Haz click en la imagen para verla al detalle

Tinkerbell y el Tesoro Perdido es una de las producciones más recientes, y más esperadas, de Walt Disney Production, y estará disponible en México en DVD y Blu-ray para este 30 de octubre. A continuación, les ofrecemos algunos de los detalles de producción, trailer e imágenes exclusivas. Además, un breve video sobre la piratería y las producciones de esta empresa.

Concepto

¡Tinker Bell está encantada! Ha sido elegida para crear el prestigioso cetro de otoño para la Reina Clarion. Su amigo Terence se ofrece a ayudarla, pero una serie de reveses hacen que Tink acabe accidentalmente rompiendo la mágica Piedra Encantada que da al cetro su poder. Tink ahora deberá emprender un viaje para restaurar la piedra preciosa y, más importante aún, restablecer su amistad con su amigo Terence.

Sinopsis completa

El otoño ya se encuentra en todo su esplendor. En Tierra Firme, las hadas están ocupadas cambiando los colores de las hojas, cuidando los campos de calabazas y ayudando a los gansos a emigrar hacia el sur. De regreso en la Tierra de las Hadas, Terence trabaja afanosamente en la distribución del polvo de las hadas. No ve la hora de poder tomarse un descanso para pasear con su mejor amiga: Tinker Bell.

Ambos amigos adoran divertirse, son arrojados y competitivos; Tink, además es un poquito testaruda. Pero su diversión se ve interrumpida por un llamado real. Tink ha sido elegida para crear el cetro ceremonial para el festival de otoño. Este año, una luna azul se elevará en el cielo. Y cuando sus rayos atraviesen la Piedra Encantada, creará el extraño polvo azul, esencial para rejuvenecer el Árbol de Polvo de las Hadas. Para ello, Tinker Bell recibe la Piedra Encantada: la gema más preciosa de las hadas y pieza fundamental del cetro. Sin ella: el cetro no funcionará.

Ahora Tink no puede esperar a contarle a Terence. Su amigo está feliz por ella y promete ayudarla en todo momento. Terence se ofrece a hacerle los mandados y traerle té de camomila a diario. Y Tink está contenta de poder contar con su ayuda; su compañía la reconforta. Pero a medida que el trabajo comienza a hacerse cada vez más complicado, Tinker se vuelve más susceptible a la constante presencia de Terence, asomado por encima de su hombro a cada rato. Y pronto, cada pequeña cosa que hace Terence, comienza a irritarla. Tink intenta mantener la calma… ¡pero ya no puede soportarlo! Deseando que Terence la deje a solas por un momento, lo envía con un frívolo encargo a encontrar un objeto filoso. Él encuentra uno… una aguja. Pero ésta está atada a una enorme y pesada brújula, que él no duda en arrastrar orgulloso hasta el taller de Tink.

Cuando Tink intenta quitar la enorme brújula de su camino, ésta choca contra el cetro… ¡lo hace caer al suelo y el cetro se hace añicos! Afortunadamente, la Piedra Encantada sigue intacta. Pálida del susto, Tink le pide a Terence que la deje sola. Él alega que sólo intentaba ser un buen amigo, pero Tink ya no desea su ayuda. Herido, Terence se aleja y Tink patea con rabia la brújula. Y entonces, de repente, ¡la brújula se abre en dos y aplasta la Piedra Encantada! Tink está horrorizada. ¡¿Qué ha hecho?! Ahora ha puesto en peligro el Árbol del Polvo de las Hadas.

Esa noche, Tink llega a buscar al Hada Mary, en el momento en que el teatro del Cuento de las Hadas comienza su función. Y es entonces cuando uno de los relatos narrados por Lyria, el Hada de los cuentos, despierta el interés de Tink. Es la leyenda de un barco pirata, perdido al norte del País del Nunca Jamás, que esconde un tesoro mágico: el espejo de Incanta, que posee el poder de conceder un deseo a quien lo encuentra. ¡Eso es! Si Tink logra hallar este espejo, podrá pedir reparar la Piedra Encantada, ¡y nadie nunca sabrá que ella puso en peligro al mundo de las hadas!

Según el cuento de Lyria, el barco está en un lugar muy, muy lejano. Tink necesitará polvo de las hadas extra para volar hasta allí. Para ello, acude al Hada Gary y le pide que le otorgue más polvo, pero él le recuerda las reglas: ella ya ha recibido su ración. Tink entonces ve a Iridessa, Rosetta y Silvermist pasar volando. Las alcanza y les pide que le presten un poco de su polvo; sin embargo, ellas lo necesitan para volar a Tierra Firme. Pero Silvermist le sugiere que busque a Terence, pues él podrá ayudarla. Tink, muy a su pesar, va en busca de Terence.

En un primer momento, Terence se alegra de ver a Tink. Se siente mal por haber reñido con ella, y espera que Tink venga a hacer las paces. Pero ésa no es su intención: ¡Tink culpa a Terence de lo que sucedió y no cree haber dicho nada malo! Cuando Terence se da cuenta de que ella sólo ha venido a pedirle polvo de las hadas, se niega a ayudarla. El hada hiere con sus palabras a Terence y lo acusa de no ser un buen amigo. Y ambos amigos, enfadados, acaban yéndose cada uno por su lado.

Frustrada, Tink se quiebra la cabeza pensando cómo lograr hacer este largo viaje. Entonces observa que parte de su polvo de las hadas ha caído sobre un pompón de algodón. Y al ver cómo flota en el aire, se le ocurre una idea genial. Monta una maravillosa nave: con un globo de algodón y una barquilla de calabaza. Luego recoge las esquirlas de la Piedra Encantada y echa a volar.

En su vuelo, Tink atraviesa un enjambre de luciérnagas, y descubre que una se ha ocultado en su barquilla. ¡Y se ha terminado toda su comida! Se trata de Blaze, un hermoso y valiente muchachito, que cuando oye que Tink se encuentra en una “misión importante”, no duda en unirse a ella. Tink no desea ni necesita de su ayuda y lo expulsa de inmediato. Pero el persistente Blaze no se aparta de su lado, hasta que Tink finalmente comienza a creer que la pequeña luciérnaga quizás pueda serle útil. Puede servirle de compañía en su largo viaje e iluminar su globo. Tink acaba por ceder. Quizás este pequeño insecto no sea tan malo.

Campanita, Campanilla o Tinker Bell, la pequeña amiga de Peter Pan será la próxima “Embajadora Verde Honorífica” de Naciones Unidas, un cargo con el que tratará de fomentar la conciencia medioambiental de los más pequeños.

