Out Today: Marilyn Monroe's “Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters” Give iPad Owners An Ebook Edge

iPad owners get the advantage over Kindle and other e-paper device readers of Marilyn Monroe's new book Fragments, released today in the Amazon Kindle Bookstore for $14.99.

Formatted for the printed page, Fragments loses out in translation to ebook format. “Intimate pictures” of the star are reduced-resolution versions of what print book readers get. And in the black and white world of the Kindle and other ereaders, image impact loses, too. Photos suffer, and issues are noted in images of handwritten notes, admittedly tinkered with by editors “for clarity.”

Marilyn Monroe, the iconic Hollywood blonde bombshell actress who fascinated Hollywood, the world—and a President--in the 1950s and who died young of a drug overdose in 1962, emerges once again in the book's collection of personal writings, including notes on napkins.

It's touted as “an event—an unforgettable book that will redefine one of the greatest stars of the twentieth century.” Publicists breathlessly add: “50 years after her death, [Fragments] will redefine one of the greatest stars...[it] will definitively reveal Marilyn Monroe's humanity.”

Monroe, dead for nearly half a century under mysterious circumstances that have spawned conspiracy theories galore, never ceases to fascinate. She was a superstar, a fabulously beautiful woman displayed unclad or skimpily clothed for the delight of magazine readers, movie goers, and TV watchers.

Hugh Hefner's 1953 Christmas gift to the world, Playboy Magazine, launched to success on a first-issue nude photo of Monroe in December.  President John F. Kennedy, long rumored of “no-no” relations with Monroe, was flustered when she sang her breathy, sexy version of “Happy Birthday” in Madison Square Garden for Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration. An embarrassed Jackie Kennedy coped graciously before the cameras at the event.

Monroe's death in 1962 stunned the world, soon to be stunned again by the assassination of President Kennedy a year later. She died young, beautiful, famous and reportedly unhappy at the age of 36, from an overdose of barbiturates.

More about why iPad readers of the book should have a leg up over their Kindle-reading friends: The book includes reproductions of notes in image form. An added draw are promised “intimate photographs” which lose much in the digital translation to the black and white screen of the Kindle. But iPad readers will come closer to the more vivid image quality of the printed version: Image resolution has been adjusted downward for the ebook edition.

From the Amazon ebook page for Fragment's: “Fragments was originally formatted for hardcover publication, and though every effort has been made to simulate the original book's layout and design for the electronic edition, the arrangement...does not always correspond to the original.” Editors tinkered with Monroe's written words “for clarity,” which the Kindle won't show, but the iPad will.

Included in the book, reports book business insider Galley Cat are references to books on Marilyn's bookshelf. Here are just a few, with links to them in the Kindle Bookstore:


The Secret Agent, by Joseph Congrad.  FREE Kindle Store ebook.
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, $12.99.
Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck, $8.99
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, $11.99.
The Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, $9.49.

Monroe, legendary for her beauty, her life story and her voluptuous sexuality, entertained and thrilled a generation of movie goers around the world. Her scene in The Seven Year Itch, where her innocent character stands over a subway grating to enjoy the rush of air when the train passes underground, is an icon: the air rushes up, Marilyn's flowing white dress blows high in a flurry, and her very beautiful legs are revealed for the gaping world to ogle.

Another Monroe movie classic, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a 1953 cheesecake and comedy tour de force, eatured the also-classic song: “Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend.”

American icon and author Normal Mailer, published “Marilyn: A Biography” in 1975. Sadly, at least in the Amazon stores, it is not available in ebook format.

Everything By And About Marilyn on Amazon--Links:

Ebooks By and About Marilyn

Marilyn Monroe Author's Page

Nearly 1,400 Books By or About Marilyn

And Nearly 400 Films and Videos Featuring Marilyn

Over 600 MP3 Downloads Featuring Marilyn

Posters of Marilyn and Even More,  Proving that Beauty is Eternal and that Marilyn, dead for almost 50 years, still generates a ton of money--for others.

    v

iPad Owners: Younger, Dumber, Poorer, But Ad Friendly?

'Connected' iPad Owners 'Skew' Younger,

Male, Earn (A Bit) Less, Have Fewer Masters Degree,

But Like And Buy From Ads on the iPad—Nielsen

By Tom Dulaney

Nielsen, the folks who count noses and tell us which TV shows are most watched or products are most bought, published some stats from a survey of 5,000 users of “connected devices” like the iPad.

