International E-book Factory

Growing Old Is Not For Sissies

michaelhospelt — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:30:43 +0000

Etta Clark, like all artists, she sees with a fresh eye. Hers was the discovery in lovely Marin County, California, where the mania for fitness among young and middle-aged is akin to religious ecstasy, that here and there were older people (seniors, I suppose we must say,) who had simply made up their minds to stand their ground against time’s predation. Let skin sag and wrinkle, they would keep the muscles beneath supple by working them as hard as in youth. Or harder: in the past, physical exercise didn’t have the cachet it does now. Some of the older women, in fact, were firmly told in girlhood that ladies didn’t sweat.

A T-shirt I recently saw said, “Eat Right. Stay Fit. Die Anyway.” Well, yes. None of the recent discoveries in medicine and nutrition alters the hard truth about that third proposition. We have our brief mayfly’s glimmer in the material world and then disappear into the mystery. But people are living longer. And there seems no argument that regular exercise keeps lives better longer. The subjects of Clark’s photography have taken that small nugget of wisdom to the next level. If some exercise is good, does it not follow that more is better?

The elderly athletes in this book cleave through straits and bays,

run marathons, practice martial arts, dance aerobically or with taps on their shoes. Some gallop horses; others compete in swimming meets or pound younger sparring mates with boxing gloves. Exercise may not be the elixir Ponce de Leon sought, that fabled draught from the Fountain of Youth, but it appears to slow the aging process and may have restorative value. The body is a machine with capacities greater than previously understood, but it is vital to keep the rust off the moving parts. Seemingly, it doesn’t matter what you do in the way of exercise, only that you do.

One mission of art (there are many) is to inspire. In her photographs, Clark inspires us to realize that whatever our age, it is never too late to rise from our couches, turn off the television/computer and begin to exercise. All else will follow.

-Jerry Carroll

Das Geschäft Teil 2

michaelhospelt — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:22:36 +0000

Fortsetzung der “Das Geschäft” Saga von Paul Werner.

Wenn Sie das eBook erwerben möchten, es ist erhältlich im Apple iBookstore, im Amazon Kindle shop, oder im Barnes&Nobles Nook shop. Suchen Sie in den jeweiligen Shops unter :

Paul Werner ,Das Geschäft

Das Geschäft Teil 1

michaelhospelt — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:56:54 +0000

In der Form eines Romans schildert der Autor offen und frech die Bemühungen eines fiktiven deutschen Unternehmens um ein großes Rüstungsgeschäft mit einem von politischen Wirren gebeutelten Entwicklungsland.

Das Buch zeigt mit erschreckender Realitätsnähe die Anbahnung von Kontakten zu den politischen und militärischen Entscheidungsträgern, die Absprachen über Schmiergelder und die Intrigen hinter den Kulissen, wenn es um deren Verteilung geht.

Es gibt gleichzeitig Einblicke in die pekuniäre Beeinflussung der deutschen Politik der neunziger Jahre, die sich nach Außen hin zwar stets von solchen Geschäften distanziert, sie aber tatsächlich diskret gefördert hat.

Die Geschehnisse werden aus den Sichtwinkeln der Hauptpersonen berichtet, teils drastisch, teils saftig, aber stets lebensnah und zuweilen boshaft.

Die Intimität der Kenntnisse über die Abläufe solcher Geschäfte zeigt, dass dieses Buch von einem echten Insider geschrieben wurde, der aus nachvollziehbaren Gründen auf der Veröffentlichung unter einem Pseudonym bestanden hat.

Wenn Sie das eBook erwerben möchten, es ist erhältlich im Apple iBookstore, im Amazon Kindle shop, oder im Barnes&Nobles Nook shop. Suchen Sie in den jeweiligen Shops unter :

Paul Werner, Das Geschäft

I Predict, That E-books Will Outsell Traditional Books By The End Of 2011. by Michael Hospelt

michaelhospelt — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:46:26 +0000

Some weeks ago Jeff Bezos called his e-reader Kindle a response to the “failings of a physical book,” because e-books are much more convenient than a book printed on paper. His conclusion was: “Books had a great five hundred year run, but it’s time to move on.”

Yes, Amazons Kindle, according to Bezos ist the top selling product of all of Amazons products.

And then there is the competition. Analysts at Goldman Sachs predict that Apple may sell as many as 37.2 million IPads by the end of the year and there is Barnes&Nobles Nook, the Sony E-reader and others.

At the International CES electronics show in Las Vegas, e-readers and IPad challengers were the buzz of the show, and most of them will hit the stores in the next six months.

All of these devices have to get feeded with e-books.

When you have a look at the US Trade Wholesale E-book Sales Chart by the IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) and the AAP (Association of American Publishers) you see that e-book sales doubled every year from 2008 till 2010.

Amazon already reported last July, that they sold more e-books than hardcover books.

So, it’s not a long stretch to predict, that e-books will outsell traditional books by the end of the year.

