Kickstarter/Indiegogo Spotlight: Mr. Postman

For those of you who are Facebook friends of Katrina's, you'll know that she has an ongoing battle with her mail lady to get her mail in one piece and not bent or tossed into snowbanks. While looking for an awesome Kickstarter to share with all of you, we found this! This could seriously help with saving her mail. For more information or to pledge to this Kickstarter, check out their page! Oh and if you pledge $200 and don't want yours, I'm sure we could talk her into taking it off your hands!

Valiant’s UNITY Launches on Amazon Publishing’s Kindle Worlds

 

Valiant is proud to announce that UNITY –Valiant Universe's landmark super-team – is coming to Amazon Publishing's Kindle Worlds, the first commercial publishing platform that enables any writer to write stories based on a range of original works and characters and earn royalties for doing so.  

 

Pitching a star-studded roster of characters including Toyo Harada, Ninjak, Eternal Warrior and Livewire into battle against X-O Manowar, the launch of the UNITY World will coincide with the November 13th release of UNITY #1 - the oversized, 40-page first issue debut of Valiant's newest ongoing series by New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) and superstar artist Doug Braithwaite (Justice).  Valiant recently announced that UNITY #1 has accrued pre-orders of more than 68,500 copies, cementing its status as one of 2013's highest selling new series debuts.

 

"Kindle Worlds continues to be an amazing showcase for Valiant's most popular characters – and now authors and readers can finally bring them together under the auspices of the UNITY team. Build your own roster, send them on solo missions, introduce your own favorite arch-villain – we had a tremendous time bringing the UNITY comic book to life and, now, it's our distinct pleasure to let fans do the same through the prism of Kindle Worlds and their incredible fan fiction platform," said Gavin Cuneo, Valiant CFO & Head of Strategic Development.

 

“UNITY is another great example of Kindle Worlds providing writers and fans an opportunity to create new stories with their favorite Valiant characters,” said Philip Patrick, Director of Business Development and Publisher of Kindle Worlds. “We can’t wait to see the directions authors take over the coming weeks and look forward to reader responses to these stories.”  

 

To celebrate the launch of Valiant's groundbreaking superhero strike force to Kindle Worlds, Valiant will also be giving away a select number of customized Kindle Paperwhite devices – featuring the artwork of UNITY artist Doug Braithwaite – on the Valiant Comics Facebook page (fb.com/ValiantComics) during the week of UNITY #1's release on November 13th.

 

To kill a king…he has created an army. The world’s most dangerous man, Toyo Harada, has been struck by the one thing he never thought possible – fear. Halfway across the globe, a new power threatens to topple modern civilization and, to preempt the cataclysm that is to come, Harada will unite the most unforgiving team the world has ever known – UNITY. Their mission: defeat the threat responsible for the destruction of MI-6, the decimation of an alien world, and the occupation of Eastern Europe… Unseat the warrior king armed with the universe’s most powerful weapon… Kill X-O Manowar!

 

Unity joins Valiant’s previously launched Worlds starring its fan favorite superhero properties, including: Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger, and Shadowman. 

 

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About Valiant Entertainment

Valiant is a leading character-based entertainment company with a library of over 1,500 characters, including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Shadowman, Eternal Warrior, and many more. Established in 1989, Valiant has sold over 80 million comic books, and today its characters continue to be forged in publishing, licensing, film, video games, and beyond. Since its summer 2012 relaunch, Valiant has returned to the fore as one of the most highly regarded publishers in comics, winning a 2012 Diamond Gem Award for Comic Book Publisher of the Year. For more information, visit ValiantUniverse.com.

 

About Kindle Worlds

Kindle Worlds is a new publishing model that allows any writer to publish authorized stories inspired by popular Worlds and make them available for readers to purchase in the Kindle Store, and earn up to a 35% royalty while doing so. Kindle Worlds stories are typically priced between $0.99 and $3.99 and are exclusive to Kindle. 

