The Kindle Chronicles

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TKC 423 Nicholson Baker Sep 10, 2016

Show notes

Author of Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids

Interview starts at 8:44 and ends at 41:26

The thing that really hit me was, this is compulsory. None of these kids have a choice. Whatever the cutoff age is, they have a choice, but all of those earlier years they cannot just decide, "I don't want to go to school today" unless they had a very understanding set of parents or something. They have to go. And they have to get up really early. Often they're on a bus for an hour, and then all day long they're being told what to do. And some of what they're learning, especially in elementary school, is very valuable—reading, for instance, and arithmetic—really, really valuable things to know on this planet. Other things are often really a waste of time. That feeling of its being both an incredibly long day and a day in which a lot of it feels kind of futile—it's kind of a terrifying combination when you look at it from the kid's point of view.

(Photo by Elias Baker)

News

Amazon announces an all-new Fire HD 8 for $90 with longer battery life, more storage, faster performance and Alexa

Fire HD 8 press release - September 8, 2016

Interview with Nicholson Baker

Nicholson Baker's author page at Amazon.com

Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids by Nicholson Baker

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Minecraft

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.

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 422 Chris Schluep Sep 03, 2016

Show notes

Senior Editor, ‪Amazon.com Books

Interview starts ‪at 17:14 and ends at 44:11

"I've heard it said that summer's a great time for summer reading, but it's also a great time to sit down with that one nonfiction book that you want to take the time to read. Maybe it's transitioning a little bit, but fall is definitely the big time to sell books. That's when everybody gears up and starts scheduling their huge books."

News

"Now Arriving on the New York Subway: Free E-Books, Timed for Your Commute" by James Barron at The New York Times - August 28, 2016

"Book Reading 2016" report by Pew Research Center - September 1, 2016

"No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Printed Book. Most People Still Prefer Them." by Daniel Victor at The New York Times - September 2, 2016

"Pew: Print Books Still More Popular Than EBooks and Audiobooks" by Daniel Berkowitz at Digital Book World - September 1, 2016

"Visiting Wroclaw Amazon. Warehouse, work and work culture" by Robert Drozd - September 1, 2016

Kobo Aura One

"New Omate Rise smartwatch comes with Amazon Alexa" by Edgar Cervantes at Android Authority - September 1, 2016

Omate Rise Smartwatch with Alexa at Indiegogo

Tech Tip

Moko Case for Kindle Oasis - $12.99

WizFun Case for Kindle Oasis - $9.99

Interview with Chris Schluep

Amazon Author Pages for Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and China Miéville

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson

Flying Spaghetti Monster Car Emblem

Seconds: A Graphic Novel by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Everything I Never Told You: A Novel by Celeste Ng

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen - available for pre-order with delivery ‪September 27, 2016

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer - available for pre-order with delivery ‪November 8, 2016

Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks - available for pre-order with delivery ‪October 4, 2016

A Torch Against the Night and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Here I Am: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer - available for pre-order with delivery ‪September 6, 2016

Moonglow: A Novel by Michael Chabon - available for pre-order with delivery ‪November 22, 2016

The Whistler by John Grisham - available for pre-order with delivery ‪October 25, 2016

Bloom County Episode XI: A New Hope by Berkeley Breathed - available for pre-order with delivery ‪September 13, 2016

Razor Girl: A Novel by Carl Hiaasen - available for pre-order with delivery ‪September 6, 2016

Crooked Kingdom: A Sequel to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - available for pre-order with delivery ‪September 27, 2016

Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance

Small Great Things: A Novel by Jodi Picoult - available for pre-order with delivery ‪October 11, 2016

Omnivoracious, The Amazon Book Review

Next Week's Guest

Nicholson Baker, author of Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 421 Chad W. Post Aug 27, 2016

Show notes

Publisher of Open Letter Books

Interview starts at 15:15 and ends at 43:30

Amazon[Crossing] is filling in some of these gaps, because we haven't for a long time seen the normal mystery book that someone picks up in Spain and reads when they go on their vacation. That's never been translated into English, because it didn't seem like it would make a ton of money for one of the big presses, and the small presses are looking for something that's more patently literary. Amazon's taken up a lot of those kind of books, which is really fascinating and fills in a wide range of what the aesthetic is in these different countries.