El organismo internacional anunció que el hada más chiquita de Disney, cuya existencia depende de que otros crean en ella, asumirá su cargo con el ánimo de colaborar en la tarea de Naciones Unidas de calentar el ambiente, pero a favor del ecosistema. Será durante conferencia que se celebrará en Copenhague del 7 al 18 de diciembre sobre el cambio climático.

“Campanita es una gran embajadora del medio ambiente, siempre ha vivido en armonía con la naturaleza y su nombramiento es una gran oportunidad para que este adorable personaje sirva de inspiración a niños de todo el mundo”, explicó la organización con sede en Nueva York.

En un comunicado añadió que nueve de cada diez desastres naturales está relacionado con el incremento de las temperaturas y las cada vez más frecuentes inundaciones, sequías y tormentas, que afectan a la vida de millones de personas.

Por ello, ha emprendido una campaña para tratar de generar un ambiente favorable para que en la reunión de Copenhague la comunidad internacional alcance un importante compromiso de reducción de los gases de efecto invernadero y de la contaminación ambiental que suceda al actual Protocolo de Kioto una vez que éste expire.

El subsecretario general de Comunicación e Información Pública de la ONU, Kiyo Akasaka, será el encargado de orquestar la “investidura” de Campanita que tendrá lugar el próximo domingo, coincidiendo con el estreno en su sede de la película  “Campanita y el tesoro perdido”, un filme animado de Walt Disney que se pondrá a la venta en DVD la próxima semana.

“Estamos encantados de que Campanita haya accedido a ser nuestra Embajadora Verde Honoraria”, aseguró Akasaka, ya que “este entrañable personaje puede ayudarnos a inspirar a muchos niños y a sus padres para hacer lo que puedan por cuidar del medioambiente”.

“La protección del medio ambiente es un tema fundamental en las películas de Campanita (que desde el año pasado se lanzó en solitario al mundo del cine). Walt Disney usa sus cuentos para inspirar un amor hacia la naturaleza y el espíritu de conservación entre su audiencia”, añadió.

Portada de Tinker Bell y el Tesoro Perdido

Este próximo domingo 25 de octubre, Tinkerbell – “Campanita” – será nombrada embajadora honoraria del Medio Ambiente por las Naciones Unidas. de acuerdo a la declaración que se dio a conocer, siempre ha vivido en constante armonía con la naturaleza y su nombramiento como Embajadora Honoraria es una gran oportunidad para que este entrañable personaje sirva de inspiración a los niños de todo el mundo. La ceremonia se realizará en la Sede Central de las Naciones Unidas, siendo presidida la ceremonia por El Subsecretario General de Comunicación e Información Pública, Kiyo Akasaka. Se trata de una excelente oportunidad para crear una conciencia ambiental entre la gente.

Haz click en la imagen para verla a detalle

Aunque originalmente sería un lanzamiento exclusivo para DVD, la nueva cinta Tinkerbell y el Tesoro Perdido estará llegando a las pantallas este próximo 4 de septiembre. La misma será parte de una tetralogía sobre este personaje, y de hecho la siguiente cinta está siendo ya producida. Hasta ahora, no se ha dado a conocer el porqué del cambio, pero parece obedecer a una serie de peticiones por parte de los fans de esta hada, que esperaban ver sus aventuras en la pantalla grande.

Actualización: Y para aumentar más la expectación, se presentamos los primeros seis minutos de esta cinta.

Tinker Bell y el Tesoro Perdido, la nueva entrega de las aventuras de esta ya célebre hada, está ya lista para llegar a los anaqueles para este fin de año. El lanzamiento será directamente a DVD, y nos muestra a Campanita en otra historia independiente de la continuidad de Peter Pan, sino con un look completamente distinto. Este personaje está de vuelta tras de que se mantuviera en un segundo plano desde el estreno de Peter Pan,  aunque a partir del año pasado ha tenido un fuerte resurgimiento. Por lo pronto, los dejamos con el primer trailer para América Latina, donde podrán ver un adelanto de lo que se espera.

Titulo: Campanita
Genero: Infantil
Duración: 01h-17min aprox
Idioma: Audio Latino
Tamaño: 700MB aprox
Formato: DVDRip
Hosting: Rapishare
Link en Total: 5
Contraseña: quicachu100
Calidad de imagen: Muy Buena.

El mágico mundo de las hadas es Pixie Hollow, ahí habita Tinker Bell quien se dedica a traer el cambio de estaciones y hacer “ajustes” como cambiar los colores de las hojas o mover los rayos del sol para derretir el hielo. Tinker Bell piensa que su talento no es tan importante como el de las otras hadas. Pero cuando Tinker Bell trata de cambiar quien es, crea únicamente desastres! Ella deberá aprender a apreciar su valiosa habilidad y descubrir que cuando es realmente ella, mágicas cosas pueden pasar. EXcelentes imagenes se las recomiendo.

http://rapidshare.com/files/262417715/shampanita-by_quicachu100.part1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/262522649/shampanita-by_quicachu100.part2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/262505675/shampanita-by_quicachu100.part3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/262488804/shampanita-by_quicachu100.part4.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/262467021/shampanita-by_quicachu100.part5.rar

quicachu100

Portada de Tinker Bell y el Tesoro Perdido

La actriz mexicana DOMINIKA PALETA, las cantantes PATY CANTÚ y KARINA, el actor argentino KIKE PORCELLANA y ROGER, conductor mexicano del Zapping Zone de Disney Channel, integran el grupo de talentos latinoamericanos que aportarán su voz a la historia y las canciones de la versión doblada al español  de TINKER BELL Y EL TESORO PERDIDO, la segunda y mágica película del hada más querida de todos los tiempos, que se estrenará en septiembre próximo en los cines de la región.

Esta nueva aventura animada señala el regreso de Tinker Bell y sus amigos, luego del éxito del primer film, TINKER BELL.

Ahora, el público podrá seguir al personaje en un audaz viaje de descubrimiento durante la estación del otoño boreal, cuando emprende una mágica misión para salvar el suministro del vital ‘Polvillo de hada’. Es una peligrosa travesía llena de sorprendentes encuentros, música, moda otoñal, huidas justo a tiempo y un verdadero descubrimiento acerca de lo que realmente importa en la vida.

Con una amplia trayectoria en la televisión mexicana, la actriz DOMINIKA PALETA será la narradora de esta encantadora historia, mientras que el actor argentino KIKE PORCELLANA pondrá su voz al Hada Gary, el máximo custodio del Polvillo de hada.

El parque temático de Magic Kingdom, uno de los 4 parques tematicos en Walt Disney World Resort, captura el encanto de los cuentos de hadas con divertido entretenimiento, clasicas atracciones, tours tras bastidores y los queridos Persoanjes de Disney.

