PressReader: A Great App! 5 Out Of 5 Stars

Occasionally I'm approached to review an iPad app and if it's related to blogging, reading, writing, or the publishing world I'm happy to oblige. In the case of PressReader it was a no-brainer.

Every day I read many online newspapers and blogs looking for interesting information to share with you good folks, but I have never read a digitized version of a newspaper.

Everything about PressReader is easy, smooth and bug free. Ordering a paper takes one click followed by a 5 second download. Rather than paging through sections to get to the article you want to read, you simply click on an embedded link and your chosen article unfolds in front of you.

Or, if you simply want to page through the paper quickly to get to a particular section, use the SmartFlow bar at the bottom of the screen. Although the images of each page are about the size of a playing card they are crisp, even on the iPad 2. Of course you can always just flick through the paper page by page. Once you've reached the article just do a reverse pinch motion to zoom in on the text and glide through the article.

What has made me fall in love with this app is the fast, smooth, movement. I've paged through two newspapers now and it hasn't stuttered once, let alone crashed.

Sometimes when I write an unreservedly glowing review of an app one of my readers will write to me and chastise me for being uncritical, so I asked a friend of mine who subscribes to two newspapers to take a look at it. He loved it! His one comment was that he couldn't find a way to view the entire page at one glance. (It could be that there is a command for this that I don't know.)

The next question is: how much? A monthly subscription will run you $29.95 a month but for casual readers--that would be me!--you can download a newspaper for only 99 cents. That's not bad, it's certainly cheaper than buying one.

Has anyone else tried PressReader? If so, what did you think?

Other articles you might like:
- Pixar: 22 Ways To Tell A Great Story
- Penelope Trunk Discusses Time Management
- Kristen Lamb: Don't Let Trolls Make You Crazy

Aherk! Makes Writing App 'Write Or Die' Look Tame

With the writing app, Write Or Die, if you stop typing for too long you can lose your writing, but with Aherk! you could lose your reputation.

From GalleyCat:

The new Aherk app will help you blackmail yourself into meeting your literary goals. The free service lets you pick a goal and save a “compromising picture” of yourself and use it as “knife on your neck” reminding you to finish your project.

Tell us what it is that you want to achieve and set a deadline. Upload a compromising picture that will be posted to Facebook in case you fail to achieve your goal. After your deadline expires, your Facebook friends will vote and tell us if you achieved your goal or not … No boring graphics and calculations, extensive how-tos or cheesy ‘you’re awesome, go get’em!’ texts. It’s just a knife on your neck that will keep you on your toes while your friends are watching.

Here's the complete article: Blackmail App for Writers. Aherk! is still in beta, but it looks as though it is open to the public.

Interesting idea. Perhaps more fans would friend their favorite authors on Facebook if it was known they were using this app. What pictures we might see!

On second thought, that might not be a good thing ...

Thanks to Elizabeth Spann Craig, mystery writer par excellence, for tweeting a link to this article. Elizabeth has a great Twitter feed which you can view here: @elizabethscraig.

Remember, whatever it takes, keep writing!

Related reading:
- Write Or Die: The App
- 4 iPad Apps For Writers
- Conflict Creation: The Needs Of Your Characters

Write Or Die: The App

Write Or Die!

An article I just read reminded me that the famous, or should I say, infamous, writing app Write Or Die has transformed into an app for the iPad.

For writers, procrastination is an eternal enemy. It has classically waited in the pauses between words, in that argument outside the window, in being thirsty and needing a glass of water, in having to run to the bathroom. Now, with the Internet, it's also lurking there on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram and Path, and wait, did the London Review of Books just post a new issue online?

In other words, procrastination is everywhere.

Avoiding the procrastination temptation can be too much to ask. But hey, there's an app for that.
Write or Die is made specifically to keep writers on task. It comes with the tag line, "Putting the 'prod' in productivity."

How the app works: Writers begin typing in the app's window. When the typing slows to a stop, there are consequences. The writer can set how severe those consequences will be. In "gentle" mode, a notice pops up with a kind reminder that it's time to start writing. In "normal" mode, the app begins to emit an unpleasant sound, which only stops once the typing begins again. In "kamikaze" mode, the app is set to destroy: when the writing has stopped for too long, the words begin to erase themselves. There is also a "nyan cat" mode, turning an Internet meme into a destructive force.

The message is clear: Keep writing, or else.

Write or Die started out in a desktop version, created by a "Dr. Wicked," and became available as an app for the iPad last fall. Why pay attention now? Turns out, its system of possibly disastrous punishments actually works.

That's according to Helen Oyeyemi, a British writer whose novel "Mr. Fox" just came out in paperback in the U.K. When asked for writing advice this week by The Guardian, Oyeyemi recommended Write or Die, saying, "Because, sometimes, fear is the only motivator."

Read the rest here: Not writing? There's an app for that: Write or Die.

Here is a link to Write Or Die in the app store.

I've been experiencing a bit of writers blog so thought, "This is just the thing! I'll download it." Then I got sticker shock: $9.99! I know many writers swear by the (free) internet version of this app, and I was going to pay anywhere up to $5, but I've never paid $10 for an app.

Hmmm ... I think I need a glass of water ...