Sunday, October 20, 2013

Kindle Book - "Amazon Kindle Kindles a Fire of Creativity" Self Published Author Describes His Success Story

Amazon.com is offering "Amazon Kindle Kindles a Fire of Creativity" for FREE  at Kindle Stores in United States and United Kingdom, Kindle-shop in Germany, Boutique Kindle in France, Tienda Kindle at Amazon EspaƱol and Kindle store in Italy. 

In "Amazon Kindle Kindles a fire of creativity", which is at top sales rank in its category at the time of this writing, the author describes how he was inspired by Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing to self publish his stories and his initial success. This book which is written in a humorous style can be downloaded for Free for next 12 hours at Amazon.com. 

The latest edition of Kindle (tm), dubbed Kindle Fire is an hybrid eBook and entertainment device rolled in one. Kindle Fire was one of the coolest, most sort after high-tech Christmas gift. Most people look at Kindle(tm) as a device which had simplified reading books, listening to music and with Kindle Fire(tm), watching videos. 

But one of the benefit which is frequently overlooked is how Kindle has eliminated the middlemen in the publishing process - Thanks to Kindle Direct Publishing - a gifted author can directly upload a manuscript using Kindle Publishing and voila, a new book is available to readers. By simplifying the publishing process and bringing it to reach of the average user, Amazon Kindle (tm) has revolutionized the process of publishing. 

Here is an excerpt from this eBook: 

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With self-publishing, I get to choose when my books get published. Heck, in ebook format, I even get to choose when it gets republished, in revised format. Amid all this talk about self-published books being poorly edited, the ebook platform actually allows books to be better edited, because they can be modified after the readers (not the editors) have given their feedback.

I get to choose, too, how my books get marketed. Oh yes, contrary to what some writers may think, once you get your book published, you can’t just leave it to fare for itself in the big wide wonderful world. No, you need to help it out, market it, through blog posts, SEO, promotions, etc. It’s just something you gotta learn to do.

By combining Internet marketing with self-publishing, I was able to get my ebook to best-selling status in its category and at the top of the "Hot New Releases" list within a few weeks. As you can see below in the Amazon KDP screen shot, 5,355 copies of my ebook "Inside the Giant Machine: Confessions of aFormer Amazon.com Technologist" were downloaded in the last week of January alone. (Net includes adjustment for any returns.)

My second best-selling ebook, "The Inferno: An Eyewitness Account of San Diego on Fire," was downloaded a net of 1,670 times in that week. 


And the above sales are just at the US Kindle Store. Several hundred copies of the English edition were also sold at Kindle Store in UK, and of the German translation  “Im Inneren der Gigantischen Maschine: Eine Amazon.com Story,” at the Kindle-Shop at Amazon.de.
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Friday, October 11, 2013

Amazon Announces Plans to Purchase TenMarks, a Online Instruction Start-up to Help Accelerate development of Educational apps on Kindle

Seattle based Amazon.com, world's leading online retailer has announced plans to acquire California based online education start-up TenMarks in a deal that is expected to be finalized by the end of the year. 

TenMarks touts that it delivers innovative education to students all over the country in form of personalized online mathematics instruction curriculum, that includes practice tests, hints and videos. It claims that the personalized format offers a clear and manageable way to learn mathematics to K-12 students. TenMarks has emphasized individualized engagement in their online instructional system and curriculum design. 

Dave Limp, a Vice President at Amazon stated that Amazon, like TenMarks values student learning highly. By joining hands, the two companies will be able to deliver innovative educational content and applications across multiple platforms. It's obvious that Amazon will be using this addition to the company to bolster educational apps on kindle. 

Amazon has other programs such as "Amazon Student" to attract students to sign up for company's prime program. In the past, it has also offered discounts to students on its Kindle Fire product line.  

"Educational apps are becoming more main stream in K-12 education," says Aarti Chandna, CEO of Foundze, inc. a leading site for Educational apps.  "Effectiveness of an app used in the classroom, is dependent not only on the ease of use but also how well it captures a student’s attention and engages them during a learning process. From a teacher’s perspective, the app should simplify and personalize assignments based on student ability and automate grading. The acquisition of Ten Marks by Amazon further validates that teaching is moving away from the traditional method, as bigger players are showing mote interest in acquiring Educational apps."

Terms of Amazon’s acquisition of TenMarks were not disclosed and are subject to various closing conditions.

HERE IS THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE ON THIS PROPOSED TRANSACTION: 

SEATTLE--()--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire TenMarks, a company that is helping teachers and parents deliver innovative mathematics curriculum to students across the country.
“I've used TenMarks for the past two years at Grand View with fourth and fifth grade students to help a diverse group of students achieve in math and take ownership of their own learning”
“Amazon and TenMarks share the same passion for student learning. TenMarks’s award-winning math programs have been used by tens of thousands of schools and Amazon engages with millions of students around the world through our Kindle ecosystem," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Together, Amazon and TenMarks intend to develop rich educational content and applications, across multiple platforms, that we think teachers, parents and students will love.”
“Amazon and TenMarks share a commitment to developing easy-to-implement solutions for schools and families,” said Rohit Agarwal, TenMarks co-founder. “We currently offer teachers, students and parents access to effective resources to foster the vision of the Common Core curriculum in math, including scalable professional development and tools for connecting with parents. We back this belief with our business model, where teachers can register and access our product for free, while being able to opt in for premium features, if needed. Going forward, we believe Amazon and TenMarks will create significant innovations in the K-12 arena.”
“I've used TenMarks for the past two years at Grand View with fourth and fifth grade students to help a diverse group of students achieve in math and take ownership of their own learning,” said Sujata Bhatt, founder of the Incubator School and a National Board Certified teacher who spent 11 years at Grand View Boulevard Elementary in Los Angeles Unified School District. “As we launch the Incubator School this year, we focus on technology that truly activates learning and self-starting. TenMarks’s products are designed to enable both students and teachers to be in the driver's seat by seeing where they're successful and where they need to revisit. TenMarks is an important part of our math plan this year.”
TenMarks offers personalized online math instruction and practice in a clear, manageable format for K-12 students complete with helpful hints, video lessons, and real-time results. TenMarks’s products are designed to help students be individually motivated, engaged and nurtured.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Subject to various closing conditions, the acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the world’s best-selling and most advanced e-reader. It features new display technology with higher contrast, the next generation built-in light, a faster processor, the latest touch technology, and exclusive new features designed from the ground up for readers. Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, features improved fonts and faster page turns. The new Kindle Fire HDX features a stunning exclusive 7” or 8.9” HDX display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 2x more memory, and 11 hours of battery life, as well as exclusive new features of Fire OS 3.0 including X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, Prime Instant Video downloads, and the revolutionary new Mayday button. The all-new Kindle Fire HD includes an HD display, high-performance processor and dual speakers at a breakthrough price.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.comwww.amazon.co.ukwww.amazon.de,www.amazon.co.jpwww.amazon.frwww.amazon.cawww.amazon.cnwww.amazon.itwww.amazon.es,www.amazon.com.brwww.amazon.in, and www.amazon.com.mx. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
About TenMarks
TenMarks's web-based math programs have been used by students across tens of thousands of schools and thousands of districts. Each day, students across the country use TenMarks to improve their math skills and confidence. TenMarks believes that students learn best when they are individually engaged, nurtured, and motivated.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

Contacts

Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr