Traditional Schools and Homeless

Seems for credit schools are recruiting in all the wrong places...

Konrath On Self Publishing

Thriller superstar Konrath has a very good summary of the traditional publishing model in which he works...  his article has almost 500 posts, a good summary of the attitude of writers.  Iconoclastic.

Student Loan Follies

An excellent rundown on the student loan trap...

Kindle Lending Library

Just got an email from Amazon.com explaining a lending program, so you can lend out books you buy on kindle to friends.

Dear Publisher,

We are excited to announce Kindle book lending (http://www.amazon.com/kindle-lending). The Kindle Book Lending feature allows users to lend digital books they have purchased through the Kindle Store to their friends and family. Each book may be lent once for a duration of 14 days and will not be readable by the lender during the loan period.
...
For more info on how Kindle Book Lending works, see our FAQ here: http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=581

Sincerely,
Amazon Digital Text Platform

So someone has 14 days to read, and in those 14 days the lender has no access.  I can see people thinking this will kill sales...  I don't think so...  if people like the book, they will buy it... if they do not, they were never customers anyway...  Good move, Amazon!

Bach To The Future

In an article on German authors selling more books for better royalties then the UK, a Reason magazine article by Tim Cavanaugh sums up:

It’s worth remembering in our own time of blessed disunion, as copyright protection legally extends nearly a century after an author’s death but the interwebs make copyright difficult to protect. A creator—musical god or Blingee artist—needs fans. But fans lose interest if the barriers to entry are too high. In an interview with Heise magazine, Höffner explains that reduced-price back issues sold well in all the markets he looked at—“but only if there was still someone who moved the book. For most books, readers’ interest had waned.” 

Just so...  you get the best results if you market the book...

Reddit Collection of Free Courseware

Reddit has a posting of free courses online, some translated into foreign languages.  The collection is breathtaking.  I doubt this will supplant sage-on-the-stage courses, but it is likely to help students attending live classes be better prepared.  It also helps teachers see what other teachers cover, and thus improve all offerings

Irate Students Attack Chuckles the Prince

Prince Charles and his wife were set upon by a mob angry over tuition hikes, trouble over a trebling. At Seattle Teachers College we have the mission to lower the cost and widen access to education while ever improving student and instructor satisfaction.