Diseñada como una rueda con con el centro frente al Castillo de Cenicienta (Cinderella Castle), los caminos se extienden atravesando los 107 acres de terreno que el parque temático de Magic Kingdom posee, llevando al visitante a 7 maravillosas tierras:

1.   Main Street, U.S.A.®

            Main Street, U.S.A. es la primera “tierra temática” al pasar por la puerta de entreda a muchos parque de Magic Kingdom en el mundo. Cada Main Street, U.S.A. (con excepción de Tokyo Disneyland) tiene una estación de tren sobre la entrada.  Main Street esta repleta de tiendas de ropa y comida. Esta decorada al estilo de los pequeños pueblos de principios del siglo 20 e inspirada por la niñez de Walt Disney y la película de La Dama y El Vagabundo(Lady and the Tramp).

2.  Adventureland®

     El tema de Adventureland es de semejar las selvas remotas de Africa, Asia, el Medio Oriente, islas desiertas, Sur America y Pacífico del Sur. “Queremos  crear una tierra que haria este sueño realidad”, dijo Walt Disney, “nos imaginamos aislados de la civilización, en las remotas junglas de Asia y Africa.” Atracciones más destacadas están Pirates of the Caribbean y Swiss Family Treehouse.

3.  Frontierland®

     El tema de Frontierland es de semejar al Oeste Americano en los 1800’s  y es hogar de vaqueros y pioneros, salones, y fiebre de oro. Cada momento de  Frontierland tiene un Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, y un trecho de río en el frente. Otras atracciones que se encuentran en esta Tierra incluyen Splash Mountain, el Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer Island, y paseo por río en barco de vapor.

4.  Liberty Square(La Plaza de la Libertad)

     Esta Tierra es exclusiva de Magic Kingdom. Usando el tema de las Colonias de los Estados Unidos en los años 1800 , se pueden ver replicas de La Campana de la Libertad(Liberty Bell) y Árbol de la Libertad(Liberty Tree).Una de las más populares atracciones en Magic Kingdom, la Mansión Enbrujada(Haunted Mansion), esta ubicada en esta tierra. Presidiendo en el centro de la plaza esta el Hall of Presidents(Salón de Los Presidentes), un show de historia Americana el cual exhibe una figura de cada Presidente de los Estados Unidos. Liberty Square tiene una gran trecho frente a Rivers of America y el barco de vapor Liberty Belle sale de un pequeño muelle alli.  La tierra goza de excelentes vistas del río y de la Isla de Tom Sawyer contiguo en Frontierland.

   mapa

5.  Fantasyland®

     Fantasyland en Magic Kingdom tiene 10 atracciones. Tambien hay 2 areas para conocer y saludar personajes de Disney; La Gruta de Ariel(Ariel’s Grotto), que presenta a La Sirenita(The Little Mermaid),y el Jardín de los Cuentos de Hadas(Fairytale Garden), en la que Bella(Belle) de la Bella y La Bestia(Beauty and the Beast) lee un cuento clásico de Disney. El Castillo de Cenicienta(Cinderella Castle) contiene un mosaico mostrando cuento de la Cenicienta y dispone el restaurante Cinderella’s Royal Table.

6.  Mickey’s Toontown® Fair

      El tema de esta Tierra es de un pequeño pueblo que sirve de anfitrión de la feria del condado.Las atracciones principales de Toontown Fair son The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm: una montaña rusa para niños convertida en el avión de fumigación de Goofy. Y La Casa de Campo de Mickey(Mickey’s Country House): Una atracción que consiste en caminar por la casa de Mickey Mouse. La más reciente de las atracciones es Pixie Hollow: Un área para saludar a Campanita(Tinker Bell) y otros personajes de Disney Fairies.

7.  Tomorrowland®

        Las atracciones de Tomorrowland estan diseñadas para darte la oportunidad de participar en aventuras que son el plano viviente del futuro. Algunas de las atracciones clasicas de Disney World todavía siguen funcionando en Tomorrowland: el PeopleMover esta aqui bajo el nombre de Tomorrowland Transit Authority, y el Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress fue traido aqui desde California. Otras de las clasicas atracciones son Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin y Tomorrowland Indy Speedway.

 Viaje por estas Tierras y vea como la fantasia se hace realidad cuando aprenda a ser un pirata, compare su inteligencia con la de comicos animales, y conquiste montañas. Quedese impactado de ver increibles desfiles y shows de fuegos artificiales en el parque temático de Magic Kingdom, donde los sueños se hacen realidad para niños de todas las edades.

 Si busca espaciosas villas a precios accesibles y cerca de sus parques tematicos favoritos durante su vacación en Orlando, le recomiendo visitar  http://espanol.orlando-florida.net/ para mayor información de las propiedades de Westgate Resorts, incluyendo Westgate Blue Tree Resort, Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa, Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Palace, Westgate Towers, Westgate Town Center y Westgate Vacation Villas.

 Orlando, Florida Guide, la guía más completa en línea de Orlando, le ofrece información  de tiquetes a Disney World, tiquetes a Universal Orlando, y tiquetes a Sea World Orlando.

There are thousands of magazines out there, ranging from animal care to zoos. Magazines can be informative or they can be an easy fun read for someone who doesn’t have time to read a whole newspaper. Most people buy or subscribe to a magazine that they relate to, such as an outdoors-savvy person would subscribe/read Outdoors. Yet what happens if on the off chance you wanted to make your own magazine that specifically targeted what you like- say books you enjoy? Who knows, maybe this will help spark the creation of an Editorial Campana magazine as well as a Campanita Magazine.

It used to be that you could create a magazine, but at a high cost. If you wanted to print your own magazine, the cost could start at about $2,000 dollars. That’s a lot of money for a magazine that probably wont get the same wide-spread attention as Maxium or People Magazine. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. H.P. has created a new web-based service that will lower the price of creating a magazine. MagCloud, as the new service is called, “hopes to make it easier and cheaper to crank out a magazine than running photocopies at the local copy shop.” How is this possible you ask? According to the company, by charging about 20 cents per page (which is paid by ONLY when the customer orders a copy) magazines can be created for roughly $50.

This new program may help revolutionize the magizine industry. At a time when magazines are begining to decline due to the Internet and the abundance of free material.

“It is not clear how big a market there is for small runs of narrow-interest magazines when so much information is available free on the Internet. So far, users of the service, which is still in a testing phase, have produced close to 300 magazines, including publications on paintings by Mormon artists, the history of aerospace, food photography and improving your personal brand in a digital age.“

For now it looks as though the magizine still has a function in our society. Magazines serve as a great outlet, especially for small companies and organizations looking to expand their visibilty (whether within the community or around the world). Programs such as MagCloud could help companies and organizations improve thie popularity while at the same time saving money (which is something that everybody is thinking about first).

