Librarian: The Game

Shelving books may not sound very sporty, but if you have ever wondered how fast can you shelve a cart of books, then there’s now an app for that.

Last October, my wife and I began working with a developer to create a game just for librarians. The game is called “Sheleved” and it went live last week.

The game features three different modes of play: LOC, Dewey, and Alphabetical.

It may not be the most exciting game, but if you are looking to test your Pages, or even test yourself, then it’s just the game for you.

It’s .99, but if you are a blogger interested in reviewing it (and don’t have a dollar to spare), I have a very limited promo codes for free downloads.

If you happen to download it, let me know what you think. Below are the links:

iPad and iPhone

Also, my wife is giving away a Kindle this week to celebrate her blogs two year anniversary, so if you don't have one and want one, then enter already!

LibFind: Version 1.1

The latest version of  "LibFind" is now available on the App store. Six new states were added. I'm hoping to roll out another version this month that includes, amongst others, New York.

AgentMatch

Have you wrote a book, and need to find an agent to sell it? There's now an App for that! I hope to update this App and my other (LibFind) next month.

My First iPhone App

Everyone is creating iPhone app these days; I figured it was about time to learn what it was all about. I spent the past two weeks learning the code and the features. I'm still learning.

Last week I started developing my first app...a very simple one to help you find the address and number of the libraries within your county. The first version only includes California. I hope to have an update up very soon with additional states.

The app is called LibFind, and today it was approved for sale. It can be purchased here (all money goes to paying for a poor librarian!).

I'm hoping to have some advance features implemented as I learn them. Below are a few screenshots.

For those interested in developing apps, it's not as hard as you think; it takes a lot of time and patience (and a Mac computer), but Apple offers plenty of tutorials.

Is iTunes the New Kindle?

A new story is out saying Apple may consider putting books on iTunes; I'd hardly consider this a story—I'd consider it a fact. The technology is there, and people are already putting books on their iPod touch and iPhones; I predict a new touch will come out sometime next year (followed soon after by a new iPhone) that has better resolution that can handle books.

Publisher's are struggling to figure out how to make profit in a digital age; I've been saying for years that they'd soon have to go through what the music industry went through several years ago with MP3's, and I think the time has arrived.

Two things are on my mind, however. One is what format Apple would use; one can only hope they don't use their own; and two, what will happen to the authors? Musicians simply learned to tour if they wanted to make money, but what about authors? Maybe Stephanie Meyer can sellout the Nokia, but the average author can't even get a handful of people to show up for a signing at Barnes & Noble. What happens when people start putting books up on bit torrent and publishers go from making $50,000 to $100,000 on a mid-list author to making less than $10,000—my guess is they cut back the number of authors they sign, which is already low.

My longstanding idea for putting advertisements in an eBook might start looking like a better idea to them. And FYI, here are the two blogs I've mentioned advertising in the past:

http://speakquietly.blogspot.com/2007/12/future-of-books.html

http://speakquietly.blogspot.com/2008/06/welcome-to-wonderful-world-of-free.html

Weekend Funnies