News & Notes -- 3/30/13

Worth Reading: 

• "What If the Google Reader Readers Just Don't Come Back?" (MC Siegler, TechCrunch)
• "A new candidate for "World's Worst Index" -- and some indexing advice" for self-publishers, from Michael N. Marcus.  As an indexer, the indexes shown here make me both cringe and laugh hysterically.  This is why authors should hire a professional indexer.  (Hint -- no computer software can do it for you.  Not effectively, anyway.)
   

More Books & Ebooks in the News:

• "Amazon Acquires Goodreads" (this blog, with links to the Amazon press release and Goodreads announcement as well as NPR, NYT, LATimes, and other articles)  
• Barnes & Noble cuts orders in dispute with Simon & Schuster (Leslie Kaufman, New York Times)
• "Caught in the Middle -- Hard Publishing News", a blog post from Stephanie Burgis, an affected author
• "Nation's first bookless library on university campus is thriving at UTSA" (UTSA Today).
• "New York Times closes another loophole in its digital paywall" (Jeff John Roberts, paidContent)

Giveaways: 

• Signed copy of Robin Lafever's Grave Mercy or Dark Triumph on Tea for Three Book Review

Awesome lists:   

• "Otherworldly Books" (AbeBooks.com) -- an article and list of books with really interesting worlds.

I'm always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature.  You can leave me a comment or send me an email -- my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.