News

"Amazon plans to open a Chicago bookstore in Lakeview" by Lauren Zumbach at The Chicago Tribune - August 25, 2016

Kindle Reading Fund

Worldreader.org

Amazon Worldreader video at YouTube - August 24, 2016

"Denver Public Library is Lending Wifi Hotspots" by Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader - August 20, 2016

"Amazon Starts Car Research and Review Site" at Associated Press - August 25, 2016

Amazon press release on Amazon Vehicles - August 25, 2016

Amazon jobs listing for Sr. Product Mgr, US Books

Interview with Chad Post

Open Letter Books, the University of Rochester's nonprofit, literary translation press

Amazon author page for Julio Cortazar

Hopscotch: A Novel by Julio Cortazar

Dalkey Archive Press

Amazon author page for Raymond Queneau

Quail Ridge Books

Rage by Zygmunt Miloszewski

The Complete Review and The Literary Saloon run by Michael Orthofer

The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction by M. A. Orthofer

Scott Esposito's blog, Conversational Reading

2016 Best Translated Book Awards sponsored by the Amazon Literary Partnership

AmazonCrossing books

Nowhere to Be Found by Bae Suah, translated by Sora Kim-Russell

Hugo House, a place for writers

Words Without Borders

The Lannan Foundation

New Books by Open Letter:

Gesell Dome by Guillermo Saccomanno

A Greater Music by Bae Suah (to be released October 11, 2016)

Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lucio Cardoso (to be released December 13, 2016)

Content

"How to Read 50 Books a Year, in 7 Easy Steps" by Stephen Altrogge at Zapier - August 23, 2016

Next Week's Guest

Chris Schluep, senior editor at Amazon Books

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 420 Jessica Tripler on Romance Aug 19, 2016

Show notes

BookRiot contributor who writes about romance novels

Interview starts at 10:59 and ends at 42:21

We're sort of worshipping at the temple of love, the same way that religion can help us make sense of human experience and help us to feel there's good in the world—there's a structure that is bending towards the good. Romance can impart that feeling and help you feel like you're participating in the goodness of the fabric of the world. And I think that's a real draw.

News

"Mysterious 'Project X' points to Amazon drive-up grocery store in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood" by Nat Levy and Todd Bishop at GeekWire - August 19, 2016.

Amazon Fresh

"Reinventing the Work-Life Ratio for Tech Talent" event scheduled by Amazon in Seattle for August 25.

"Amazon experiments with tech teams consisting entirely of part-time employees, with full benefits" by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire - August 17, 2016

"Amazon Plans to Produce Virtual Reality Originals, Job Offer Reveals" by Janko Roettgers at Variety - August 18, 2016

Amazon Studios job listing for VR Experience Development Executive

Next-generation Gear VR headset at Samsung

Tech Tip

An item from Steve in Hawaii related to Kindle Owners Lending Library

Interview with Jessica Tripler

"Why Romance Readers Love Digital Books" by Jessica Tripler at BookRiot - August 11, 2016

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Romance Writers of America

A Natural History of the Romance Novel by Pamela Regis

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Novels by Molly O'Keefe

The Bechdel Test

Novels by Courtney Milan

"Romancing the Data" presentation by AuthorEarnings analyst Data Guy at Romance Writers of America - July 15, 2016

Happily Ever After: the Romance Story in Popular Culture by Catherine M. Roach

Novels by Nora Roberts

Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James

Novels by Beverly Jenkins

Novels by Farrah Rochon

Content

Goodreads All Time Favorite Romance Novels

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Next Week's Guest

Chad Post, head of the University of Rochester's Open Letter press and a champion of literature in translation.

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

My Instagram feed is here, with photos from our stay in Maine this summer.

Right-click here and then click "Save Link As..." to download the audio to your computer, phone, or MP3 player.