H.P. understands that this new printing format may NOT work. The point is to see what type of mrket there is for personalized magazines. If there is none, H.P. plans to simply move on to another  type of media.

Dulce y simple, tiene ya su tiempo de escrito pero aún guarda un espacio de ternura en mi ♥

Ajonjolí

Creo que te quiero pero desapareces entre las pompas cristalinas de jabón
Quienes cuales campanitas se fugan en un soplo musical
Plín… plín… ¡plop!
Creo que me alegras cuando tu miel me hace suspirar
Eres tostado ajonjolí en mi noche invernal
Sensual melaza que remenea mi palpitar
Creo que te anhelo en la purpura inmensidad
De la noche que silenciosa te busca en la sal
Pinto nubes de algodón y color
Suaves como seda y llenitas de amor
Degusto lentamente el sabor a fuego
Me hielo en su aliento
Me derrito en tu calor

20, Mayo 2008

Remember a long time a go when you spent the day at the library learning how to find books and getting aquatinted with the card catalog system? There was a time when the one computer in the library was used to find books and to locate useful resources for a book report or for that big science project you had to do. Then came the Internet and it made its way into the library system. First it was a great way to see what other libraries had and a way for librarians to keep tabs on new books and where to send people if they needed a specific book. So for a while the librarian needed to know basic computer skills and how to read the card system. Welcome to the new library age.

Librarians face a new job. On top of their traditional roles, many are required to help students use computers aside from finding books. Powerpoint presentations fill the classrooms as students are well versed in the computer world, therefore librarians spend a lot of their time showing students how to use the information they have gathered as part of their presentations. Other programs that are used on a normal basis include word ( a typing program) as well as the Internet itself.

For new students, the Internet is a house-hold name, but many many do not have access to a computer or have never ventured into the digital world. Here the librarian must be well versed in the language of Google and similar search engines so they can help that 3rd grader find resources outside of the library for their book report. Many books on the shelves have outdated material or not enough material, so going online helps expands on resources. Librarians around the nation and around the world are 

“part of a growing cadre of 21st-century multimedia specialists who help guide students through the digital ocean of information that confronts them on a daily basis. These new librarians believe that literacy includes, but also exceeds, books.”

The Internet is like an ocean- if you don’t know how to search properly, you can drown in the abundance of useful and not-so-useful material. Knowing how to navigate these waters is a critical skill that goes beyond the classroom and is used everyday- including at work. Knowing this, librarians, like teachers make up lesson plans to help students better understand how to use the Internet in a way that will get them the information that thy are looking for and how to pick out information that is false or irrelevant. Far gone are the days of “just re-shelving a book,” as stated by Ms. Rosalia, the school librarian at Public School 225, a combined elementary and middle school in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The responsibilities of  the new digital librarian parallel that of many school teachers.

Yet with the economy the way that it is and with the tendency of schools to cut back, librarians are one of the first to be cut out of the school system.

“Mesa, the largest school district in Arizona, began phasing out certified librarians from most of its schools last year. In Spokane, Wash., the school district cut back the hours of its librarians in 2007, prompting an outcry among local parents. More than 90 percent of American public schools have libraries, according to federal statistics, but less than two-thirds employ full-time certified librarians.”

Parents, teachers, school administrators are all well aware that librarians are a crucial part to the educational system. However a non-certified librarian in the end cost less. More and more schools are cutting back. That means that a certified librarians are becoming rare at an alarming rate. 

The Internet is part of everyday life. If you step into a classroom, whether elementary or college level, many teachers use the Internet as an aid in the classroom. Not having these skills can impair a students chance of excelling or getting the job they want.

Librarians are faced with a new challenge in this digital age. Is it as important to be certified or knowing how to harness the powers of the computer? Schools are meant to educate. Teachers are certified in order to provide the best quality of that education. A school can not function properly without the right resources. Cutting back on these resources such as knowledgeable librarians can have serious implications to the students. How does a school rightfully decide to cut back on librarians, when now more than ever, they go beyond indexing books and keeping the shelves tidy?

Watch the NY Times video related to the article quoted in this blog!

Og jeg lurer på hva du mener!
Jeg kommer til å bytte litt på hvilke jeg kommer til å bruke, men for nå:

Hvilken header synes du er kulest?

B) - Classic, By Danby

Nå har jeg fått ny header, ser du? (det er litt siden nå)…
Men jeg må takke www.campanita.blogg.no som har laget den til meg!

Så må jeg si at alle frivillige som lager headere, det er utrolig snilt!

At folk tilbyr å lage headere til deg liksom, fordi man har sett noen kule bilder – det er kjempesnilt!

(Jeg spurte Campanita, men det er flere som har tilbudt å lage en til meg, som jeg seff sier ja til da!)

Men den jeg har NÅ i hvert fall16. Februar, 2009 01:00 er i hvert fall laget av Campanita. Er den ikke kul?
www.campanita.blogg.no ! Kul blogger

HUSK Å SENDE INN SPØRSMÅL TIL:
BLOGG.BIDRAG.DANBYCHOI@GMAIL.COM !!!

Google and Amazon have just recently announced that they will be pushing many books to be released into cell phone format. As many of you may know from our last post, the iPhone has many applications that allow you to read books, and there are other devices such as Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader. Yet as many of these devices are still expensive, people don’t want to spend more money at a time when most are watching what they spend. Knowing this, Google and Amazon have decided to make books available on many cell phones. 

Keep in mind that this news comes at a time when Amazon has announced that they will be releasing a newer version of their popular Kindle- the Kindle 2. Maybe Amazon hopes that even though mobile phones will allow you to read books, the new Kindle will offer features that will make consumers want a Kindle to read “Stories of Grown-Up Girls and Little Women,” written by Sonia Rivera-Valdès  Kindle already offers over 200,000 titles and with the release of the new Kindle, many  more are sure to follow. So why then would Amazon decide to make mobile phones have access to this library- exposure and profits. Although the Kindle is costly, it does make reading an electronic book easy. It’s large screen makes the reader feel as though they are reading an actual book than a cell phone would or even the iPhone.

But just as camera phones have not replaced digital cameras, smartphones are not likely to replace dedicated e-book readers like the Kindle or the Reader from Sony, analysts said. These specialized devices have screens about the size of a paperback book and use a technology that does not require backlighting, which makes them easier to read in most light conditions. They also have longer battery life.

