ePublishing Week in Brief – 1st to 5th of August 2011

Is Facebook considering becoming a Publisher?

At first glance, Facebook recent acquisition of Push Pop Press, the San Francisco based digital publishing platform start-up that developed Al Gore’s e-book “OurChoice” for iPad, seems to indicate it is taking the publishing route.

However, the avowed aim of the acquisition, according to Push Pop Press, is that ” the ideas and technology behind Push Pop Press will be integrated with Facebook, giving people even richer ways to share their stories.”

Though Push Pop Press will discontinue their publishing activities, Al Gore’s book will remain available and future profits will be donated to The Climate Reality Project.

So no publishing for Facebook just yet.

The Guardian goes Shorts

Following the trail of Vanity Fair, the British newspaper The Guardian launched “a series of ebooks providing detailed guides to topical news stories, public policy, sports and cultural events.

Their new imprint Guardian Shorts‘ ebooks will “demonstrate the best of Guardian journalism, with timelines, data and comment, curated and packaged for a quick, portable read.” These shorts will count between 5 000 and 30 000 words, ideal for a quick read, and will be available for anything from free to GBP 3.99.

Their launch ebook is Phone Hacking: How the Guardian Broke the Story about the recent British phone hacking scandal.

Pottermore saga new episode: “Harry Potter and the Virtual Scammer”

Pottermore.com  is officially due for opening in October 2011, but early registration is possible for those who complete a magical quill challenge.

Yet, some savvy scammers decided to take advantage of magically challenged surfers by selling them fake Pottermore account on EBay for a mere $100 a piece. Others lure those attempting to sneak in ahead of time with tempting offers to open the magical gates in exchange for personal data as the spell to produce registration. However, the spell quickly turns into a curse as cocktails of malware swamp the computer of the would be trespasser.

Both scammers and their victims ignore the fact that access to Pottermore.com is absolutely free of charge, and that the proper procedure to earn early registration is clearly laid out on the website. So Voldemort is now virtual.