Get Lara’s Top Pick of 2013 ‘Beautiful Ruins’ eBook for $3.99

Happy New Year! And what better way to start off the new year than with a great deal on a great read?

If you haven’t seen my list of Top Picks of 2013, check it out now. Scroll down, and you’ll notice my third favorite read of the year was Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.

An epic story about two lost young people who find each other again much later in life will make you laugh and cry. It’s a truly lovely book. And now the ebook for Kindle is available for just $3.99. Trust me — it’s not a bad way to spend $4.

Get it on your Kindle now for just $3.99.

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B&N Creates Nook Self-Publishing Platform

Barnes and Noble is now joining in with fellow competitors, Amazon and Apple, in the world of self-publishing.

According to Slash Gear, B&N is launching NOOK Press, a rebranded version of B&N’s old PubIt! platform. NOOK Press will allow independent authors to publish their books and make them available ebooks, costing between 99 cents and $199. The books will be available on the Barnes and Noble web site and in the Nook Book Store.

However, B&N will take a percentage of teh sales: 30% of books that cost less than $9.99 and 60% of books that cost more than $9.99. Sounds steep, but apparently Amazon and Apple have similar rates, as Craig Lloyd explains.

[,,,] it’s right up there with Amazon’s 30% and 65% cut that they take from authors with their Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Plus, Apple takes the same 30% cut Apple from iBooks Author.

Right now, NOOK Press is only available in the U.S., but it’s expected to become available in the UK as well. So independent authors….hop on board!

Get The Vow Ebook for $7.64 or in Paperback for $8.63

The movie The Vow ranked #1 in the box office during its opening weekend. And it hasn’t left the top 5 since. This romance movie tells the story of a recently married couple who gets into a car accident. The wife struggles with amnesia after the fact, and the husband must get her to fall back in love with him. The true beauty of this story? It’s based on real life events. And now you can get the book that details the true story. Written by the couple themselves, Kim and Krickitt Carpenter detail the time they fell in love …for the second time. The book includes a newly-added chapter and photo insert.

Now you can get it for your Kindle for just $7.64.

You can also get it in paperback for just $8.63, down from $14.99.

Showdown: Barnes and Noble vs. Amazon

Now that Amazon has a growing book publishing industry, authors will have to choose between selling their books on Amazon or in Barnes and Noble and other bookstores across the country. One thing’s for sure; they can’t have it both ways.

Last week, Barnes and Noble released a statement, saying it would not sell Amazon-published books in its stores. According to this article by The New York Times, the decision is the latest punch in the battle between B&N and Amazon. B&N’s chief merchandising officer, Jaime Carey explains the reasoning behind the decision.

“Our decision is based on Amazon’s continued push for exclusivity with publishers, agents and the authors they represent. These exclusives have prohibited us from offering certain e-books to our customers. Their actions have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of customers from having access to content. It’s clear to us that Amazon has proven they would not be a good publishing partner to Barnes & Noble as they continue to pull content off the market for their own self interest.”

Yikes; it’s clear that the tension between the two biggest booksellers in the country has been growing for quite some time.

Barnes and Noble will still sell Amazon-published books on its web site, but not all of them.

This move by Barnes and Noble may be smarter than it seems. Choosing not to sell Amazon’s books might seem like the company is limiting itself. On the other hand, a good number of authors will inevitably choose not to have Amazon publish their books if it means Barnes and Noble won’t sell them. That being said, it will be interesting to see how many books Amazon winds up publishing in 2012.

*Sidenote: Amazon’s latest publishing move is a book by country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

NBC News To Publish Original eBooks

Finally, my two worlds of news and books collide. NBC News announced this week that it has launched a new unit, NBC Publishing. The company will publish e-books based on its own original programming, like NBC Nightly News, Today, and Dateline.

According to this article by Deadline, NBC will work with traditional trade publishers as they have in the past. It will also use products from every group under the NBCUniversal umbrella.  David Lieberman explains the reasoning behind the move.

“As the tablet and e-reader markets continue to expand exponentially, and as the definition of ‘what is a ‘book?’ evolves, we see opportunities to bring readers a unique and immersive content experience,” Gould says. “This business enables NBC to use video, audio, and current programming in creative new ways.”

So good move or bad? I think it’s pretty interesting, nonetheless, and would love to see the content they wind up producing. So would pretty much any reporter or news junkie, I imagine.

Get The Descendants (Movie Tie-In) for Just $10

Now that the Oscars are only a month away, I thought it might be good to post good deals on the books that were adapted into movies this year. And as most of you know, there were a slew of them. In fact, six of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees were based on books. Kind of ridiculous, when you think about it. That being said, here’s my first deal.

The Descendants — which I’ve seen, but have yet to read — tells the story of Matt King, a man whose wife is in a coma after a serious accident. It’s during this already stressful time that his oldest daughter tells him his wife’s been cheating on him.

King is now forced to deal with his ill wife, her wandering ways, and raising his two daughters. King and his daughters venture out across Hawaii and grow together in ways they never imagined.

Now you can get The Descendants with the movie tie-in for just $10.

You can also get it on your Kindle for just $11.99.