The point however is that e-books are taking over. Although the future is still unknown, every day, e-books are proving that they will most likely become the new standard. With the growing popularity of Kindle, Sony’s Reader, applications, and now cell phones that can access books, it is just a matter of time when we will know libraries as digital vaults and monitors will become the new pages that we bookmark and instead, readers will say they can’t wait to find out what happens on the next screen. Books seem as though they will soon be found in museums (if they aren’t replaced by something digital) and maybe holding onto a couple may be a good investment as they might easily become collectors items.

We have written several blogs about the popular Kindle from Amazon and how it could potentially replace traditional books (as well as similar devices). We here at Editorial Campana, being a book publishing company and all, try to keep up with the latest literary technology and news. Recently we stumbled across a new program that may have Kindle beat. And it’s not the only one. This new program/device/technology is called eReader. It is part of the iPhone’s application store (it is also available for many other portable devices and computers). So how does it work?

Like Kindle, you go to the eReader website and search for a book that you would like to add to your iPhone. Once you do this, you can download the book (after buying it) and then add it to your “bookshelf.” You can do this all wirelessly or you can add the book to your computer to have a much larger screen. Kindle has a similar feature that allows you to upload a book wirelessly, but here’s the catch- you have to buy Kindle for $359! The iPhone and other cell phones are much cheaper. The application is free unless you buy the pro. Looks like eReader has you beat here Kindle.

This application for your iPhone comes with a lot of great features. You can go to any page very easily and save your progress in case you need to come back to your book later. The settings section allows you to change the font size and style, change the way the pages turn (to give it amore realistic feeling), and change the screen color (black/white or reverse). And just like with the iPhone you can change from portrait to landscape depending on what you like better.

Sounds like this free application does it all. It has a very easy user interface and if you go to the website, they say they are always working on updates to make the application even better. Probably the best feature is that since this is a wireless device, it works on the 3G network or any Wi-Fi network so that you can always access your bookshelf. The only downside may be getting the books. With the computer you just go to eReader.com and purchase the book that you want. After you have bought it you can use the iPhone to update your bookshelf with your new content. We haven’t figured out how to do this on the iPhone yet (aside from the quick link to the eReader site), so we are not so sure that you can do that. As long as you have access to a computer though, your bookshelf is your mobile library. The application also works with Fictionwise and manybooks.net. There is the ability to import books from other sites, but the featured ones are easy and convienent. 

Another downside that we found was that the books were pricey for digital content as oppose to Kindle editions. For example the new Dean Koontz book, “The Good Guy,” cost about $5 for the Kindle edition whereas the eReader edition cost about regular price (about $8). The eReader does provide a program that allows you to get a discount of 15%. This program is known as the eReader Rewards program. So although the books may cost more, if you are an avid book reader, earning points will be quick and you will se significant discounts shortly thereafter. 

As more people are turning towards digital books, it looks like there are many more options now than just Kindle and the Sony device. We think it’s great that the iPhone has this application because aside from having to shell out more money and carry another device, the features are great and you will always have it with. Did we mention that the iPhone is much smaller than the Kindle?

Here is the tv ad that showed the world that the iPhone was launching into the digital reading device realm:

If you live in Washington and read the Washington Post, you might notice something different with the Sunday edition. It’s Book World (a book review section of the newspaper) is moving and being integrated into the newspaper instead of having its own section. The Post launched Book World in the 1960s, folded it as a separate section in 1973 and was reviewed in the early 1980s.   Instead book reviews will be found in the outlook section of the newspaper on Sundays, and in the style and arts section during the week.  As well, Style will have a daily Book World review and touch upon literature and publishing topics. The section will also house interviews and profiles of authors more prominently than in the past. So ends another chapter in book review history.

The Washington Post has decided to shutter the print version of Book World, its Sunday stand-alone book review section, and shift reviews to space inside two other sections of the paper.

Book World, aside from the book review section in the NY Times was one of the last standing book review only sections found in a newspaper across the country. Why has the newspaper decided to make this change? In a nutshell, advertising decreased making the section no longer practical:

“The advertising in Book World didn’t justify the amount of space that we dedicated each week to books coverage,” [stated] Marcus Brauchli, executive editor of The Post, in a phone interview.

The last “issue” of Book World is scheduled to be between February 15-22. It will continue to be published online as an independent section. When rumors arose that the section would be turning it’s last page, many signed a petition in hopes of bringing back the section. The Book World section, as many suggested, honored books and highlighted their significance simply by having a section to itself. Although the attempts to keep Book World alive failed, many were happy that section would at the very least be available on the internet.

Yet there are some who are saying that like other media that gets support, so should book review sections in newspapers:

Douglas Brinkley, the historian, suggested that the book industry and book reviews deserved some kind of public bailout. “I think that just like public television — I think book review sections almost need to get subsidized to keep the intellectual life in America alive,” Mr. Brinkley said. “So if we can do that for radio, and we could do it for television, why can’t we do it for the book industry, which is terribly suffering right now?”

Despite the state of the economy, should newspapers be subsidized in order to make sure sections are kept in print? As he states, the book industry is suffering dramatically right now, and this change could have even more negative implications. If there is no book review section to inform the public about must-reads and new books, how are they to know about them (especially if they do not have access to the internet)?

Luckily, the NY Times still has it’s own section for book reviews. This change by the Washington Post makes the NY Times Sunday section the largest:

publishing at least 24 and as many as 30 or more pages a week with a staff of 15 and contributions from dozens of freelance reviewers. In addition to being included in the Sunday paper, the Book Review is sold as a separate section to 23,500 subscribers. An additional 4,200 copies of the section are sold in bookstores across the country.

Unless you live in NY, it may be harder to find book reviews in your favorite newspaper (or any newspaper).

Will talk to the public and present three copies of his book to the National Library, including a Special Edition courtesy of the First Lady of the US Virgin Islands.

New York resident, Caribbean author Mario Picayo will present his children’s book A Caribbean Journey from A to Y (Read and Discover What Happened to the Z) and talk to the audience this Friday at 12:30 PM as part of the events celebrating the re-opening of the National Library. At 10 AM, during the opening ceremonies, Mr. Picayo will present three signed copies of the popular book to the library, including one copy of a Special Edition made exclusively for the United States Virgin Islands. The copy arrives courtesy of the First Lady of the US Virgin Islands, Cecile de Jongh as a gift to the children of Barbados. Mrs. De Jongh is a well-known literacy advocate. Several copies of A Caribbean Journey have also been purchased by the Library and will be available to its patrons and its many branches.

A Caribbean Journey from A to Y has been a commercial and critical success.  Dominican writer Silvio Torres-Saillant (An intellectual history of the Caribbean) wrote, “The images and the words combine to disrupt many of the visual and discursive stereotypes that often recur in representations of the Caribbean. I can think of no better book for children to begin the lifelong adventure of knowing the Caribbean”.  Glen “Kwabena” Davis, Director of the US Virgin IslandsEducation Department’s Culture Division, said “Mario Picayo’s A Caribbean Journey from A to Y is a book sure to motivate kids to read it over and over. The illustrations and the artistic appeal of the book make it really stand out among other children’s books.”          

Published at the end of 2007, The 64 page, hardcover, fully illustrated book has gather steam with each passing month, selling over 10,000 copies in December 2008 and becoming an Americas Award Commended Title. 

The back cover describes it as a “fun and educational journey through the Caribbean Islands, one letter at a time! From Aruba to Trinidad and from avocado to yam, the reader learns the names of many of the islands, plus fascinating facts about them.  A Caribbean astronaut? From which island? An island with over 300 rivers? Seals in our tropical waters?  And wait until you see what happened to the Z”.

Mr. Picayo is making his visit to Barbados onboard the Norwegian Gem as part of a multi-island presentation tour.  “He wants to introduce the book personally, to each Caribbean island where it is sold, or will be sold”, according to McKinley Matteson, Assistant Manager at Campanita Books, publisher of A Caribbean Journey.

On Wednesday Picayo will be visiting his old home, St Thomas, Virgin Islands to receive the Special Edition of the book destined for the National Library from the hands of First Lady de Jongh.  On Thursday he will visit Antigua,and make the book officially available on the island. Mario will also speak at the Island Academy, a private school, and by invitation of the Ministry of Education at a primary public school.  Later in the afternoon he will visit the Antigua Public Library to present copies of his book, and of other titles published by Editorial Campana to Ms. Dorothea Nelson, Chief Librarian.  

Meet the author, and take a first look at the Caribbean Journey from A to Y (Read and Discover What Happened to the Z) at 12:30 at the National Library Service’s new Independence Square Headquarters.

For further information please call the National Library Services at 246-435-3371 or visit www.Editorialcampana.com to read the full press release.

Campanita Books is happy to announce that A Caribbean Journey from A to Y (Read and Discover What Happened to the Z) Sold over 10,000 copies in December, and was selected as a  2008 Americas Award Commended Title.
 What’s so Special about this ABC? Read the following selected Reviews and Comments:

“This very original alphabet book gives brief descriptions of many aspects of the geography, animal species and history of the Caribbean. Even though a reader might consider an alphabet book as appropriate only for beginner readers, this one has so much information and poetic language, that older, more mature children will benefit from the information conveyed. Colorful and detailed naïve illustrations accompany the text. The best part of the book is finding out what the Z means to the Caribbean”. (gr K-4)
– 2008 Americas Award Commended Title

“A Caribbean Journey from A to Y, written by Mario Picayo and illustrated by Earleen Greiswold, describes insular portions of the Caribbean region in a manner that truly teaches and delights the child reader for whom the book is intended. Told as an account of the letters of the alphabet, the verbal side of the story engagingly caters to the child’s curiosity offering invaluable information about the flora, the fauna, the landscape, and the human populations of the region. Picayo delivers historical details throughout with beautiful simplicity, as in the explanation of “what happened to Z,” which alerts readers to the slavery period and the presence of Africans in the cultures of the region. With equal command of well chosen details, Griswold’s visual side of the story of Caribbean Journey from A to Y depicts the rural, the urban, the past, the present, tradition, and change without resorting to binaries, while giving women their due at the center of life in the Caribbean and suggesting the region’s racial and cultural diversity. The images and the words combine to disrupt many of the visual and discursive stereotypes that often recur in representations of the Caribbean. I can think of no better book for children to begin the life-long adventure of knowing the Caribbean”.
–Silvio Torres-Saillant. Author of An Intellectual History of the Caribbean

“Mr. Picayo, from his personal experiences, has compiled a fascinating collection of historical and natural facts.
All young people in our islands and elsewhere, would gain immense knowledge and enjoyment from the lively narrative and brilliant illustrations. A Caribbean Journey should be on everyone’s reading list.”  
–Prof. Roy L. Schneider, M.D., Former Governor, United States Virgin Islands

“Mario Picayo’s A Caribbean Journey from A to Y is a book sure to motivate kids to read it over and over. The illustrations and the artistic appeal of the book make it really stand out among other children’s books.”
–Glenn “Kwabena” Davis, Director of the V.I. Education Dept’s Culture Division

“From a Caribbean perspective, this book is relevant to children living in the Caribbean and also to those children living outside the region. A Caribbean Journey is a must have in every library, and great learning tool in which a person of any age could pick up and learn a thing or two.”
–Myron Jackson, Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Cultural Heritage Institute

“ A simple search in the Internet will tell us that few ABC book about the Caribbean exists. Another, more complex search allows us to see that these kinds of texts usually are limited to the normal experiences of a traditional US or European child. A Caribbean Journey from A to Y (Read and Discover What Happened to the Z), published by Campanita Books is an alternative to bigger publishers that don’t yet know the market or tastes of Latino and West Indian families nor take them into account in their marketing. This book is a learning experience on many levels, in terms of text and illustrations. The simple name of an island is made into new and valuable information to add to children’s vocabulary when we discover that “St.” means saint and that there is a big island that an astronaut comes from. In the illustrations we see people of all colours and sizes, carrying out different activities that are particular to the Caribbean. These are today’s natives, past natives, tourists and dozens of starting points for lessons on history, science music and vocabulary. But a child isn’t given a book only because of the lessons we can get them to learn. A book is an object that activates the imagination and transports them to other worlds. For a nine year old child, like mine, a book has to provide just the right details to fire his desires and passion. It could be the birds or the iguanas, the flags, the volcanoes the indigenous people or the yachts. A Caribbean Journey from A to Y (Read and Discover What Happened to the Z) has all of these and more. It’s written to entertain and educate and to leave us with more questions to answer. At the end, the Z surprises us with an invitation to make a leap across the Atlantic and continue the journey”.
–- Tanya Torres is a Puerto Rican artist, cultural activist and writer who lives in New York. In 2002 she was selected as one of the 50 Women of the Year by El Diario/La Prensa, New York’s oldest and most read Spanish language newspaper.

A Caribbean Journey from A to Y (Read and Discover What Happened to the Z) 
ISBN: 978‐0‐9725611‐8‐1 Format: Hardcover Price: $19.95 Number of pages: 64  
Available at your favorite bookseller,
including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

With the increase in technological advancements, it’s hard to imagine that reading would be rising in popularity. Maybe not quite as it was in 1982, but a turn for the better at the very least.

