At least 30 projects were submitted as part of the Publishing Hackathon over the weekend, viewable here. Contestant Eric Hellman reports that the six finalists are: BookCity (suggests books to match places you visit) Captiv (turns your Tweets into book recommendations) Coverlist (shows 100 curated jackets; hover over an image…

As part of Simon & Schuster's move towards what they see as a "globally coordinated, strategic approach to our worldwide ebook business," current vp, business development Doug Stambaugh has been named vp, global ebook market and development strategy, reporting to Dennis Eulau. In the newly created position, Stambaugh will evaluate…

Do your photographs keep getting cropped when you post on Facebook? Make sure your author page has the right sized pictures.

A recent infographic from PostRocket will help you calculate the proper dimensions for link images, photographs and profile pictures on Facebook. AppNewser has more details:

PostRocket shared a long list of practical Facebook tips in an infographic, looking at how you can optimize your stories, images and posts for Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm. EdgeRank decides how many people see your posts, so you should follow all these useful tips.

(Via Alma Katsu)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Controversial Facebook based app, Bang with Friends, got the boot from Apple’s app store. Since January, the app has garnered plenty of negative attention and one knock-off called Bang with Nobody (actually a Google Plus stab). Apple did not comment on why the app was removed, but it’s safely assumed that the app violated  Apple’s sense of decency with the pornographic nature of the app. Perhaps Apple is not “down to bang.”

Bang with Friends’ graphic logo was recently switched to its benign acronyms on Facebook as a means to appease Facebook’s policy so similar tactics might work for Apple, though it seems that the company’s “puritanical porn policy” may keep it out indefinitely.

What do you think? Should customers be concerned with Apple’s authority in removing apps that millions of users may want?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Do you wish your Facebook posts had a wider reach?

PostRocket shared a long list of practical Facebook tips in an infographic, looking at how you can optimize your stories, images and posts for Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm. EdgeRank decides how many people see your posts, so you should follow all these useful tips.

Click here to see the whole infographic. Above, we’ve embedded PostRocket’s ideal dimensions for a Facebook photo post.

(Via Alma Katsu)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar. To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

The Monogamy Memoirists Meet Their Match event will feature a book slam, signing, and rooftop cocktails. Check it out on Monday, May 20th at the Roger Smith Hotel starting 6:30 p.m. (New York, NY)

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Yahoo has agreed to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Yahoo said in a press release that they “promise not to screw it up,” explaining that Tumblr will be operated as an independent business and that David Karp, the  company’s founder will remain CEO.

Still, the two companies will work together in some ways. Here are some details about how from the press release:

Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.

As part of the news release, Yahoo revealed that Tumblr has more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and signup about 120,000 people every day. In addition, Tumblr gets about 900 posts per second, users spend 24 billion minutes on the site per month and more than half of Tumblr’s users use the site’s mobile app.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Bowker launched the Self Published Author site today, sharing advice for indie authors about topics ranging from an overview of self-publishing platforms for your book to writing back cover copy.

Bowker is the US agency that writers and publishers must use to register for an International Standard Book Number (or ISBN) for their book. The new site shares some useful advice about why an ISBN matters and how to get your ISBN. Here’s an excerpt:

If you are publishing a book, you are a publisher. You don’t need a corporate entity to purchase ISBNs. You can purchase them under your own name, or create a name for yourself as a publisher – e.g. “Laura Dawson Publishing”. This name does not need to be registered in any way … There is no such thing as an e-ISBN. ISBNs are ISBNs – some identify physical products in the book supply chain, others identify digital products in the book supply chain. Vendors who ask for information about your e-ISBNs are using incorrect terminology – they simply want the ISBNs of your digital products.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Doug Stambaugh has been named Vice President of global eBook market development and strategy at Simon & Schuster, a newly created position that has been established to support the publisher’s growing global eBook business.

“Previously inaccessible segments of the global population now have 24/7 access to our entire catalog of books, fueling explosive growth in sales around the world,” wrote Carolyn K. Reidy, president/CEO of Simon & Schuster in a memo. “These welcome developments call for a globally coordinated, strategic approach to our worldwide ebook business…”

In his new role, Stambaugh will be tasked with developing the publisher’s eBook business and positioning its titles globally. He will work to establish company-wide eBook policies, and will report to Dennis Eulau, EVP of operations at Simon & Schuster.”Doug is ideally suited for this position,” wrote Reidy in the memo. Stambaugh has been with Simon & Schuster Digital since 2007. Prior to his promotion, he served as VP of business development at the publisher. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The bestselling author and digital pioneer shows his support for traditional bookshops.    

Fast & Furious 6: El Juego has joined the top free iPad apps list this week at No. 1, according to research from AppData. The video game from Kabam lets players race around London earning cash and the respect.

Below, we’ve listed the top free iPad apps of the week. The list links to Inside Network’s research about the individual apps, including historical charts, developer information and download information.

To support Mediabistro’s Media App Summit, we spotlight the top free apps every week–helping our readers discover, enjoy and analyze successful content. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Gilt Groupe, an online destination for flash sales on luxury items, has updated its Android app with a new design to make it easier to shop the site from an Android phone. Making shopping easier is important for Gilt, who generates more than 30% of its overall revenue and half of its daily traffic from apps and the mobile web.

The app has been totally redesigned with a new look and feel. The new version’s images are 5x what they used to be and the navigation has been optimized for faster and easier shopping. The app also loads faster thanks to a new Backbone JS / HTML 5 framework. The check out tool is also easier to use.

To help promote version 3.0 of the app, Gilt is running a series Android-exclusive mobile sales on the new app. From May 28th to June 1st, Gilt members that shop the Android app will get access to exclusive offers before they go live on the site. In addition, Gilt is offering free shipping on all orders placed through the Android app from May 28th at 12pm EST to June 1st at 11:59pm EST.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Hay Budapest Festival 2013: Ed Cumming sees Owen Sheers in action on day three .    

An act of kindness during his grandfather's posting to a shattered post-war Germany was the spark that inspired Rhidian Brook's new bestseller.    

An ex-Labour minister gives a fascinating account of the deals and betrayals that led to the Coalition, says Tim Ross.    

Can urban living be good for us? Or would it be more inspiring if it wasn't, asks Jonathan Glancey.    

The Glossary has created a short film incorporating an abridged version of David Foster Wallace‘s “This is Water” commencement speech.

We’ve embedded the project above–what do you think? Follow this link to listen to the address in its entirety.

Wallace originally delivered this speech in 2005 during Kenyon College’s graduation ceremony. Little, Brown and Company reprinted it in a 2009 book entitled This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Author and Rock Plaza Central musician Chris Eaton traveled far beyond writers to find blurbs for his new book, Chris Eaton, a Biography.

In today’s edition of the Morning Media Menu, Eaton shared advice for making a genuine appeal to a writer, artist or musician when searching for blurbs.

Press play below to listen on SoundCloud. We’ve collected a few excerpts from the interview…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.