Free "Nurse Jackie" Script for Kindle

Kudos to Showtime for exercising the power of innovative synergy and making the pilot script of their new show "Nurse Jackie" starring Edie Falco available on the Kindle for free through August 31.

A June 1 article in Advertising Age reports that "Showtime may have finally cracked the code on using Kindle as an ad medium." Jon Haber, director of the team that works with Showtime's media shop Omnicom Group's OMD on the project, told Adage.com that they were looking at the Kindle "as a new concept platform that no one has figured out."

It will be interesting to see if they've figured out the formatting problems that have plagued screenwriters trying to transfer and read scripts on the Kindle. But for a network that has already gained a reputation for employing new media when it introduces new shows, it's nice to see the Kindle get a chance to show its versatility in a different way.

UPDATE: Received my copy of "Nurse Jackie" overnight and it looks almost perfect as far as the format. The only thing I've noticed so far is that the right side of the dialogue passages don't have proper indentation, but it's still quite readable.

Five Great Kindle Tweets - May 2009 (II)

I've tweeted @ messages to the five folks included in the tweetset above, and the first of these five who posts a comment to this blog entry will win a free copy of my book "Kindle Culture."*

I'll be giving away at least 10 books this way throughout the summer, so tweet poetic about the Kindle and you too could be picked for a chance to win one of my non-contests. Good luck!

*Prize will be awarded in the form of an Amazon gift card for the price of "Kindle Culture," currently available for the Kindle at Amazon.com.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations @KlavdyaB!

Colorless Kindle Continues

Folks waiting for the Kindle to take on a few shades besides gray before they buy are going to be left waiting a little longer if this week's speech by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is any indication.

Speaking at the annual Amazon shareholders meeting, Bezos said that a color Kindle was still many years away, despite the arrival of Fujitsu's full-color FLEPia looming on the horizon.

"I know it's multiple years. I don't know how many years but it's years," he said. "I've seen the color displays in the laboratory and I can assure you they're not ready for prime time."

Image credits:

Rainbow - Oren neu dag - cc3.0
Eyes - Brightster

Kindle Culture Blog Subscription on Kindle for $0.99

The Kindle Culture blog is now available for the Kindle through Amazon for a monthly fee of 99¢.

A lot has been written recently about why anyone would pay for something they can get for free with a few clicks, which I generally agree with. But I also think the same can be said for paying to get newspapers delivered to your door when many of them are available on the Internet for free. I personally subscribe to the AP Entertainment blog on my Kindle for 99¢ because I would rather have those headlines collected and presented to me every day than go looking for them, and that service is worth 3¢ a day to me.

That said, potential subscribers should know that Kindle Culture is dedicated to the social, cultural, artistic and political expressions on, about, and for the Amazon Kindle, and sometimes features images and links to video clips that aren't fully accessible on the Kindle. Readers who are looking for daily news, tips and information about the Kindle would be better served by a number of other great Kindle blogs that are now available, all for 99¢. Three of my favorites are Abhi Singh's Kindle Review, Kindle Books - iReader Review, Andrys Basten's A Kindle World and Stephen Windwalker's Kindle Nation Daily. I plan to take a look at these and other Kindle-focused blogs as seen through the eyes of the Kindle in a series of posts coming in the weeks ahead.

Deep Space Nine Kindle

Nice homage to the Kindle via "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Posted to Twitpic by JensBest of Germany.

Kindle 3's Visual Interface

The Kindle sure has been enjoying a lot of screen time lately. This still shot from College Humor's new Kindle 3 spoof gives a hint at the spiffy new features the K3 will supposedly boast with its oversized play/pause button and prominent volume controls. Favorite line: "I can't hear you, I'm reading!"

Also be sure to check out last week's Kindle 9XXXD spoof from Atom.com. And of course our commercial of the K2 and friends shamelessly hawking copies of "Kindle Culture" can be seen here.

Towel Day with the Kindle

The Kindle and Douglas Adams' classic "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" have already crossed paths a few times in the spirit of cosmic synchronicity. In March, I blogged about Sean P. Reiser's laser-etched "Don't Panic!" K2 and XKCD's comic homage to Adams, and both stories appear in the art-related chapter of "Kindle Culture."

