This version includes something I’ve been eager to see: proper handling of footnotes. With this feature, I can simply click on the number of an end-note to be taken directly to it. Once I read the note, I can click on its number and I’m returned to the main text. Simple. A great timesaver.

This feature adds to an already great application that allows me to:

• Highlight passages in the text and add my own notes to them;
• Share passages that catch my attention via both twitter and Facebook; and
• Download books in ePub format that I can read on virtually any device – a Kobo eReader, my iPad, my Sony reader, an Android device.

Kobo’s slogan is “eReading: anytime. anyplace.” They make good on that promise. Having used iTunes for my music and now realizing that Apple’s strategy is to keep me locked into their products, I’m reluctant to go down that path with eBooks. So that pretty much rules out both iBooks and Amazon for me. I like Kobo’s commitment to openness. It’s good for competition. It’s good for the publishing industry. And it’s good for me, the reader.

Of course, nothing is perfect.

I have had one problem with the Kobo eReading app on my iPad. On three occasions over the past year, the application has frozen. The only way that I could get it to work again was to reset the iPad. Each time, I lost all of my locally stored data. That means my highlights and annotations. For someone like me who writes a lot of notes to refer back to later, that’s a big problem.

I hope that Kobo is looking at making it possible for readers to back up our notes on their server. This could have the added benefit of enabling me to download my notes to any device on which I’m reading – syncing my notes between devices. I think this should be feasible for Kobo. Already, we are able to share our notes with friends via their servers. It should be a relatively easy thing to enable us to save those notes to be download the next time we resync a second or new device.

If they’d do that, they’d make their already great app almost perfect.

This is just one more step in what already has been a remarkable journey:

• Canadian PR exec feels he has a novel in him,
• writes the novel in his spare time,
• searches with no success for an agent or a publisher,
• self publishes his novel,
• sets up a blog,
• reads the novel chapter by chapter in a podcast,
• builds a fan base of people who read and love the novel,
• gets noticed by the Leacock Medal Committee,
• is shortlisted for the Leacock Medal,
• wins the Leacock Medal as Canada’s top humorous novel,
• gets a big time literary agent,
• gets a publishing deal with prestigious McLelland and Stewart,
• writes a second novel,
• has both novels on the bestseller list,
• is nominated to the 10th Anniversary Canada Reads search for the essential Canadian novel of the past decade,
• is shortlisted for the Canada Reads award,
• is selected as THE essential Canadian novel by the Canada Reads panel of celebrity judges…

Talk about a Cinderella story!

And what did Terry do immediately after learning that he’d won the Canada Reads competition? Well, he came to work. Talent, celebrity and still has his feet on the ground.

Happily for me, Terry’s workplace is Thornley Fallis. And our Mike Edgell grabbed him long enough to record this video interview. Watch it to see how one of the nicest guys around reacts when he discovers all of his dreams are coming true.

Other posts about Terry Fallis’ journey into Canadian publishing fame

Terry Fallis won the Leacock Medal!

Terry Fallis talks about what it meant to be shortlisted for the Leacock Medal

The Best Laid Plans joins some impressive company

Promoting a Book with Social Media

Taking The High Road with Terry Fallis

“In the beginning, business and commerce were social exchanges – if you sold poor products, people would bad-mouth you and shun your operation, forcing you out of business or pushing you to improve your offering,” writes Gossieaux. While we lost that element of personal contact and accountability through the era of mass media and mass marketing, it is being returned to us in the era of social media. Gossieaux argues persuasively that businesses must themselves become hyper-social in order to survive and thrive in this new era.

Together with his co-author, Ed Moran, Gossieaux has conducted annual Tribalization of Business surveys, examining the impact of social media on organizations and how they are adapting to it. The Hyper-Social Organization draws on this data to map a course that business can follow in the era of social media.

I’ve seen Francois present the Tribalization of Business Study data at Society for New Communications Research symposiums and I can tell you that he’s a smart, articulate presenter who gives everyone in his audience something to think about and act upon.

Best Marketing and Advertising Book 2010

Yes, it’s an award winner. The Hyper-Social Organization received the National “Best Book 2010” Award from USA Book News in the category Business: Marketing and Advertising.

It’s also received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Here’s a sample:

Tribes Rule the Hyper-Social Organization

Hyper-Social Organizations

The Hyper-Social Organization in a Book

Want to attend Third Tuesday with Francois Gossieaux?

You can register online to attend Third Tuesday in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

Thanks to our sponsors

Third Tuesday brings great speakers to major cities across Canada. This month, Francois Gossieaux will speak at third Tuesdays in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver. This would not be possible without the support of our sponsors, who underwrite the cost of visiting each of those cities. Thank you to CNW Group, Rogers Communications, Radian6, and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. You help to make Third Tuesday Digital Canada’s national meet up.

EBook etailer Kobo has published its list of top e-book title sales for the holiday season around the world. And who tops the list everywhere? Stieg Larsson.