Summary items and highlights from a much more detailed report indicate iPad users are younger, have greater numbers on the “guys” team, and are more prone to like advertising, especially if it is graphic, “interesting,” and interactive on their iPad.  Plus, Nielsen says, they buy things they see advertised on their iPad.

The survey included 5,000 people who own one or more “connected devices”: iPads, iPhones, eReaders, netbooks, media players or smartphones. The press release did not specify numbers of owners for each device. But the iPad, an obvious hit and new marketing opportunity for the company's clients, got the lion's share of attention in the release. 

Nielsen's announcement did say 400 iPad owners were included in the survey, the only hard number given for any of the connected devices included. The report did not say how many owners of other devices—such as how many Kindle owners, responded.

Nor did the published report detail differences between specific products in depth, such as how many Kindle owners who responded to the survey also own iPads ir iPhones, etc. Planet iPad is asking Nielsen for as much of the full report as they will share. Nielsen clients pay for the full, detailed information, so all we can do is ask.

But from the results published, Nielsen concludes: “The growing popularity of connected devices, from tablet computers to smartphones, portable games players, and eBook readers like the Kindle and the Nook, is already changing how some consumers engage with the media.”

The iPad, both in the released statement and the video linked to the statement online, is acknowledged as an industry- and culture-changing device that breaks open new territory in communications—and advertising opportunities.

Not all the nitty gritty details were revealed in the release, but here are some highlights:

63% of iPad owners are under 35, while 47% of Amazon Kindle owners are under 35.

65% of iPad owners are men, compared to 52% of Kindle owners who are male.

Kindle owners tend to be richer, with 44% making over $80,000 a year. Some 39% of iPad owners make that much or more.

Kindle owners tend to be more educated, Nielsen says, with 27% holding masters degrees or doctorates. Comparisons of those with bachelors degrees were not given.

But the big news for Nielsen's main customers—people who sell products and services via advertising—is that iPad users are more responsive to advertising. “iPad owners are more receptive to advertising on their touchscreen tablet than owners of other devices [in the survey],” Nielsen said.

Other ad-friendly info about iPad owners:

39% say they find ads on their iPad “new and interesting,” compared to 19% who are likewise charmed on all other devices.

46% say they “enjoy ads with interactive features,” compared to 27% of those who like interactive ads on all other devices.

And the “money shot” for advertisers in the report: “iPad owners are the most likely to have made a purchase as a result of seeing an ad on their connected device.”

We see “something new, especially with the iPad,” a Nielsen spokesman said in the video attached the Nielsen report online: The iPad tends to have the lead in the most-wanted (by advertisers) demographic of 18 to 34 year old males. And iPad users are more inclined to spread their attentions across a variety of iPad delivered content—books, music, movies, games, apps and interactive content.

What draws iPad users most, the spokesman said, is the “sound and sight of TV with the interactivity” the iPad allows and encourages.

And, of course, what attracts advertisers most is the iPad's demographic “sweet spot” of men aged 18 to 34 who like iPad delivered ads, buy from them, and are more likely to see any particular advertising on multiple "connected devices."

Planet iPad Free Book Alert: Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery Is Free Again---Grab It!, plus, an authentic, nuanced author's voice from a former Miss Massachusetts in Girl on Fire (Erotica/Today's Sponsor), and over 100 more fully updated and category-sorted free Kindle book listings

If you love a great detective story that's beautifully written, full of suspense and keeps you guessing and turning pages ... we've got a suggestion ....

But first ... a word from our sponsor....

Girl on Fire by Rena Diane Walmsley

A few words from the latest customer review:

Enticing plot dynamics and authentic voice, October 4, 2010

By	Respin Destu "P Diamo" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Girl on Fire (Kindle Edition)

I read this book on a friend's suggestion; available information causing me to wonder what a former Miss Massachusetts might have to say about the esoteric subject matter as a young girl and as an older woman. The writer's voice comes across as authentic and nuanced in both ages; something difficult to pull off for a new writer.

She developed several dynamic plots within the book, each pulling the reader into a desire to find out more about the lives of the characters. I notice other reviewers commenting about the central plot. Having been a blogger for more than ten years and in touch with numerous "crazies" with all sorts of improbable realities, the story line does not seem so difficult to believe as some might think.

At any rate, her writing served to draw and keep my interest effectively as the story unfolded and that's how I measure any book's worth. Definitely an inventive and surprising set of turns.