The latest entry incorporates the Kindle in a terrific photograph taken for Towel Day, an annual observance paying tribute to Adams and his work. "Anyone that's read the series will instantly recognize several elements of this shot," says M i k e B, the photographer who posted the pic on flickr earlier today. "I was even fortunate enough to have a Brit-worthy sky this morning!"

Not to mention being close to a Dent Lane! Mike also points out this year's overlap with Memorial Day and the importance of remembering those who gave their lives for this country, a sentiment that I think deserves repeating. I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day and enjoys Towel Day. And thanks to Pedro Vera for reminding me in the first place.

Five Great Kindle Tweets - May 2009 (I)

First things first: I've tweeted @ messages to the five folks included in the tweetset above, and the first of these five who posts a comment to this blog entry below will win a free copy of my book "Kindle Culture."*

For the next three months, I've decided to increase the odds and the number of giveaways by decreasing the lists to five Tweeters (from the previous ten) and upping the giveaways to at least two a month. Next non-contest will be some time in the next 10 days.

*Prize will be awarded in the form of an Amazon gift card for the price of "Kindle Culture," currently available for the Kindle at Amazon.com.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations avitania!

Kindle Comic: "Kindle Kat"

To understand this cartoon you'd have to know that there was once a mouse who liked to throw bricks at a cat. And that when a Kindle customer lost his account for a few days last month, it caused such an uproar that quite a few blogs took the customer's lead and labeled the Kindle a brick. Even then, I don't know if you'd think it was funny.

Apologies to George Herriman!

KC Book Review: "Kept"

“Kept”
Zoe Winters
Digital List Price: $1.00
Kindle Price: $0.80
File Size: 125 KB
Publisher: IncuBooks (November 25, 2008)

“Kept” by Zoe Winters is a great read for fans of fantasy, paranormal romance and magic. Priced at under a dollar, I’d also suggest giving it a try even if those aren’t your usual genres of choice.

Winters’ writing is really good and the characters are interesting, though I suspect they’ll be even more fleshed out in the second and third installments of this three-novella trilogy. It definitely left me wanting more, although this story is complete and extremely satisfying. The erotic scenes were well-done and intense, with just the right balance of explicit and suggestive. Winters’ also has a talent for conveying emotion and depth with straightforward sexuality, something many romance writers lack.

I enjoyed every line in “Kept” except the very last, which I felt was unnecessary and even a bit cheesy. Its six little words managed to jar me out of the delicious feeling I usually get at the end of a good read. But it was hardly enough to detract from the rest of the book, and I can’t wait to learn more about this world and its mythology, magical rules, Werecats and sorcerers. I’m in for the series.

Next Next Gen Kindle 9XXXD

Kindle 9XXXD

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Sketch Groups | TV & Movie Spoofs

This one goes out to those who say the Kindle has no future. Could "Kindle, let me out!" be the catchphrase of tomorrow? Sorry, you'll have to tough out a commercial to see it.

Amazon's Sue Me Sue You Blues

Right back at ya, Discovery! Just over two months after Discovery Communications slapped Amazon with a lawsuit claiming breach of patent with the Kindle, Amazon is returning the favor with a suit alleging that Discovery Communications Inc. has infringed four of its e-commerce patents.

The Wall Street Journal cited the blog TechFlash as first reporting news of the suit, which was filed May 15 in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It alleges infringement of patents covering search engine and recommendation technology by one of Discovery's e-commerce sites.

A spokesperson for Discovery said there doesn't appear to be a connection between the two patent suits. Discovery is still in the process of reviewing Amazon's response to its March lawsuit, with the Journal reporting that the company is looking forward to "vindicating its position in court."

Kindle Culture YouTube Spot

As actors/models, the Kindles could be difficult to work with.

The first problem was getting the K2 to say the words right. I had to change "read" (which was being said in the past tense) to "reed," "e-reader" to "ee reader" and "to" to "two." I loathe typos, but it had to be done.

Then the Kindle 1s, which had been turned on at different times, started alternately going to screensaver while I was trying to shoot. I finally got everything on the same page and this was the result.

