Tablet News 2/21/2012

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What a fascinating bit of news from Tabletopia!

Nook launches it's new Tablet, which is really the more expensive tablet with less memory, and puts it in competition with the Kindle Fire. B&N isn't quitting, and this does get them some nice attention – and it's intriguing how they seem to be aiming at tablets first, in a way. I almost feel they're downplaying the reading aspect.

TAKEAWAY: B&N is still taking on Amazon (and in a way, everyone else). I'd think their Nook division might be a good place to seek employment, and of course if you e-Publish, you want to be on B&N.

Microsoft appears to have bitten the bullet and released Office for iPad. Now my question here is what they're going to charge for this?

TAKEAWAY: It does show Microsoft is wisely moving with the times – and knows where the money is. What competition will this provide – and face – on the iPad?

– Steven Savage

Focused Fandom Countdown: 8 Weeks To Go

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So where am I on Fanart, Fanartists, and Careers?

I just finished the resource sections.  I wanted to have a good amount of useful links and books for people to use, which actually was more challenging than I thought.

Since artistic careers go in a lot of different directions, I ended up having to ask myself what would be useful to the broadest audience . . . which is not always what it seems.  Then there are "contrarian" resources, like certain books, that deserve mention only for that very fact.  You can also put in too much or too little.

So I used an advanced system called "gut feelings" for this, erring on the side of "give people one good option if you're sure, 3 options if you're not."

That's one issue with a book like this – you have to find out what's useful to people.  In the end what my books are are mental toolkits to help people in their careers.  If I don't provide the right tools – or turn it into a swiss army knife of confusion – then I'm not doing my job.

So the best method was to include the truly useful, and options when needed.  It's a balancing act, but I think it was worth it.

Of course, I need to do a gut check on it all the time . . .

So 8 weeks to go.  next up, a final editing run, then off to the editor.  That also means interviewees should be getting a beta copy in about 2-3 weeks!

– Steven Savage