I'm not a routine reader of erotica because the genre can be a haven for those who can only turn out "shock and flaw" work. But I do feel this writer did quite well with this first effort and will find an eager audience in erotica and any other area of fiction she chooses.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Ms. Walmsley won the Miss America Talent competition with an acting effort. The empathy and observation required by such talent serves her well as this book demonstrates a solid ability to build imaginative plots and characters the reader can care about. 

Kindle Price:  $2.99  Text-to-Speech: Enabled  

Looking for love in all the right places? Not Alicia Wentworth, the enchantingly frisky teenaged heiress at the heart of Rena Diane Walmsley's debut memoir-as-novel. Alicia escapes from her privileged, sheltered life at an elite Concord, Massachusetts boarding school and pulls a "visiting room switch" to break in to a nearby state prison so she can rendezvous with Teddy Lake, an exquisitely chiseled 21-year-old Native American convict for whom she has fallen hard while volunteering in a creative writing class for inmates. But Alicia is left alone and vulnerable when Teddy is hauled off to solitary, and she must reach deep within herself to concoct a gritty and initially degrading scheme to blackmail the prison system into freeing them both.  This deliciously literate debut is framed by Alicia's present-day perspective as "a respectable thirty-something Unitarian minister" in a suburb west of Boston: while she is cognizant of the scars she wears from her early experiences, she is also engaged by a sense of something sacred therein that informs her daily life years later.  

Not all coming-of-age novels are alike, and not every thirty-something narrator is able to cast an unflinching eye on the choices she made and the chances she took at the cusp of adulthood. But Walmsley's unique novel-as-memoir never blinks, and her stunning sexual description breaks new narrative ground on age-old but ever-engaging terrain. Women and men alike will be enchanted and enriched by their journeys through her ultimately cautionary web of words.   

About the Author  Rena Diane Walmsley lives with her family in Massachusetts, the state that she represented in the Miss America pageant when she was nineteen. Girl on Fire is her first novel. 

Each day's list is sponsored by one paid title. We encourage you to support our sponsors and thank you for considering them. 

Authors, Publishers, iPad Accessory Manufacturers:

Interested in learning more about sponsorship? Just click on this link for more information.

The 25 Newest Free Book Titles in the Kindle Store 

Click here for a complete listing of over 100 free promotional titles, sorted by category, and links to millions of other free books for your iPad.

Click here for a separate listing of free and bargain erotica titles for your iPad.

By Tom Dulaney

Editor, Planet iPad

If you love a great detective story that's beautifully written, full of suspense and keeps you guessing and turning pages ... we've got a suggestion .... grab "Billy Boyle:  A World War II Mystery" right now.  It cost over $9 the other day and I felt smug because I had gotten it free two weeks ago.  But it's free again, for the moment.  Grab it now, then come back and read the rest of this later.

If you are also intrigued by by what it must have been like in London during World War II, you have twice the reason to enlist in author James R. Benn's platoon of happy readers.

Billy is a young Boston flatfoot just promoted to detective when the draft catches up with him.  His all-cop family calls in a favor from Uncle Ike--Dwight Eisenhower to the rest of us.  The Boyles, ardent Irishmen with little love for the British, hope to wangle Billy a desk job in safe Washington DC for the duration.  Billy gets the new job, but so does Ike:  Commander of allied forces, headquartered in London.  Just in time for the Nazi bombing Blitz, Billy arrives in wartime London, where the steadfast British stiffen their upper lips, race into the subways to ride out each bombing run, and emerge to heroically bury the dead and stack the bricks of bombed out homes neatly for rebuilding when the war is over.

Uncle Ike quickly puts Billy on the job to find a spy who is trying to undermine Allied plans to invade Nazi-occupied Norway.  Billy, an untried detective, rises to the challenge and sweeps the reader along for the adventure.  Especially satisfying are Benn's descriptions of London under the gun.  This historical backdrop is accurate, and a surprise awaits readers who don't know just how tricky Winston Churchill could be in confounding the Nazi's wth amazing--and totally true--ploys.

You won't pay a dime for this book for now, but it'll still cost you.  "Billy Boyle" is only the first of five books in the series,  so far.  The series takes Billy to all fronts--Africa, Ireland, Sicily-- all WWII detective stories by James. R Benn.  I was captured by the freebie, marched as happy prisoner back to Amazon again and again, and bought the lot of them.

