Blogging about Books

Amazon is now shipping third generation Kindles.  With each generation, they make changes/improvements in how books are displayed.  That, in turn, necessitates that publishers go back and edit files that
they already have in the Kindle Store to make them so they display well on all generations of the Kindle.  Since I have over 3800 books in the store, that will take me awhile.  I’m starting with the most
popular titles.  When I make the changes, I add to the title “improved [the date]“.  So if you bought books of mine from the Kindle Store before, check back every once and a while to see if a version is
available.  Then you should be able to download the new one at no additional cost.  To do that go to http://www.amazon.com  Then in the upper right corner, click on “Your Account”. Then under Digital
Content, click on “Manage Your Kindle”. Login when prompted. At the bottom of the next page, click on “Your Orders”. Then use the drop-down menu “Deliver to”. That’s where you would go if you lost
your Kindle or you bought a new one or you wanted to read one of your Kindle books on your PC, using their free viewer software. They should deliver the new version.  If they don’t, please let me know,
and I’ll send you the new one as an email attachment in .prc format, which works well on the Kindle.  (In that case, you could upload the file to the Documents folder on your Kindle using the USB cable).

And please let me know which titles you would like to see updated/upgraded, so I can set my priorities accordingly.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

I just updated our Non-Fiction CD set — that was a long battle. It has expanded from 4-CDs to 5, and now includes 5635 books. Complete table of contents at http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/nonfictioncd.html Price for all 5 = $99. (Update price, if you bought this set from us before = $10 per CD = $50; gandfathered until the end of August = $40, see below for details).

CD #1 of this set is the same as our US History CD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/ushistory.html which sells separately for $25.
And CD #5 of this set is the same as our Victorian Science and Technology CD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/vic.html which also sells separately for $25.

The last update of this set was June 2009, and the next will be no sooner than next July.

Here are the major categories covered:

CD #1 — US History, 1163 books
Colonial Period
Revolution
Early Republic
Civil War
After Civil War
Native American
Black History, Slavery, and Abolition
History Documents
Special Topics
General
CD #2 — World History, Afghanistan to Israel, 1204 books
Afghanistan
African
Ancient
Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea
Balkan States
British History
Canadian
Ceylon, Sri Lanka
Chinese
Czechoslovakia, Czech, Slovakia, and Bohemia
Danish
Egypt
Exploration
French
German and Austrian
Hungary
Indian
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
CD #3 — World History, Italian to Turkey plus World and Travel, 796 books

Italian
Japan
Korea
Latin American
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norwegian
Philippines
Portugal
Russian
Samoa
South African
Spain
Turkey
World History, including WW I
Travel
CD #4 — Natural Science and Technology, 1519 books
Fine Art, Music, Literary Criticism, and Linguistics
About Fine Art
About Music
About Drama
About Books (Literary Criticism, Library Science, Appreciation of Books)
Linguistics and Languages
Oratory
Crafts
Genealogy
Games, Sports, and Physical Fitness
Travel and Tourism

Philosophy
American
British
Chinese
Dutch
French
German
Greek
Indian
Roman
Reference
Social Science
Anthropology and Myth
Economics and Business
Law and crime
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
War
Women’s Studies
Education
Child Development and Rearing
CD #5 — Natural Science, 953 books
Agriculture
Astronomy
Biology and evolution
Conservation, Ecology, Forestry, Wild Life, and Environment
Farm Animals and Pets
Fish
General Science
Geology and Geography
Mathematics
Medicine
Physics and Electricity
Technology
Engineers, Inventors, and Industrialists
Flight
How to Make Things, Machinery, Chemistry, and Manufacturing
Nuclear
Photography
Railroads and Subways
Ships
Telephone and Telegraph
Weather

Update policy: As new public domain books become available in electronic form, we expand our existing CDs, adding dozens, sometimes hundreds of books. If you buy a CD or DVD directly from us, you have the right to buy up to 4 updates of that same CD or DVD, for the update price of just $10 per CD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/cdupdate.html or $30 per DVD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/dvdupdate.html. The updated CD or DVD includes all the books, not just the new ones; so you could give the old one to a friend or school or library. Just indicate which CD(s) you want in the comment section of the order form. The Non-Fiction set normally counts as 5 CDs, but because many of you originally bought it when it was a 4-CD set, until the end of August, the update will be just $40. So go to http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/cdupdate.html enter 4 as the quantity and note that you want the Non-Fiction.

Suggestions always welcome.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

I just added 348 books to our World Literature 2-CD set, for a total of 3565 books. These are books originally written in languages other than English, presented in the original language or in English translation or both. As usual, the price remains the same. Details at http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/worlitcd.html

I now need to upddate our Non-Fiction CD set — a huge task, with over 1000 new books for me to process. Once that is done, I’ll be able to put together a new version of our Complete Book DVD set.

Update policy reminder: As new public domain books become available in electronic form, we expand our existing CDs, adding dozens, sometimes hundreds of books. If you buy a CD or DVD directly from us, you have the right to buy up to 4 updates of that same CD or DVD, for the update price of just $10 per CD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/cdupdate.html or $30 per DVD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/dvdupdate.html. The updated CD or DVD includes all the books, not just the new ones; so you could give the old one to a friend or school or library. Just indicate which CD(s) you want in the comment section of the order form. (World Literature counts as two CDs).

Meanwhile, I’m building a new online store where you will be able to buy “portable” ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), what we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format. It is still “under construction”, waiting for some improvements in the shopping cart from my Web host. But please take a look http://www.samizdat.com/store/ and please buy Feedback welcome.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

This week’s book is The Virginian by Owen Wister. According to Wikipedia: “The Virginian … was dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, a good friend of Owen Wister… “Structurally, the story is less a novel than an anthology of previously published stories about the central character, with, e.g., the point of view shifting from one chapter to the next. The Virginian, both the character and the book, are considered to be first of their kind. The character is seen as the first real cowboy character that has set the standard for the cowboy character stereotype. The book is seen as one of the first great western novels about cowboys.” It was the basis for four movies, a made-for-TV-movie, and a TV series. “Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer and “Father” of western fiction… Wister had spent several summers out in the American West, making his first trip to Wyoming in 1885. Like his friend Teddy Roosevelt, Wister was fascinated with the culture, lore and terrain of the region. On an 1893 visit to Yellowstone, Wister met the western artist Frederic Remington; who remained a lifelong friend. When he started writing, he naturally inclined towards fiction set on the western frontier. Wister’s most famous work remains the 1902 novel The Virginian, the loosely constructed story of a cowboy who is a natural aristocrat, set against a highly mythologized version of the Johnson County War and taking the side of the large land owners. This is widely regarded as being the first cowboy novel and was reprinted fourteen times in eight months”
Please let me know if you would prefer to receive these books in .prc (MobiPocket Reader format), which works better than plain text for reading on the Kindle. I’m building a separate mailing list for Kindle users.

Meanwhile, the Kid’s Book of the Week is “Richard of Jamestown” an historical novel set set in colonial days by James Otis.

Please let me know if you’d like me to add you to that list.

My new online store is still “under construction”, waiting for some improvements in the shopping cart from my Web host. You will be able to buy “portable” ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), what we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format. Please take a look now at http://www.samizdat.com/store/ Feedback welcome. seltzer@samizdat.com

Please spread the word

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

Back from Egypt (great trip). This week’s book is the tenth and last volume of Wit and Humor of America. Next I’m planning on Owen Wister (westerns) and Teddy Roosevelt (history). Suggestions always welcome.

Please let me know if you would prefer to receive these books in .prc (MobiPocket Reader format), which works better than plain text for reading on the Kindle. I’m building a separate mailing list for Kindle users.

Meanwhile, the Kid’s Book of the Week is “Under the Liberty Tree” an historical novel set during the American Revolution by James Otis.

Please let me know if you’d like me to add you to that list.

My new online store is still “under construction”. You will be able to buy “portable” ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), what we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format. Please take a look now at http://www.samizdat.com/store/ Feedback welcome. seltzer@samizdat.com

Please spread the word.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

I got a lot of votes for Wit and Humor of America and no votes against. So I’m going to send out the rest of the set — volume 6 this week, then next week volume 7, and since I’ll be leaving soon for a two-week trip, I’ll also send out volumes 8 and 9 next week, so you’ll have plenty to read while I’m gone.

Please let me know if you would prefer to receive these books in .prc (MobiPocket Reader format), which works better than plain text for reading on the Kindle. I’m building a separate mailing list for Kindle users.

Meanwhile the week’s Kid’s Book of the Week is “Stories to Tell Children” by Sara Cone Bryant. Next week I plan to send the related book “How to Tell Stories to Children and Some Stories to Tell” by Sara Cone Bryant, plus two more for them as well — “What Shall We Do Now? Five Hundred Games and Passtimes. A Book of Suggestions for Children’s Gams and Employments” by Dorothy Canfield, 1907; and “The Story of Mankind” by Hendrik Van Loon.

Please let me know if you’d like me to add you to that distribution list.

Also, I just updated (for the first time in a year) our Children’s Books 2-CD set, adding 266 books, for a total of 2662. As usual, the price remains the same. You can see details at http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/chilbookcd.html

And I’m building a new online store, where you will be able to buy “portable” ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), what we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format.
The store is currently “under construction”. But you can take a look now at http://www.samizdat.com/store/ A couple dozen of our best sellers are on sale already. I hope to bring the total to 100 by the end of next week, then 1000 by the end of the summer. Then if demand justifies the effort, I could have 3000 on sale by Christmas. Feedback and suggestions welcome. seltzer@samizdat.com

Feedback and suggestions always welcome.

Please spread the word.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

I just updated (for the first time in a year) our Children’s Books 2-CD set, adding 266 books, for a total of 2662. As usual, the price remains the same. You can see details at http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/chilbookcd.html

Update policy reminder: As new public domain books become available in electronic form, we expand our existing CDs, adding dozens, sometimes hundreds of books. If you buy a CD or DVD directly from us, you have the right to buy up to 4 updates of that same CD or DVD, for the update price of just $10 per CD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/cdupdate.html or $30 per DVD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/dvdupdate.html. The updated CD or DVD includes all the books, not just the new ones; so you could give the old one to a friend or school or library. Just indicate which CD(s) you want in the comment section of the order form. (Children’s Books counts as two CDs).

Meanwhile, I’m building a new online store, where you will be able to buy “portable” ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), waht we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format.

The store is currently “under construction”. But you can take a look now at http://www.samizdat.com/store/ A couple dozen of our best sellers are on sale already. I hope to bring the total to 100 by the end of next week, then 1000 by the end of the summer. Then if demand justifies the effort, I could have 3000 on sale by Christmas. Feedback and suggestions welcome. seltzer@samizdat.com

FYI — A week from now I’ll be leaving for a two-week trip. Many of you are anxiously awaiting the next update to our Complete Book DVD set (which is now 3 DVDs, but will grow to 4 this time around). Before assembling that, I need to finish updating two more of its components — World Literature and Non-Fiction (which is huge). I need to work on the store right now. Then on returnnig from my trip, I’ll once again focus on updates. I’m now aimnig to finish the Comlete Book DVD Set by June 30.

Please spread the word.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

Back again by popular demand, this week’s book is volume 5 of The Wit and Humor of America. Please let me know if you’d like still another of these next week.

Also, please let me know if you would prefer to receive these books in .prc (MobiPocket Reader format), which works better than plain text for reading on the Kindle. I’m building a separate mailing list for Kindle users. FYI — I just learned a technique that let’s me add “metadata” to these files, for the title and author work on the Kindle (from the Menu and when sorting).

Meanwhile, thanks to a suggestion from Penny Golden, the Kid’s Book of the Week is Life and “Perambulations of a Mouse” by Kilner

Please let me know if you’d like me to add you to that distribution list.

Meanwhile, I’m building a new online store, where you will be able to buy “portable” ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), waht we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format.

The store is currently “under construction”. We plan to officially launch it in about a week. But you can take a look now at http://www.samizdat.com/store/ A couple dozen of our best sellers are on sale already. Feedback and suggestions welcome. seltzer@samizdat.com

Please let me know if you would like a sample to experiment with (and I’ll send it to you by email attachment).

And please spread the word.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com

I finally updated our British Literature 3-CD set (for the first time in a year). It now has 4167 books. These files are organized both by author and by time period (before 1300, 14th century, 15th century, 16th century, 17th century, 18th century, and 19th century (up to 1922). For details see: http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/british1.html

Update policy reminder: As new public domain books become available in electronic form, we expand our existing CDs, adding dozens, sometimes hundreds of books. If you buy a CD or DVD directly from us, you have the right to buy up to 4 updates of that same CD or DVD, for the update price of just $10 per CD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/cdupdate.html or $30 per DVD http://samizdat.stores.yahoo.net/dvdupdate.html. The updated CD or DVD includes all the books, not just the new ones; so you could give the old one to a friend or school or library. Just indicate which CD(s) you want in the comment section of the order form. (British Literature counts as three CDs).

Meanwhile, I’m building a new online store, where you will be able to buy ebooks by download for your ebook readers (Kindle, Sony, Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders, etc.) This is in addition to (not instead of), what we’ve been doing — making book collection CDs and DVDs, with books in plain text (.txt) format.

The store is currently “under construction”. We plan to officially launch it in about a week. But you can take a look now at http://www.samizdat.com/store/ A couple dozen of our best sellers are on sale already. Feedback and suggestions welcome. seltzer@samizdat.com

Amazon’s Kindle uses Amazon’s proprietary format for books (.azw) as well as MobiPocket Reader format (.prc) . Sony, Barnes/Noble’s Nook, and the new Border’s reader all use .epub format.
Unfortunately, these formats are not compatible with one antoher. Buy at book at the Kindle Store and you can’t read it on the other devices. Buy a book at the other stores, and you can’t read it on a
Kindle.

As a reader, why should you care? If you build a library of ebooks, you want some assurance that you’re going to be able to read those books 10 or 20 years from now. You want the books that you buy to
be portable from one device to another, and from one generation of device to another. Over time, you’ll have more than one kind of ebook reader, and you will want the books you have bought to “play” on
any and all of them.

So, when you buy a book from our store (by download), you get a zipped file that includes the same book in two formats — one is .prc for use with Kindle and the MobiPocket Reader; the other is .epub for use with the other major ebook readers. Simply unzip the file, upload the version you want to the device you want, and keep the other version on your PC for future use.

(FYI — The .prc files have been modified so the author and title show up in the Kindle Menu, and you can sort by author and title.)

Please let me know if you would like a sample to experiment with, and I’ll send it to you by email attachment.

Please spread the word.

Best wishes.

Richard Seltzer seltzer@samizdat.com