Munsey’s Technosnarl

From The Kindle Chronicles, another in-your-face, Sony moment.

 Via Mike Elgan and HotelChatter.com, we learn that the famed Algonquin Hotel in New York City is loaning Kindles to guests.  Jan Zlendich of The Kindle Reader blog notes that 46 of the 50 titles on Bookmarks Magazine’s list of the 50 best books of 2008 are available for the Kindle.

What’s really funny about that is the way The Algonquin at 59 W. 44th, with nearly as many commerative literary plaques out front as The Chelsea or The Monteleone in NOLA, is almost across the street from the NY Center for Independent Publishing (formerly Small Press Center), which is having its annual fair this weekend.  I’m exhibiting upstairs (tiny table, but this event is about presentations and networking).  Doesn’t show up on the literature, but Sony is a last-minute sponsor of the fair (and a good sponsor, apparently.)  They came so late, the prize for the raffle-thingie at the fair is an Ipod Nano, not a 700.

Amazon, when Kindle launched, already had partnerships with several of the name Small Presses (Grove, Seven Stories, Cleis, etc.)  Essentially, everyone who published books prior to ’95, and thinks of Amazon the way Western Europeans thought about America after passage of the Marshall Plan in the late ’40s, went to Kindle, those who came along after 2000 or so (Akashic, Soft Skull, etc.), with perhaps more of a ’60s outlook, are still on the sidelines.  So far.

Just kinda funny.

News to relate includes: Different publishers are getting different royalties for Kindle Store sales.  (I’d always assumed that, but it’s confirmed from an anonymous source, and the fellow in question feels his percentage should be higher… a common sentiment.)  Also, the supposed “ebook reader of the future” demoed in these parts recently is an Iphone app with a split screen that can show text on top, images below.  Haven’t seen it, but it’s supposed to come out Tuesday.

There will be a breakfast meeting with Kelley, whatever, director of Ebook Acquisitions for Sony, that I’ll go check out, as soon as I check out.

/You people are witnesses, I do get up early for breakfast meetings in New York, when there’s an incentive.
//Also, I thought the show was last week when I booked my hotel in August, and only caught the shift after getting back in from TX.  By the time I looked again, all I could find was north of 94th St., and… well, I had enough beer to last me a while in Texas, Nashville, Louisiana, St. Pete…
///Staying in glorious Parisppany, NJ at the Hojos, but they’re giving away insane Trip Rewards points right now, and despite Pricelining I’m almost up to a week at a Wyndham, or two months at a SuperEight.
////You kids at home should know, the Edison lot across the Algonquin is only $14 for 12 hours weekends or after 5… that’s better than DC or Chitown.
/////Come Jan. when I hit Happy Endings, I will not be making any Friday breakfast meetings, and can stay, insect-free and respectible, for under $80.

Tags: Algonquin, Amazon, Ebooks, Personal Slashie Record, Small Press Center, Sony, Travel

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 at 5:02 am and is filed under Ebooks, Odd, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.