Wie man schöne Photos mit einer kleinen Digitalkamera macht

michaelhospelt — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:05:18 +0000

Dieses E-book ist für all jene gedacht, die ihre Kamera nicht
nur für Familienfeste oder im Urlaub benutzen wollen.

Klicken Sie auf das Buch um mehr Informationen zu erhalten, oder es zu bestellen.

“How To Take Beautiful Photos With A Small Digital Camera”

michaelhospelt — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:02:34 +0000

This e-book is for everyone who wants to learn how to improve their photographic skills using a small digital camera. Why use your digital camera for only family and vacation shots?

Learn simple tips and watch your creativity improve.

Click on the book to get more information, or to order it.

The Silence Before The Storm by Michael Hospelt

michaelhospelt — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:15:00 +0000

Most of us know the movie “A Perfect Storm” with George Clooney, where at the end of the movie the crew was wondering why the sea is so quiet. Minutes later, hell broke loose and the storm destroyed the boat and killed the crew.
This story line of the movie reminds me of the situation the traditional publishing industry is facing now.
Three weeks ago at the Techonomy Conference, Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Laboratory, predicted: “The Physical Book Is Dead In 5 Years.” By “dead”he of course didn’t mean completely dead, but that digital books would replace printed books as the dominant format.
Also this month, on August 24, Seth Godin, the world famous marketing guru and bestselling author, announced in his blog post: “Moving on” that after publishing twelve books through traditional publishing houses, his next book would not be published through the traditional channels. 
More and more authors will follow him and will only hire a publisher for services like: editing, formatting, cover design and most importantly, online marketing. (btw, traditional publishers don’t have a clue about online marketing.)
I have the feeling that printed book publishers are in denial of the situation they are facing. The transition from printed books to digital books is unstoppable, like a perfect storm.

“Master Your Kitchen Knives”

michaelhospelt — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 09:58:22 +0000

Master Your Kitchen Knives is an ebook that covers everything you should know about kitchen knives. In this ebook you’ll learn how to: Buy, maintain, and Sharpen your knives. Plus, Knife Skills are explained in easy-to-follow steps combined with 163 color Photographs and Illustrations.

For more Information and a downloadable Sample, Click on the Book.

Decisions,Decisions: E-Book or App-Book! by Michael Hospelt

michaelhospelt — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:04:37 +0000

Since Apple/IOS and Google/Android have invited developers to write apps (applications) for their mobile operation systems, there are app’s for just about everything.

There is the possibility to publish your e-book content as an app on the IPad and IPhone and devices that support the Google Android platform.

You may ask yourself, “why should I publish my e-book content as an app?”

The main reason would be: you can update an app.

This is especially useful for “How to” and educational content, which may need future updates. For example, an e-cookbook where you add more recipes or a travel e-book where the author updates his travel experiences over time. Even a fiction author could write continuing chapters for an ongoing story.

For your readers, the promise that you would update your app-book, could be a valuable argument to buy your product.

Sure, you could also update an e-book, but then you would have to exchange the file and notify your customers that an updated e-book is available for download.

If you update an app, every time your customers syncs their reading device, they get notified if there is a new version for download.

The drawback is, you need an developer, who converts your content into an app, someone who understands and can write code.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Google recently announced a tool called “App Inventor” where you can develop your own apps. It enables users to drag and drop blocks of code shown as graphic images.

Putting the code blocks together you create your own app.

There is no doubt the app format will have a bright future in the publishing market, especially if the creation of an app will be an easier task to do.

What do you think?

The Emerging Ebook Wars by Michael Hospelt

michaelhospelt — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:44:40 +0000

While the ebook world is still in it’s infancy, a battle for market share is under full steam.

On the frontline there is Amazon with their ebook store and Kindle e-reader. Apple just came out with the IBook store from where you can download ebooks to the IPad, IPhone and IPod Touch. Barnes and Noble has their online store and the Nook e-reader.

Borders has just joined the ebook market.

All of the above use their own proprietary software and DRM (Digital Rights Management.) Which means, when you download, say a book to a Kindle, you can only read it on the Kindle or on a Kindle IPad or IPhone app. Apple and Barnes and Noble restrict ebook content bought from their shop to their devices.

Then there is Google which has already digitized over one million books in the public domain which are at the moment for free, but it has to be seen what role they will play in the ebook market and how they will make money with their content or service.

Everybody is fighting now for their market share.

With the IPad, (IPhone and IPod Touch are also good reading devices) Apple has no question the best e-reader which is on top, a full fledged computer. Since its release, Apple has sold three million IPads and already controls 22% of the ebook market. All the others now have to update their hardware to compete or lower their prices for e-readers.

Trapped in the middle are the Publishing Houses. Since their main attention is still printed books, it seems that they are handling ebooks as a sideline, selling them for $9.99 and sometimes even higher. That makes ebooks, in some cases, more expensive than paperback versions. (Remember, ebooks are digital files. You save the printing, shipping and storage expenses.) It has to be seen how consumers will react to this.

For ebook authors and small publishers, lean back and watch what happens: transform your ebook content to every available platform and promote your ebooks on the internet and social networks.

We live in a very interesting time!