Sony Reader being marketed on Dear Author

FizzyWater · 12-18-2008, 08:53 PM

I looked around and didn't see this posted already. Hope it's not a duplicate.

DearAuthor.com is a (mostly romance) book review and discussion site with a large and vocal group of regular visitors.

Sony has donated Sony Readers for all the Dear Author reviewers! They've also donated three additional Readers for the Dear Author folks to offer for contest giveaways.

Jane at Dear Author is a big advocate for ebooks (and reading, in general).

I thought this was exciting, since I love my Sony, but have wondered if they had any chance against Amazon's aggressive marketing strategy.

You can read about it here.

lilac_jive · 12-18-2008, 09:06 PM

I think I've said this before on here, but Sony sold me when they had this big banner in the Port Authority (NYC) that said:
"Read hundreds of romance novels...and no one will see the cover."

*sigh* they get me

da_jane · 12-19-2008, 09:48 AM

It's very exciting for us at Dear Author, obviously, but I think it makes sense because Sony definitely needs more penetration onto the reading blogs where people congregate and talk about reading. I did see demonstrators at the Denver airport last week showing the Sony Reader and I understand that there are more of these teams around the country at populated places where travelers are.

I will have an old Sony Reader and I'm thinking of sending it on tour to blog readers because I feel like once someone has the opportunity to use it, they will fall in love with ebook reading, maybe not the Sony Reader, but ebook reading in general.

MidknytOwl · 12-19-2008, 12:23 PM

I was happy to see the news as well.

Also because I love me my Sony, and I think it helps balance Sarah at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and her love of the Kindle-Aid. Give me Sony-Aid any day.

Falbe Publishing · 12-19-2008, 01:48 PM

The marketing of the Sony reader compared to the Kindle seems to be a tortoise and hare situation. I have video reviews of both the Sony 505 and the Kindle posted on YouTube, and the Sony review has been getting way more traffic. About 2,800 views for the Sony compared to about 1,100 for the Kindle. Some of this likely results from the plethora of reviews already available on Amazon, but since the Kindle tumbled into back order land during the holidays (last I knew), my Sony review has really started getting traffic again. Plus I am getting more comments and questions on the review, so people appear to be interested in the Sony.

It looks like Sony is doing mostly low key ground level marketing and Amazon is doing the old school Big Media marketing for Kindle. Sony is making up for some lost ground right now simply by being available. Plus it is slighly lower cost, accepts more formats, and is not limited to the U.S. Although I'm a Sony user, I was considering getting my husband a Kindle for Christmas so we'd have both kinds, but then I heard they were on back order, so Sony totally got my business.

I think Sony has a chance against Kindle. There's room for more than one device in the world.

TallMomof2 · 12-23-2008, 11:55 AM

I don't see it as an "us versus them" situation. I want to see all the ebook readers succeed so that ebooks succeed.

JSWolf · 12-23-2008, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

I don't see it as an "us versus them" situation. I want to see all the ebook readers succeed so that ebooks succeed.

Unfortunately, Amazon see it as an us vs them situation. I'd like to see ALL eBooks come out in all the different formats except PDF.

=X= · 12-23-2008, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falbe Publishing

... Sony is making up for some lost ground right now simply by being available. Plus it is slighly lower cost, accepts more formats....

Bit of a paradox isn't it. SONY supports more formats, but the Kindle has more of a selection.

I think people do consider upfront cost. But in the long run the kindle is cheaper. It only takes about 8 best sellers to break even with the sony, for the kind of books I buy it only takes 2-3 books.

=X=

Elsi · 12-23-2008, 06:12 PM

And, since the Dear Author site is aimed at the reader of romance novels, I would think that they would want to put some pressure on Harlequin books (www.eharlequin.com) to add the Sony format to their site. "The eBook Store links to three free readers: Adobe, Microsoft and Mobipocket. We sell eBooks in each of these three formats." So, the only format from one of the most prolific publishers of romance books that can be read on the Sony reader is PDF. And, there's that the PDF pages are not formatted for the small screen of the Sony reader.

I did note that one of the reviewers posted instructions for using Convertlit to convert non-secured LIT files to HTML. Some of the comments mention using Calibre or the Amber ABC program and one commenter suggested that if anyone ran into problems, come to MobileRead.

The likelihood, however, is that the majority of recently-published romance novels will be in a secured format.

Robotech_Master · 12-24-2008, 04:22 PM

Wow, that's neat, Jane!

How can we go about talking them into offering the folks over at TeleRead a similar deal?

FizzyWater · 12-24-2008, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elsi

And, since the Dear Author site is aimed at the reader of romance novels, I would think that they would want to put some pressure on Harlequin books (www.eharlequin.com) to add the Sony format to their site.

I think HQN leaves the "speciality" formats to each special website. HQN books are available in eReader formats, but not at eHarlequin, either. Sony carries HQN books...so they ARE available in Sony...not just on the eHarlequin website.

But yeah, I wish they'd expand their format offerings too.

HarryT · 12-25-2008, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

Bit of a paradox isn't it. SONY supports more formats, but the Kindle has more of a selection.

I think people do consider upfront cost. But in the long run the kindle is cheaper. It only takes about 8 best sellers to break even with the sony, for the kind of books I buy it only takes 2-3 books.