"Kindle Culture" Now Available

I'm happy to announce that my new book "Kindle Culture" is now available for the Kindle at Amazon.com! Thanks to everyone in the Kindle community who helped out these past few months. Your support has been greatly appreciated. Here's the product description, which has yet to appear on the Amazon page but should soon.

"How influential and/or pervasive can the Kindle become? Does it have what it takes to join that exclusive group populated by the likes of the Hula-Hoop, the VW Bug and the iPhone and become the next bona fide cultural icon? Will the term 'Kindle' become as ubiquitous in describing e-readers in the future as Band-Aid has for adhesive bandages and Kleenex for facial tissue? And just how strong will the Kindle’s built-in marketing segment of evangelists be in counteracting the latest wave of 'Kindle killers' lurking on the horizon? I searched far and wide, from coast to coast of what currently constitutes Kindle Country to the far edges of the globe, to find out in his new book 'Kindle Culture.'

"'Kindle Culture' examines the social and cultural aspects of the Kindle through a series of stories about people whose lives have been changed by the popular e-reader, from a woman whose Kindle let her read again after almost ten years to a full-time business professional whose hobby of making Kindle covers has turned into a cottage industry he can't keep up with. Along the way you'll meet newlyweds, artists, librarians, hackers, bloggers, members of the clergy, anti-ereader groups and Kindle-defending celebrities, all with one thing in common--the Amazon Kindle."

Kindle Comic: "Kindle Garden"

Kind seeds produce kind results!

Support a Kindle Author, Win a Gift Card

While Amazon's Digital Text Platform has helped level the playing field for indepedent publishing, getting your work noticed in a sea of titles can present its own challenge.

Author Josh McMains has come up with one of the best ideas I've heard of yet for drawing attention to his 99¢ novel "Uncubicled." On Tuesday, May 5th starting at 10 AM (Eastern), the first 200 people to buy "Uncubicled" for the Kindle or iPhone Kindle App and forward McMains a copy of their e-mail receipt will receive a $5 Amazon gift card, making "a tidy $4.01 profit."

McMains is also promising $20 cards for the first ten purchasers. "My goal is to try to get the book on the Kindle Top 25 downloads list, even if only for one brief, shining moment," he writes on his Uncubicled website. If the title happens to crack the Top 10 on May 5 he plans to double the amount of all the gift cards. "I truly do believe that this novel is something people will enjoy, so I'm putting some skin in the game."

I think McMains is right; based on the sample chapter, "Uncubicled" looks like a good read. And with attention at such a premium in the chaotic, dog-eat-dog world of indie Kindle authors on Amazon, this kind of creative self-promotion is a good example of what it takes to stand above the crowd.

KC Book Review: "Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married"

"Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married"
Marian Keyes
Digital List Price: $10.95
Kindle Price: $8.76
File Size: 415 KB
Print Length: 624 Pages
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (May 9, 2006)

“Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married” is entertaining, light fare that's a bit reminiscent of “Bridget Jones's Diary.” Our heroine and narrator is a single young woman living in London, drinking and partying with her pals while looking for love in all the wrong places.

I have no problem with that. I liked Bridget Jones and I like Lucy Sullivan. Poor Lucy just can't seem to see through her own obvious patterns and stop creating her own bad news. The supporting characters are interesting as well, if not all quite as likable. Lucy has her work friends, her two roommates, a best friend who happens to be male and a best male gay friend who really doesn't seem to have much of a point in this story. (Would it be so wrong for the heroine not to have a gay male friend?)

Overall, Keyes' writing is very good, though I did find myself skimming a few times when Lucy and whoever she was bouncing her reality off of seemed to be sharing still more info about codependency and who may or may not be an alcoholic.

But I liked the journey that Lucy takes and I like where she ends up. It was hard to be patient with her during those times where she seriously deludes herself, but if she were my friend, I would have forgiven her those times for all the other strengths she has.

The best thing I can say about this book is that I wanted to keep reading. I wanted to get past the bad relationships to what I assumed was going to be a happy ending. I don't want to give it away…you may see it coming and you may not. But it won't matter, because it’s such fun getting there and well worth lingering for just a moment in world of “Lucy Sullivan.”