According to the new finding, the  National Endowment for The Arts both men and women are reading more, young adults reading rose about 21%, and Hispanic’s were found to have the highest reading increase among ethnic groups- over 20%. This comes at a crucial time when many bookstores are fearing the worst with the condition of the economy. There may be hope after all. Although the same study found that roughly 15% are reading online, the fact that reading (in fiction, novels, and short stories) is on the rise may help to increase profits for publishers, authors, and even bookstores.

“Four years ago the endowment released the report “Reading at Risk,” which showed that fewer than half of Americans over 18 read novels, short stories, plays or poetry.”

As you can see from the chart on the right, since 1982, reading took a heavy hit up until 2002. This finding may have also helped support why reading scores were decreasing within the same group. So what caused the jump to 50.2%?

The answer might surprise you. 

“Reading is an important indicator of positive individual and social behavior patterns. Previous NEA research has shown that literary readers volunteer, attend arts and sports events, do outdoor activities, and exercise at higher rates than non-readers.”

Reading seems to be an outlet for positive activities. Maybe some good has come out of the state the economy is in and the fact that “bad” news seems to be abundant. People need a way to feel good about themselves. By reading, people feel smart, journey to far off places, and get a sense of accomplishment when turning that last page. This is what people need right now, when everything else seems to be chaotic.

Yet we must keep in mind that even though reading is on the rise, it is still not at all where it used to be. We need to find a way to get back to the day when people read and over read. Despite technology- in fact technology should be helping with devices such as the kindle, reading needs to become more of a norm. 

Even if this finding is due to the fact that books such as “Twilight,” “The Lord of the Rings, and other popular titles have hit the hearts of young readers, maybe authors are finally getting to their public. A book needs to be fun and interesting if it is going to be read for pleasure.  

Editorial Campana and Campanita books publish a variety of books, in English and Spanish. We are doing our part to make sure that reading continues to rise. If you are an avid reader or just love to read, please check out our books- they are sure to keep you entertained are a great read.

As we continue to see the effects of the economy, 2009 is staying consistent with the lack of spending. What once was in the New York publishing world, has come to a halt and is seeing a new makeover (and not for the better). Publishers once lived in a world where champagne was plenty, limousines were the norm, and places hard to pronounce was the native tongue. Yet with the recession, layoffs and a decrease in publishing is setting the stage for cutbacks in the way publishers celebrate.

The numbers explain why parties once plentiful are now small in number:

“Book sales have deteriorated since the beginning of October, falling about 7 percent compared with the same period the previous year, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of sales. That slide is driving much of the immediate cutbacks, but the publishing industry is also being convulsed by longer-term trends, including a shift toward digital reading and competition from an array of entertainment options like video games and online social networking.”

With these numbers and with more people turning towards newer (and less-expensive) means of reading, the publishing world is trying to keep up. However, with the economy the way that it is, the best way to keep up is simply to cut back. Many have considered publishers and the likes to have expensive taste- eating that is. Fancy restaurants are now less visited and what is becoming normal are telephone meetings or meeting over pizza and beer.

Aside from fancy parties and places, other aspects in the publishing world are being reviewed. Cash advances for authors (which for a while were increasing) are now being reconsidered. David Rosenthal, publisher of Simon & Schuster, states that:

“You used to buy some books and you paid X because you figured it would sell 100,000 copies. Now you have to do the math saying this book may sell only 50,000 copies.”

Some say there is a silver lining here though: since there are fewer books being sold, maybe less books should be published to help make up for lost profits. This is especially true when it comes to booksellers. “They need to have some sense of what is going on in the country and what the readers are really looking for,” stated Vivien Jennings, owner of Rainy Day Books, an independent. bookstore in Fairway, Kan. Booksellers won’t want to be overstocked with merchandise that is not going to sell. If more books are published and sent to a store, then the store is left with the item. To do what with them?

The store is left with no choice but to return the books to the publishers, which in turn, decreases profit even more. Reducing the price on  books (even more) that are returned might seem like a good idea to help boost sales, but many publishers argue that in a time where the economy is the way that it is, this may not have the outcome we would hope for. Returned merchandise, for the most part, is already slashed or offered at a great discount. All this brings back memories of the great depression, in which practices were created in order to promote bookstores to take in more copies of books.

Just like the phrase, “History always repeats itself”, many see this trend as simply that. Michael Korda, former editor in chief of Simon & Schuster, saw this in the 70’s and even cutback on his habits. In the end, “everybody went back to doing what they were doing before.” Will that statement hold true for 2009?

Using Google’s book search, you can search for a book, read details, and in many cases, read several pages of the book. This is a remarkable tool for those looking for hard to find titles and for just about any book lover. Until recently this book search was limited to books that are still published. However, what about books that are no longer published? These books may still be under copyright yet are no longer in print, making it difficult for the public to get their hands on them. Until now.

“Ever since Google began scanning printed books four years ago, scholars and others with specialized interests have been able to tap a trove of information that had been locked away on the dusty shelves of libraries and in antiquarian bookstores.”

This applies to currently in-print books. A settlement that took place in October, may breathe life back into many books that are no longer in-print. The settlement would allow for a greater collection of books to be searchable and read using Google’s book search- including many that are still under copyright. As well, this settlement would allow authors and publishers (as well as google) to make profit from digital versions of books:

“Revenue will be generated through advertising sales on pages where previews of scanned books appear, through subscriptions by libraries and others to a database of all the scanned books in Google’s collection, and through sales to consumers of digital access to copyrighted books. Google will take 37 percent of this revenue, leaving 63 percent for publishers and authors.”

How does all this connect to books that are no longer in print but are still under copyright? This settlement could allow out-of-print books to be born anew in digital format and at the same time allow authors to make money from titles that have been out-of-print for years. Currently, Google has scanned roughly 7 million books into digital format. Books that have been long out of reach (but not forgotten) may soon be available simply by doing a Google book search. Losing the traditional book format, these books will be available online for readers. This method may even help increase revenue due to the fact that the publishing cost will be eliminated. 

This all sounds great. Readers will be able to get their hands (or eyes) on out-of-print books: “ Google users will have an unprecedented ability to search (for free) and access (for a fee) books that formerly lived only in university libraries.” Authors and publishers will make a profit, and Google will continue to provide a wonderful service. Even the settlement itself seemed to allow a peaceful disagreement: 

“When the agreement was announced in October, all sides hailed it as a landmark settlement that permitted Google to proceed with its scanning project while protecting the rights and financial interests of authors and publishers. Both sides agreed to disagree on whether the book scanning itself violated authors’ and publishers’ copyrights.”