Benn and character Billy make a team who will have me running back if and when the sixth book in the series is ever written.  I am hopeful, because there were strong hints in the fifth book that Billy would take me inside the Vatican.

In reviews stuck on the book's Amazon page, Publisher's Weekly sniffed that the book isn't "fully realized" and Booklist chides Benn for "wartime cliches."  I humbly but rigorously disagree with both.

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The Truth About Negotiations

Relentless (Dominion Trilogy #1)

Tahn: A Novel

Alfred Sloan's Way

The Truth About Leading Teams: The Essential Truths in 20 Minutes

Redemption

Sin's Daughter

CEB New Testament

Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery

Divorced, Desperate and Dating (Romantic Mysteries)

Shadow Bound

Sister of the Bride

Kell's Legend: The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles, Book 1

The Holy Bible: HCSB Digital Text Edition

Outlander: with Bonus Content

Cure for the Chronic Life

To Conquer a Highlander

Publish on Amazon Kindle with the Digital Text Platform

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One

Mr. Darcy's Diary

FORTUNE IS A WOMAN [Keeping Mr. Right] (Optimized & Ad-Free)

Sandman Slim with Bonus Content

Intervention

Only You

Dawn's Prelude (Song of Alaska Series, Book 1)

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A Transition to a New Day for Planet iPad

It's the beginning of what is going to be an exciting week for the Planet iPad blog, and I will get to that in just a moment, but first it is time for an apology. Due to the relentless claims of other important projects, the initial flow of posts on this blog -- 42 posts each month in April and May -- slowed down to 20 in June and 8 in July before coming to a standstill by the end of the summer. I apologize for the inactivity.

But the good news is that we have now brought a very talented editor and writer aboard in the person of author Tom Dulaney. Beginning tomorrow, October 11, Tom will be reviving the Planet iPad blog with daily posts on topics of direct interest to folks who enjoy reading on their iPads. It has been clear from the beginning that this blog can play an important part in helping iPad owners to find good reading material as inexpensively as possible while also sharing other important information to help us get the most out of out iPads. And it is equally clear to me that Tom Dulaney is the right person to deliver on that promise, with your help as readers.

Meanwhile, I will continue as publisher, occasional contributor, fan, and fellow citizen of Planet iPad. Happy reading!

Thanks for your interest and support.

Cheers,
Steve Windwalker

*     **     *

It's an honor and a great opportunity to have a front-row seat on the exciting new world the Apple iPad has "discovered."

Planet iPad readers and iPad early adopters blaze a new trail in the spread of knowledge and information. The only parallel--Gutenberg's invention of the printing press--changed the world. The printing press is credited by historians with triggering and leading to the Scientific Revolution, the Protestant Reformation, and the age known as the Enlightenment, among other major changes in history.

The technical marvel of the iPad and its competitors promises to do no less. For example, the just-concluded Frankfurt Book Fair buzzed with excitement and speculation about the "enhanced book," already the successor of the ebook. Ken Follett, author of a shelf full of bestsellers, is among authors moving forward quickly with books that are more than words on a page, printed or electronic.

iPad users lead the way, as well. The interplay between the developers' latest gadgets and users' creative application of those gadgets to new activities guides the development of the next generation of iPads and all tablets.

It's a thrilling and unpredictable ride into new territory. My good fortune is to have a front row seat on the action, to spend all day watching the plays and moves, then sharing it with owners so they get the most out of their iPads.

Thanks,

Tom Dulaney
email:  PlanetiPad@gmail.com

"Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery" Is Free Again---Grab It!

If you love a great detective story that's beautifully written, full of suspense and keeps you guessing and turning pages, grab "Billy Boyle:  A World War II Mystery" right now.  It cost over $9 the other day and I felt smug because I had gotten it free two weeks ago.  But it's free again, for the moment.  Grab it now, then come back and read the rest of this later.

If you are also intrigued by by what it must have been like in London during World War II, you have twice the reason to enlist in author James R. Benn's platoon of happy readers.

Billy is a young Boston flatfoot just promoted to detective when the draft catches up with him.  His all-cop family calls in a favor from Uncle Ike--Dwight Eisenhower to the rest of us.  The Boyles, ardent Irishmen with little love for the British, hope to wangle Billy a desk job in safe Washington DC for the duration.  Billy gets the new job, but so does Ike:  Commander of allied forces, headquartered in London.  Just in time for the Nazi bombing Blitz, Billy arrives in wartime London, where the steadfast British stiffen their upper lips, race into the subways to ride out each bombing run, and emerge to heroically bury the dead and stack the bricks of bombed out homes neatly for rebuilding when the war is over.