TKC 419 Sara Nelson Aug 12, 2016

Show notes

VP & Executive Editor, HarperCollins Publishers Interview starts at 18:58 and ends at 43:28 There are a lot of very serious readers at Amazon, and honestly I think that that's something that is not understood. They don't all work on the editorial team vetting books for Best of the Month, but we did and I assume they still are using a lot of readers from the rest of the company who are not technically on the editorial team but who are passionate about reading and who read a lot. There were some really wonderful readers and reviewers that we cherry-picked from around the company. Book love is very much alive at Amazon. News Om Malik on This Week in Tech - August 7, 2016 Wal-Mart press release on purchase of Jet.com - August 8, 2016 Om Malik's web site "The best reason for reading? Book lovers live longer, scientists say" by Amy Ellis Nutt at The Washington Post - August 9, 2016 Tech Tip Kindle Owners' Lending Library Kindle Unlimited Interview with Sara Nelson "Sara Nelson Heading to HarperCollins" by Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly - June 28, 2016 HarperCollins press release announcing Sara Nelson's hiring - June 28, 2016 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance Commonwealth: A Novel by Ann Patchet - available for pre-order with delivery September 13, 2016 Moonglow: A Novel by Michael Chabon - available for pre-order with delivery November 22, 2016 Behold the Dreamers: A Novel by Imbolo MBUE - available for pre-order with delivery August 23, 2013 Content The Phil Hendrie Show YouTube video of Phil Hendrie recording his podcast - February 10, 2015 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Next Week's Guest Jessica Tripler, author of "Why Romance Readers Love Digital Books" at BookRiot - August 11, 2011 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. Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 418 AmazonCrossing's Gabriella Page-Fort Aug 06, 2016

Show notes

Senior Editor, AmazonCrossing

Interview starts at 17:02 and ends at 38:04

[Ayse Kulin] is one of many distinguished voices from diverse cultures that we've had the pleasure of publishing, and I think she's actually a really great example of what it is that we're trying to do here at AmazonCrossing

News

"Amazon Resumes Selling Amazon's Gadgets Four Years After Rift" by Shannon Pettypiece at Bloomberg - August 4, 2016

"Amazon to test drone delivery in partnership with UK government" by Nicky Woolf and Samuel Gibbs at The Guardian - July 25, 2016

Dromida Kodo drone

Amazon Prime Air (YouTube video) - December 1, 2013

"Amazon's 'Prime Air' Cargo Plane is Ready to Deliver Your Packages" at NBC - August 5, 2016

"See Amazon's Massive New 'Prime Air' Cargo Jet Plane" at Time - August 5, 2016

"Amazon's latest weapon in the e-commerce wars: Its own air force" by Sarah Halzack at The Washington Post - August 5, 2016

Holy Stone RC dump truck at Amazon.com

Tech Tips

Kindle Unlimited audiobooks

"7 Ways to Take Full Advantage of Your Kindle" by Joel Lee at MakeUseOf.com - August 4, 2016

Interview with Gabriella Page-Fort

"How Amazon came to dominate fiction in translation" by Alison Flood at The Guardian - December 9, 2015

Love in Exile by Ayse Kulin, translated into English by Kenneth Dakan

Other books translated from Turkish into English by Kenneth Dakan

Last Train to Istanbul: A Novel by Ayse Kulin, translated into English by John W. Baker

Books by Louise Erdrich

Escape by Perihan Magden, translated by Kenneth Dakan

Ali and Ramazan by Perihan Magden, translated by Ruth Whitehouse

Farewell: A Mansion in Occupied Istanbul by Ayse Kulin, translated into English by Kenneth Dakan

Content

Rage by Zygmunt Miloszewski, translated into English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones and available for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription

Vellum - a Mac app for formatting eBooks

"Vellum Review: App offers a sleeker way to build ebooks" by Serenity Caldwell at Macworld - January 8, 2014

"Last Call for Summer Reading: 9 Books You'll Kick Yourself for Not Picking Up" by Adrian Liang at Amazon's Omnivoracious blog - July 28, 2016

Next Week's Guest

Sara Nelson, Amazon's editorial director who last month moved to HarperCollins as vice president, executive editor and special advisor to the publisher.

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 417 Jeff Bezos Jul 30, 2016

Show notes

Founder and CEO of Amazon.com Interview starts at 12:44 and ends at 32:05 Only when I read a truly great novel do I feel that I have lived an alternate life that might actually teach me some lessons, so that I don't have to learn them myself. My favorite book is Remains of the Day. When I read Remains of the Day I feel like I understand extreme life regret in a way that I hopefully will never experience in my own life—I don't want to. You get to live somebody else's life, and it's very hard to get that emotional closeness, I think, from any other media type, still. So I think there is a place for great books and will continue to be, hopefully forever. My interview with Jeff Bezos on July 26, 2016 at Amazon.com in Seattle Kindle Kindle Oasis Kindle Direct Publishing Kindle Unlimited Amazon Books Seattle store information page My interview with Jane Friedman, chairman of Open Road Media - June 24, 2016 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Samsung Gear 360 camera My interview with Donald Katz, founder and CEO of Audible - October 24, 2014 Jeff Bezos on The Kindle Chronicles 4th anniversary show - July 26, 2012 Other Links Amazon free-banana stand Amazon Whispercast Amazon Books store in Seattle Next Week's Guest Gabriella Page-Fort, content acquisitions manager at AmazonCrossing. She will relay answers to my emailed questions from Turkish novelist Ayse Kulin, author of Love in Exile. 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. Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 416 Mike Shatzkin Jul 23, 2016