Some, librarians in particular, did express fears that as this service grows, Goggle may end up increasing subscription fees. Although there are other services available, none provide the assortment of books allowed by Google. Ever since Microsoft closed it’s doors on a similar book program, Google currently monopolizes the digital book search world.

Revenues generated from Google book search, may be small but are still noticeable.

“So far, publishers that have permitted Google to offer searchable digital versions of their new in-print books have seen a small payoff. Macmillan, the company that owns publishing houses including Farrar, Straus & Giroux and St. Martin’s Press and represents authors including Jonathan Franzen and Janet Evanovich, offers 11,000 titles for search on Google. In 2007, Macmillan estimated that Google helped sell about 16,400 copies.”

It might take a while before an author with an out-of-print book notices any sort of profit. Yet there is still another service that this settlement will allow. Maybe it’s not so much the monetary aspect that will make this service so remarkable, but the cultural impact it will have. As this new service continues and expands, hopefully many titles, especially out-of-print Spanish titles will become accessible to those seeking to open a book that no longer exists.

Language and the Internet, what do they have in common? Well for starters, the Internet is based on a language of its own, that incorporates html, xhtml, css, etc. These languages help provide structure and behavior for the pages that we see when we visit a website or click on a link. But who would think that the actual language that the website is presented in counts? Have you ever taken a minute to ask yourself: what is the most popular language on the Internet? According to this link, as of right now English is still the most popular Internet language. But that could soon change.

According to the graph, English is the number 1 language on the Internet, followed by Chinese and then Spanish. Wow that’s pretty amazing that Spanish makes it to third place. This is one example of why many of the pages of EditorialCampana.com website are in both Spanish and English. It is important to be able to reach out to as many people as you can. Depending on the language of the website, will determine what visitors will be attracted as well as the amount of people. Many of the books published by editorial campana and campanita are in bilingual (English/Spanish) format. So it would make sense that the pages on the website be available on both languages as well. Translation are not always easy to come by (and they can be expensive). Maybe that is why many websites stick to 1 language. 

Before we continue, it is important to understand why the title of this blog includes “3.0″. Many of us have heard that the Web has gone 2.0. This basically means that the original web has had an update. In the first version we were able to retrieve information. Now with the 2.0 version, users can do much more. We can interact with the websites that we visit. This interaction comes in many different forms, from social networking such as wordpress.com to educational sites that allow students to do homework and hand in assignments online. This new Internet gives users more flexibility in the information that they receive. With a 2.0 release, there is always room for improvement. That is where the Web 3.0 may come into play.

it’s a wonderful feature to be able to go to someone’s blog and post a comment or reply to them. Another wonderful element of the Web 2.0 is to be able to add media to your site easily. However, lets say you have this small publishing company that wants to attract Spanish and English viewers? Its wonderful that people can interact on the web now a days, but language can be the greatest obstacle to overcome. Until now- in a recent article of the onlive version of the NY Times, Writing the Web’s Future in Numerous Languages, many people are starting to realize that native language is just as important in the real world as it is in the digital realm.

“If you want to reach a billion people, or even half a billion people, and you want to bond with them, then you have no choice but to do multiple languages,”

This statement was made by, Rama Bijapurkar, a marketing consultant and the author of “Winning in the Indian Market: Understanding the Transformation of Consumer India.” She seems to understand that language can very much control the fate of a website. Another individual, Ram Prakash Hanumanthappa, an engineer from outside Bangalore, India, saw an opportunity to make one’s native language usable on the Internet.

So in 2006 he developed Quillpad, an online service for typing in 10 South Asian languages. Users spell out words of local languages phonetically in Roman letters, and Quillpad’s predictive engine converts them into local-language script. Bloggers and authors rave about the service, which has attracted interest from the cellphone maker Nokia and the attention of Google Inc., which has since introduced its own transliteration tool.

Although the article is about how India is attempting to change or expand the language of the Internet, how will this impact the rest of the world? The Internet allows people to go anywhere they like. That being the case, shouldn’t users be able to learn about their native country in their native tongue? Or when shopping online, wouldn’t it be nice to speak or read a products information in any language possible? Hopefully with the success of the the Web 2.0, more people like Ram Prakash Hanumanthappa will work to make the Internet a language-friendly place. Wouldn’t it be great to go to your favorite website, and just like editorial Campana’s website, be able to click on a language link and see the page transform. Or even better, go to the homepage and choose your language before you enter the site? 

For most, the holiday season has passed. We are now looking to what 2009 will bring. In the last post, we looked at how the economy was impacting the book world, both traditional and digital. 

In the following article though, it seems as though the economy may not be impacting book sales as we thought. 

What’s undermining the book industry is not the absence of casual readers but the changing habits of devoted readers.

Readers are changing, just as the world is. Although we are in a recession and sales in books have decreased, the Internet is to blame a little bit. People use the Internet to buy books as we all know. Books bought online tend to be cheaper, especially with many stores now offering free shipping aside from incredible discounts. The Internet has also become a great resource to look for books (especially if one is looking to find anew author or genre) and a great way to sell books once they have lost their value or are taking up space on much needed shelves.

What is hurting the author and publisher the most are individuals known as “resellers.” 

Some [resellers] list them for as little as a penny, although most aim for at least a buck. This growing market is achieving an aggregate mass that is starting to prove problematic for publishers, new bookstores and secondhand bookstores.

In this new method of selling books, the individual selling the book makes the money. The author and the publisher see…NOTHING. Many of the books that are sold are cheap, as in 1 cent cheap. Why would someone buy a book for $19.95 new when they could get it for almost nothing. Many of the books online that are sold look brand new or have very little wear and tear. 

Although many might suggest that these individuals are taking well deserved income away from hard working authors and publishers, others might argue that resellers are somewhat like Ebay and similar online markets that allow you to sell your old and unwanted goods. The fact that all the proceeds go to the individual who sold the book might seem unfair. Maybe, as this trend picks up someone will find a way to use these online markets to help the author and the publisher.

As the new year approaches and as New Year’s Resolutions are being made, should we be rethinking the way we buy books? 

One consequence has been to change the calculations involved in buying a book. Given the price, do I really want to read this? Now it’s become both an economic and a moral issue? How much do I want to pay, and where do I want that money to go? To my local community via a bookstore? To the publisher? To the author?

Another interesting article: Booksellers and Publishers Nervous as Holiday Season Approaches

View the original article quoted: Bargain Hunting for Books, and Feeling Sheepish About It