=X=

You are forgetting one major factor, which is that the overwhelming majority of people cannot buy a Kindle, since it is only sold in the United States.

HarryT · 12-25-2008, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I think HQN leaves the "speciality" formats to each special website. HQN books are available in eReader formats, but not at eHarlequin, either. Sony carries HQN books...so they ARE available in Sony...not just on the eHarlequin website.

But yeah, I wish they'd expand their format offerings too.

Please let's not cause confusion: the Sony does not use "eReader format". "eReader" is a specific eBook format which at present cannot be read by any eInk device.

FizzyWater · 12-25-2008, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Please let's not cause confusion: the Sony does not use "eReader format". "eReader" is a specific eBook format which at present cannot be read by any eInk device.

Harry, I was talking about both eReader and Sony.

Sorry if you were confused.

HarryT · 12-26-2008, 04:32 AM

I certainly was!

12-18-2008, 08:53 PM	#1
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Sony Reader being marketed on Dear Author I looked around and didn't see this posted already. Hope it's not a duplicate. DearAuthor.com is a (mostly romance) book review and discussion site with a large and vocal group of regular visitors. Sony has donated Sony Readers for all the Dear Author reviewers! They've also donated three additional Readers for the Dear Author folks to offer for contest giveaways. Jane at Dear Author is a big advocate for ebooks (and reading, in general). I thought this was exciting, since I love my Sony, but have wondered if they had any chance against Amazon's aggressive marketing strategy. You can read about it here.

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12-18-2008, 09:06 PM	#2
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I think I've said this before on here, but Sony sold me when they had this big banner in the Port Authority (NYC) that said: "Read hundreds of romance novels...and no one will see the cover." sigh they get me

12-19-2008, 09:48 AM	#3
da_jane Evangelist Posts: 405 Karma: 692 Join Date: Sep 2006 Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 \| Kindle Paperwhite \| iPad Mini	It's very exciting for us at Dear Author, obviously, but I think it makes sense because Sony definitely needs more penetration onto the reading blogs where people congregate and talk about reading. I did see demonstrators at the Denver airport last week showing the Sony Reader and I understand that there are more of these teams around the country at populated places where travelers are. I will have an old Sony Reader and I'm thinking of sending it on tour to blog readers because I feel like once someone has the opportunity to use it, they will fall in love with ebook reading, maybe not the Sony Reader, but ebook reading in general.

12-19-2008, 12:23 PM	#4
MidknytOwl Zealot Posts: 111 Karma: 644 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Kobo Aura	I was happy to see the news as well. Also because I love me my Sony, and I think it helps balance Sarah at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and her love of the Kindle-Aid. Give me Sony-Aid any day.

12-19-2008, 01:48 PM	#5
Falbe Publishing Gadget Slave Posts: 264 Karma: 600001 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Battle Creek, Michigan Device: Sony PRS505SC	The marketing of the Sony reader compared to the Kindle seems to be a tortoise and hare situation. I have video reviews of both the Sony 505 and the Kindle posted on YouTube, and the Sony review has been getting way more traffic. About 2,800 views for the Sony compared to about 1,100 for the Kindle. Some of this likely results from the plethora of reviews already available on Amazon, but since the Kindle tumbled into back order land during the holidays (last I knew), my Sony review has really started getting traffic again. Plus I am getting more comments and questions on the review, so people appear to be interested in the Sony. It looks like Sony is doing mostly low key ground level marketing and Amazon is doing the old school Big Media marketing for Kindle. Sony is making up for some lost ground right now simply by being available. Plus it is slighly lower cost, accepts more formats, and is not limited to the U.S. Although I'm a Sony user, I was considering getting my husband a Kindle for Christmas so we'd have both kinds, but then I heard they were on back order, so Sony totally got my business. I think Sony has a chance against Kindle. There's room for more than one device in the world.

12-23-2008, 11:55 AM	#6
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	I don't see it as an "us versus them" situation. I want to see all the ebook readers succeed so that ebooks succeed.

12-23-2008, 06:12 PM	#9
Elsi Wizard Posts: 2,366 Karma: 12000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas, USA Device: Kindle; Sony PRS 505; Blackberry 8700C	And, since the Dear Author site is aimed at the reader of romance novels, I would think that they would want to put some pressure on Harlequin books (www.eharlequin.com) to add the Sony format to their site. "The eBook Store links to three free readers: Adobe, Microsoft and Mobipocket. We sell eBooks in each of these three formats." So, the only format from one of the most prolific publishers of romance books that can be read on the Sony reader is PDF. And, there's that the PDF pages are not formatted for the small screen of the Sony reader. I did note that one of the reviewers posted instructions for using Convertlit to convert non-secured LIT files to HTML. Some of the comments mention using Calibre or the Amber ABC program and one commenter suggested that if anyone ran into problems, come to MobileRead. The likelihood, however, is that the majority of recently-published romance novels will be in a secured format.

12-24-2008, 04:22 PM	#10
Robotech_Master Fanatic Posts: 514 Karma: 2954711 Join Date: May 2006	Wow, that's neat, Jane! How can we go about talking them into offering the folks over at TeleRead a similar deal?

12-26-2008, 04:32 AM	#15
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I certainly was!

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