 

Amazon Publishing is engaged with additional rights holders from different areas of entertainment—books, games, TV, movies and music—and looks forward to announcing future deals soon. To get started writing works in licensed properties and to view the submission guidelines and instructions, visit the Self-Service Submission Platform at kindleworlds.amazon.com. For updates on licensed properties and to buy Kindle Worlds works, visit www.amazon.com/kindleworlds. For regular updates on Kindle Worlds, follow @KindleWorlds on Twitter. 

 

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.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, www.amazon.es, www.amazon.com.br, www.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. 

 

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. 

Geek-o-Rama's Geeky Gift Guide Part 5

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Up here, the days turn brisk and snow falls and everything is lovely. There are snowball fights and icicles. Even better though are the days and nights curled up on the couch, watching geeky movies to my heart's content and reading comic books while sipping a cup of hot chocolate. This year, my wish list is geared a bit more towards my kids with a bit of me and a bit of business thrown in.

1. Atari Flashback 4 - This topped my kids' wishlist for this year. They're excited to see the "terrible" graphics and to check out some of the games that their mom grew up with. As for me, I think it's fun to share these things with them as I raise up another generation of geeks. (Retails for about $50)

2. Write or Wrong - Back in April, I got to meet Dirk Manning. Not only is he super awesome, but he has a brand new book on the market. It's filled with 5 years of his column that he writes for Newsarama. If you're at all interested in the comic book industry, how to create comics or how to get them published, well, how can you resist adding this to your wish list? (Retail price: $17)

3. Phineas & Ferb Holiday Favorites - Betcha think this one is for the kids, right? Well, only kind of. We are huge fans of Phineas & Ferb in this house and what better than some of the amazingly fun songs that we've heard on the show? As a sometimes dj, music always appeals to me. (Retail price: $7)

4. Sonic Screwdriver Pen - Ok, little known fact. I love office supplies. Yes, it's true. Okay Okay, it might not be much of a secret. I have a minor obsession with post it notes and sharpies. I also love pens..lots of pens...and this pen is a Doctor Who pen?!? Gah! Seriously, how cool is this? (Retail price: $29.99)

5. 3Tb External Hard Drive - This one? Totally for me. With the number of comic books and write ups that we're handling these days, I am badly in need of an external desktop hard drive for backup purposes. What I love about the larger drives is that they give me some room to grow, which is pretty much mandatory for a site such as ours, not to mention photographs and music and all of those day to day files that I'd "die" without. (Retail price: $150-200)

Old/New Media

So I am writing this at 10.30 in the morning with a tear in my eye. I have just listened to the last every Chris Moyles Breakfast show on Radio 1. For the past 8 and a half years every morning he has been on the air, with his team, telling things as he sees them. Sometimes controversial, sometimes thought provoking but always entertaining. His was a brand of radio show that is missing, more talk, less music, but always well thought out. 8 and a half years is a long time to listen to one show. I think I have missed about 4 weeks in that time, when I have been on holiday or away on business. I have listened to the highs and lows and today, watching for the last time I saw both the fun, enjoyment and respect that Chris brings to the radio. And it got me thinking. We live in a high technology age, where "new media" is talked about as the future and, don't get me wrong, I am an avid user of twitter, facebook, mensch and other social media sources. When news breaks these are usually the best ways to get updates, find out the latest and keep on top of things, but they are, in essence, a very flat media. They show you what is there. But Radio is wonderful. Take the following example:



 The commentary "he drops for world cup glory" was from Radio 5 live. The screams of yes yes yes, came from Rob Andrew, Johnny Wilkinson's club manager at Newcastle. But in that minute of commentary, all of the emotions came out. A special moment was elevated into the stratosphere. Radio is that friend in the corner of the room. The voice in the car on those long journeys. That informs, entertains and brings descriptiveness to you in a very unique way. Those commentators and presenters on the radio are a unique brand, they have to say the right amount of words, in the right way and at the right time. For me, radio brings the drama to sporting events. It brings the seriousness to the news stories and the colour to major national events. Radio should never die. Sad as I am that the Chris Moyles show has ended, I know that radio won't. It brings hope to millions, comfort and solace to others. It is a friend in times of struggle and hardship. It is Radio. And, as fitting tribute, the Chris Moyles show team say goodbye in their own way:

=Graham Armstrong=