Uncle Ike quickly puts Billy on the job to find a spy who is trying to undermine Allied plans to invade Nazi-occupied Norway.  Billy, an untried detective, rises to the challenge and sweeps the reader along for the adventure.  Especially satisfying are Benn's descriptions of London under the gun.  This historical backdrop is accurate, and a surprise awaits readers who don't know just how tricky Winston Churchill could be in confounding the Nazi's wth amazing--and totally true--ploys.

You won't pay a dime for this book for now, but it'll still cost you.  "Billy Boyle" is only the first of five books in the series,  so far.  The series takes Billy to all fronts--Africa, Ireland, Sicily-- all WWII detective stories by James. R Benn.  I was captured by the freebie, marched as happy prisoner back to Amazon again and again, and bought the lot of them.

Benn and character Billy make a team who will have me running back if and when the sixth book in the series is ever written.  I am hopeful, because there were strong hints in the fifth book that Billy would take me inside the Vatican.

In reviews stuck on the book's Amazon page, Publisher's Weekly sniffed that the book isn't "fully realized" and Booklist chides Benn for "wartime cliches."  I humbly but rigorously disagree with both.

iPad Nears Peak of the 'Hype Cycle'--Gartner says

Gartner, Inc., the huge “research and advisory company” on all things tech, says tablet computers like the iPad have moved into “the peak of inflated expectations” in its latest Hype Cycle report. 

Gartner, headquartered in Stamford CT, boasts 60,000 clients at nearly 11,000 “distinct organizations” worldwide. Top investors, high tech manufacturing strategists, and competitive players in leading edge tech product development pay close attention to the company's pronouncements.

For the average iPad owner—or potential owner—Hype Cycle rumblings hint at what all those folks who created your iPad, or its competitors, are going to make for you next.

In a nutshell, the hype cycle works this way: A highly-innovative product (like the iPad or Amazon's Kindle) goes to market. A buzz builds, fanned by avid early adopters. The promise of the new gadgets gets inflated by smart marketing departments and hopeful bloggers and commentators. Sales skyrocket. The product falls short of those unrealistically inflated expectations. Users, meantime, discover innovative uses for the product not envisioned by its makers. The maker and competitors hop on the user bandwagon, refining the next generation of the product to meet those innovative uses.

Bottom line: Today's hype and user response leads to the next innovation—either as a next-generation product or a competitor jumping into the market. 

"The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies is the longest-running annual Hype Cycle, providing a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that IT managers should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios,” the company said in its statement.

"The Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies features technologies that are the focus of attention in the IT industry because of particularly high levels of hype, or those that may not be broadly acknowledged but which we believe have the potential for significant impact," said Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner Fellow.

"High-impact technologies at the Peak of Inflated Expectations during 2010 include private cloud computing, augmented reality, media tablets (such as the iPad), wireless power, 3D flat-panel TVs and displays, and activity streams, while cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms have tipped over the peak and will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users," Ms. Fenn said.

Fenn, along with Mark Raskino, explained the hype cycle in detail in “Mastering the Hype Cycle: How to Choose the Right Innovation At the Right Time.” Published in 2008, it's available in the Kindle Store.
 

Our analysis of the analysis: next-generation iPads and its competitors, like Samsung's Galaxy Tab, are carefully watching users and will try to fulfill your wildest dreams.

The Hype Cycle shows tablets nearing the peak and e-book readers well down the hill.

iPad At Work: South Africa Reporter At J-Burg Times

Reporter's iPad Works Press Conferences,

Serves Up Reading Material for Work and Fun

Tony Shapshak, a reporter for the The Times in Johannesburg, writes that the iPad will be available in South Africa later this year.  But he got one in advance during a US trip in May, and says it quickly became an "inescapable" part of his life.

His article this Sunday just past takes a look at the iPad and its upcoming competition, notably the Galaxy Tab from Samsung.

Shapshak opines the iPad will only go on-the-job for "non-traditional" work environments.  That obviously includes writing for a major newspaper: he uses his iPad for notetaking at press conferences, and for on- and off-the-job reading.

"I read a lot, so I use the Kindle software (Kindle for the iPad), Evernote and a clever app called Goodreader," he writes.

His conclusion:  "The tablet's time has come."  His question is:  Which one?