Introducing Inkmesh

[wallcraft]

If there are going to be many sites each with a small number of titles, perhaps they need to use a standard catalogue format that isn't hard to implement, maintain and search.

[anurag]

Hey Deb, thanks - like I said earlier, we'll put a UI on the search prefixes soon so you don't have to type them by hand.

Surfergirl - thank you! We haven't added Mobipocket.com yet, and for the other stores the issue is crawl frequency (these sites do not give us access to their datafeed). Our infrastructure is limited at the moment, so we can't crawl Amazon and BoB more frequently, leading to a slightly outdated index for these sites. As Inkmesh matures, we will invest more resources in crawling these sites more frequently, and you will see fewer discrepancies.

Steve - yes, we definitely want to include indie authors and smaller sites; I will email you to follow up.

Ahi - that's a good idea. We already crawl different websites at different rates, but we need to spend some more time figuring out the best way to discover and index smaller websites.

wallcraft - it is interesting that you mention the need for a standard catalog format, because an effort to create one is already under way: http://code.google.com/p/openpub/wiki/OPDS. It is still in draft status, and I suspect it will be difficult to get sites like Amazon to adopt it, but it could become a very useful feature for small to mid-size websites. FeedBooks and The Internet Archive are active participants in OPDS discussion.

[BearMountainBooks]

Has smashwords been included in the search/sites yet? I know, I know. You're reeling from all the requests and you're working as fast as you can type...

I want to blog about it, but want to wait until Smash is working so that I can show that "feature."

:>)

Maria

[anurag]

Maria,

We are working with the Smashwords team and they too want to move forward with the integration ASAP. We hope to have their ebooks in our index very soon - I will email you as soon as that happens. Thank you for your support!

We also have a couple of interesting websites in store over the next few days - I will post the additions on MR.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by anurag

Maria,

We are working with the Smashwords team and they too want to move forward with the integration ASAP. We hope to have their ebooks in our index very soon - I will email you as soon as that happens. Thank you for your support!

We also have a couple of interesting websites in store over the next few days - I will post the additions on MR.

Any ETA on the foreign language eBook listing additions, anurag?

- Ahi

[Argel]

Excellent tool. At last something which allows me to see how deeply screwed I am as a UK buyer (or former buyer) of ebooks.

[anurag]

Originally Posted by ahi

Any ETA on the foreign language eBook listing additions, anurag?

- Ahi

Ahi - I apologize for not being more specific, but we don't have an ETA for this. In fact, we don't have an ETA for anything except the tasks we are currently working on There are a lot of things we want to do in addition to adding non-English sites, like improving exploration options and adding advanced search and filtering capabilities. We will definitely get to foreign language sites, but like most items on the TODO list of a tiny team, it will get done only when it will get done Again, sorry for not providing a more helpful answer.

[BearMountainBooks]

Smashwords appears to be up and in the listings!!!!! WOOT! Thanks anurag!

Maria

[ahi]

Originally Posted by anurag

Ahi - I apologize for not being more specific, but we don't have an ETA for this. In fact, we don't have an ETA for anything except the tasks we are currently working on There are a lot of things we want to do in addition to adding non-English sites, like improving exploration options and adding advanced search and filtering capabilities. We will definitely get to foreign language sites, but like most items on the TODO list of a tiny team, it will get done only when it will get done Again, sorry for not providing a more helpful answer.

No problem. I'll keep checking back now and then.

- Ahi

[mikaelalind]

I totally support your work with Inkmesh! It is great. I know that there are a large number of ebook publishers out there. If you add http://www.allromanceebooks.com/, My Bookstore and More and Bookstrand, you cover a lot of the smaller romance (mainly) e-publishers.

[BearMountainBooks]

Just curious--will you be picking up Barnes and Noble feed/database/info? I know they are trying to grow their collection (obvious, since the Nook is announced). Or are you already picking it up and I just didn't notice??

[cvkemp]

Hello Maria I am also Near Austin, Texas. I love to read I will have to check out your books.

Chuck

[anurag]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Just curious--will you be picking up Barnes and Noble feed/database/info? I know they are trying to grow their collection (obvious, since the Nook is announced). Or are you already picking it up and I just didn't notice??

Maria, we don't have all the ebooks from Barnes and Noble yet - only ebooks with a sales rank. But we are working on getting access to every single ebook on bn.com into our index, so you should be able to find any ebook from B&N (including yours!) on Inkmesh very soon.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by cvkemp

Hello Maria I am also Near Austin, Texas. I love to read I will have to check out your books.

Chuck

Thanks Chuck, for taking a look at them!

The cool front is about to blow through Austin! Get your slippers, coffee and some cakes out!!!

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by anurag

Maria, we don't have all the ebooks from Barnes and Noble yet - only ebooks with a sales rank. But we are working on getting access to every single ebook on bn.com into our index, so you should be able to find any ebook from B&N (including yours!) on Inkmesh very soon.

No rush--as I said, I was curious. "Thief" just went up on B&N this week so I didn't expect it would get picked up right away. I could have checked a bunch of other books to see what you were doing with the feed, but didn't think of that until just now...thanks for the update!