Canada
1. “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest” by Stieg Larsson
2. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
3. “Room” by Emma Donahue

United States
1. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
2. “The Girl Who Played With Fire” by Stieg Larsson
3. “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown

United Kingdom
1. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
2. “The Confession” James E. Mcgreevey
3. “The Girl Who Played With Fire” by Stieg Larsson

Australia
1. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
2. “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest” by Stieg Larsson
3. “The Girl Who Played With Fire” by Stieg Larsson

Rest Of World
1. “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
2. “Dead Or Alive” by Tom Clancy
3. “The 4-Hour Body” by Timothy Ferriss

As for me, I spent yesterday watching the movie version of The Girl Who Played With Fire. Stieg rules in multimedia too.

It’s a remarkable story. An aspiring author writes a comic novel, The Best Laid Plans, and then seeks a publisher. The response: rejection after rejection. But he doesn’t give up. He decides to self-publish his novel. So far, this is a familiar story. But this one has a twist.

This novelist is Terry Fallis. The time is 2007, the early days of social media. And Terry’s an early adopter of social media, with a podcast, a blog and 20 years experience in communications. And he decides to bring his two passions – communications and writing – to promote his book.

He decides to create a podcast in which he will read a chapter of the novel each week. He creates a blog to host the podcast and he makes sure it’s available on iTunes.

The Best Laid Plans

Then the power of social media kicks in. Terry’s novel finds an audience. They talk to him and he talks back. They celebrate what he’s doing with his podcasting his novel. And it helps that his novel, the best laid plans, is a great read.

Others notice what’s going on. They read his novel and they think it’s good. And one morning Terry wakes up and discovers he’s been nominated for the Leacock Medal recognizing the best Canadian humorous novel of the year. A couple months later it gets even better: Terry wins the Leacock medal.The Best Laid plans is recognized as Canada’s top humorous novel of 2008.

Success builds on success. Having opened the door through social media, the critical acclaim and recognition of the Leacock medal leads to traditional success. He is taken on by one of Canada’s most highly regarded literary agents, Beverly Slopen, and she lands a traditional publishing deal for Terry with McClelland & Stewart.

Terry is having the time of his life doing what he loves to do. He has written a second novel, The High Road. And it may be better than his first.

But The Best Laid Plans isn’t finished with Terry yet….

Every year, CBC stages Canada Reads, an annual literature competition between books chosen by Canadian celebrities. This year, they’re doing something special. They’re asking Canadians to help select the Essential Novels of the decade. And guess what? The Best Laid Plans was nominated by Canadians to be on the list of the Top 40 essential novels of the decade. Then, through an online vote, it was selected as one of the TOP TEN essential novels. Now, we’re waiting for November 24, the day that the TOP FIVE essential novels of the decade are announced.

An invitation to attend

On November 23, the evening before that short list is announced, Terry will be coming to Ottawa to celebrate Canadian publishing and to talk about how an unknown author can make an impact in the era of social media.

You can meet Terry and you can be part of this event. if you’d like to attend and meet Terry, register online at the Third Tuesday Ottawa website. Come join us to celebrate Canadian publishing, creativity, and the power of social media.

Thanks to our sponsors

Okay, I’ll be honest. Thornley Fallis is throwing this party for our co-founder and friend, Terry Fallis. But we also wanted to reach out to the Third Tuesday social media community, a group that Terry co-founded in 2006. Third Tuesday is important to Terry and we want to share this celebration with you. And we wouldn’t have been able to sustain this community without the support of our sponsors: CNW Group, Radian6, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, and Rogers Communications. Thank you for helping us build and sustain our social media community, not just in Ottawa, but in cities like Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver as well.

Oops. In doing this, I overlooked the fact that a Social Media Book Club already exists in Ottawa. The Ottawa Social Media Book Club is organized by Kelly Rusk and Scott Lake. Last month, the group met to discuss Clay Shirky‘s Here Comes Everybody. At their next meeting, on June 16, they’ll be discussing the book that started it all, Cluetrain Manifesto.

So, if you find yourself in or near Ottawa on June 16 and you’d like to participate in a discussion of a classic text, register to attend the Ottawa Social Media Book Club. I’m sure you’ll meet some nice folks who share your interest in social media.

Do you read books about social media, online community, social networking and relationships and the impact of new developments on organizations, society and individuals?

Do you search for recommendations from others you know and trust before deciding whether to buy or read a specific book?

If so, you may want to take a look at the Third Tuesday Social Media Book Group. This is a new group I’ve started on Shelfari to enable you to share your views on books about social media, community building, social networking and online relationships, and their impact on organizations, society and the individual.

Who is this for?

Hopefully, the people who join will span a broad range of backgrounds – business people,  academics, technophiles, students – anyone interested in these topics. And the group will be richer if the members – like the Third Tuesday Social Media Meetup members – come from all walks of life – including communications, marketing, human resources, corporations, not for profits and government.

How do you participate?

I’ve seeded the group shelf with a few books I’ve recently read.

If you’re interested in participating, simply register for Shelfari and join the Third Tuesday Group and then begin to add your reviews of the books about social media that you’ve read.

Why Shelfari?

Well, the software makes it very easy to add books, to review them, to form a group and to share with other group members. This ease of use puts the emphasis on reading and discussing. We don’t have to spend time figuring out the application. It’s intuitive and ready to use.

What’s next?

We’ll be adding Book Readings and discussions to the Third Tuesday meetups in Toronto and Ottawa. Stay tuned for more news.