Show notes

Founder and CEO of the Idea Logical Company Interview starts at 8:05 and ends at 34:24 I think it's possible that we're going to wake up and say we just had another black-swan event, which is that all of the big authors that have been developed over the last five years, a big share of them are Amazon authors, because they had the runway to do that, and publishers didn't.

News

"Bezos Tops Buffet as World's Third-Richest on Amazon Rise" by Tom Metcalf at Bloomberg - July 21, 2016 Mark Mahaney on Amazon earnings (video) at Bloomberg - July 20, 2016 Amazon earnings webcast details for July 28, 2016 at 5:30 pm ET Jeff Bezos in next Star Trek movie Tech Tip Using Time to Read on Your Kindle at The Story

Interview with Mike Shatzkin

The Shatzkin Files blog Author Earnings "These Charts Show Pokémon Go's Ridiculous Growth" by Anne VanderMey at Fortune - July 21, 2016 Pokémon Go home page Leonard Shatzkin obituary - American Booksellers Association May 20, 2002 Content Kindle Singles Classics press release - July 19, 2016 "Amazon is bringing some of the best non-fiction classics to Kindle" by Nick Statt at The Verge - July 19, 2016 Julian Fellows's recommendations for Downton Abbey lovers

Comments

Overdrive apps for Android and iOS Tom Semple's LG Tone Infinim HBS-900 Wireless Stereo Headset - $71.86 at Amazon.com

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 415 with OverDrive's David Burleigh Jul 15, 2016

Show notes

Director of Marketing and Communication at OverDrive, Inc.

Interview starts at 15:18 and ends at 44:22

I'm happy to report that all of the Big Five publishers have made their titles available for library lending in eBook format. They've all been already in for their audiobook format. It's been a couple of years now that they've made their decision to add their titles on the front list, mid-list and back list available to libraries. So that's great news for readers. You'll see all the New York Times bestsellers and all the different popular lists of titles that you should be able to find in your library.

News

"Amazon's Prime Day is the Biggest Day Ever" - Amazon press release July 13, 2016

"Behind the Scenes of Prime Day 2016" (video)

Holy Stone RC Dump Truck Remote Control Car for my grandson Jake

"The 2016 Kindle is Complete Crap as an Accessible eReader" by Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader - July 10, 2016

"The 'Big Change' era in trade book publishing ended about four years ago" by Mike Shatzkin at The Shatzkin Files - July 11, 2016

Tech Tip

Denver Public Library

Interview with David Burleigh

OverDrive web site

Big Library Read

A Murder in Time: A Novel (Kendra Donovan Mysteries) by Julie McElwain

Next Week's Guest

Mike Shatzkin, founder and CEO of the Idea Logical Company and author of a recent, highly informative blog post titled "The 'Big Change' era in trade book publishing ended about four years ago."

Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads!

TKC 414 Amazon's Mike Torres on Page Flip Jul 09, 2016

Show notes

Director, Product Management - Amazon Kindle

Interview starts at 18:09 and ends at 43:26

The biggest technical challenge I would say is creating a seamless Page Flip reading experience across all of our platforms. Page Flip is available on eReaders, on Fire tablets, as well as the Kindle app for iOS and Android. Across those different experiences, we wanted to make sure that things like the performance, things like the fluidity, how it worked and how it behaved—all of those things were both tailored for the experience on the platform that it's on, but it also felt natural, it felt simple, and it felt automatic.

News

The new $80 Kindle at Amazon.com

The Kindle Oasis

"Alexa, What are Your Prime Day Deals" (press release)

Amazon Prime Day is July 12, starting at midnight PT!

Meghan's profile at amazon.jobs

"Amazon Prime Day should be much bigger this year than it was last year" by Tonya Garcia at MarketWatch - July 8, 2016

Tech Tip

The new Export Notes feature

Page Flip

Interview with Mike Torres

Amazon's leadership principles