 David Wright Jun 24, 2017

Show notes

Reader's Advisory Librarian at Seattle Public Library

Interview starts at 12:20 and ends at 37:05

"The Seattle Library has seen an exponential growth in our e-book usage, which like elsewhere is not cutting into our print usage. It's additive, which is really interesting to say. Same with audiobooks. These new formats just seem to bring new people into reading and literature, so that's all to the good." (Photo by John Lok, The Seattle Times)

News

"New findings suggest it might be better to read toddlers an e-book than a print book" by Emma Young at The British Psychological Society Research Digest - June 15, 2017

"Amazon's New Customer" by Ben Thompson at Stratechery - June 19, 2017

"In Whole Foods, Bezos Gets a Sustainably Sourced Guinea Pig" by Farhad Manjoo at The New York Times - June 17, 2017

"Open Road Integrated Media Newsletters Reach One Million Subscribers" - press release on June 22, 2017

Tech Tips

"Introducing Smart Home Camera Control with Alexa" by Jeff Blankenburg at Alexa Blogs - June 22, 2017

Interview with David Wright

Seattle Public Library

Nancy Pearl on TKC 268

Books by Jerome Charyn and James Sallis

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood