Link Roundup
Who Cares How You Read? Just Read.
I saw this headline and said Amen. I’ve never thought the container matters so much as what’s being contained. I certainly enjoy beautiful book design; I just bought Patty Smith’s new memoir (M Train) in hardcover, partly because of the beautiful jacket and binding. But I’d be (almost) as happy reading it on my iPhone in scroll mode. I mostly want to read the book. And so I was happy to read this from Laura Brady.
Who’s reading on what? Smartphone use is still on the rise.
For those who are determined to know who’s reading on what, the Pew Research Center recently published a survey on smartphone/tablet/e-reader ownership. Fewer people own an e-reader now than in the past. This makes designing and developing ebooks even more scattered. Read it here.
New Nook Glowlight Plus
Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader has tested the new Nook Glowlight Plus. He likes it, but not enough to keep. Read his take here.
Ebook frontmatter
Joshua Tallent continues his Digital Book World series on best practices for frontmatter in ebooks. Do you know which print-only items you can safely remove from your copyright page? Read it here.
Best Practices for Accessible and Discoverable ebooks
Here’s a link to a webinar (available through Jan 21, 2016) that included George Kerscher, the president of the IDPF. The need for and implementation of accessible ebooks is growing; the webinar focuses on building content models and workflows to support that growth.
Quick-look Tools for Mac-based ebook developers?
Nate Hoffelder of the Digital Reader has a writeup of a couple of tools that can open EPUBs and MOBIs. Read about them here.