Category Archives: Blog

Announcements, Blog, ebooks

Latest Amazon Kindle With a Built-in Front Light/Black – Includes FREE eBooks here

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Cost has always been a big part of the Kindle line’s appeal at the low end. Amazon’s very good at undercutting the competition, while still managing to provide a workhorse e-reader in the process. Of course, paying $90 for the device comes with a number of cut corners, not the least of which has been the device’s stubborn refusal to adopt the front lighting found on the rest of the line.

Amazon’s just amended that oversight with the latest version of the standard Kindle. The device now features an adjustable front light, coupled with a touch 167 PPI display.

Not to mention, that price includes Special Offers (i.e. those screen saver ads the company has been serving up for most of the life of the product). There are also free ebooks which readers can load up into the Kindle too. Details are documented here.

And that is just not it. There are more functions and features summarized below:

  • Adjustable front light lets you read comfortably for hours—indoors and outdoors, day and night.
  • Purpose-built for reading, with a 167 ppi glare-free display that reads like real paper, even in direct sunlight.
  • Read distraction-free. Highlight passages, look up definitions, translate words, and adjust text size—without ever leaving the page.
  • Select from millions of books, newspapers, and audiobooks. Kindle holds thousands of titles so you can take your library with you.
  • With Prime Reading, Prime members read free with unlimited access to over a thousand titles.
  • A single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours.
  • Enjoy more books with Audible. Pair with Bluetooth headphones or speakers to switch seamlessly between reading and listening.

Now on top of all the refreshed settings and upgraded functions, Amazon is throwing in a limited time offer exclusive to BooksAvenue when you purchase the Kindle via BooksAvenue links here. Details for unlimited ebooks below:

LIMITED TIME OFFER : Enjoy 3 months of Kindle Unlimited FREE. Redemption instructions will be delivered via email after your order ships. No obligation to redeem. After 3 mos., subscription will auto-renew for $9.99 per month.

Now there will be 1 small issue for non-US citizens. It will require a forwarder service to order this special priced Kindle. For comparison of the cheapest forwarder service, Singsaver has written quite a good summary of the available forwarder services on the internet here. If not, scroll down to the appendix for reference

In summary, BUY the special kindle by Amazon via BooksAvenue promo links for Free ebooks with forwarder service all summarized in this page.

So there you go. All done at the lowest fee for the highest value.

 

This promotion begins on 10th April.

Register your interest and pre-order now.

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

 

Forwarder Services available:

SHIPPING RATES FROM US TO SINGAPORE
Service
Shipping Rate
Delivery Time
Repacking/Consolidation
Value-Added Services
ezbuy
S$3.99/0.5kg
Standard:
4-6 days
Economy:
8-11 days
Repacking: Free
Consolidation:
Free
Insurance
  • 3% of total shipment value
  • S$2,000 limit
  • S$100 compensation for items not insured
Concierge (Buy-For-Me)
  • Home Delivery: S$3 to S$25, depending on weight
Buyandship Singapore
First 1 pound: S$9
Subsequent pound: S$5
6-9 days
Repacking: Free
Consolidation: 
Free (30-day limit)
Insurance
  • 3% of shipment value per package (up to US$30 per package)
  • US$1,000 limit
  • US$100 compensation for items not insured
vPOST
Base charge: S$13.40
$0.91/100g
of volumetric weight
Standard:
4-6 days
Economy:
9-12 days
Repacking:
S$6
Consolidation:
Free for 30 days, S$1.50 per item per day thereafter
Insurance
  • 3% of total value of the shipment, or min of S$9.90 per consignment note– S$20,000 limit
Comgateway
US$13.57 for the first 0.5kg
US$3.74 for subsequent 0.5kg
Express:
3-4 days
Repacking:
US$10 for first 5 packages, US$2 per package thereafter
Consolidation:
Free for 30 days, US$1 per day thereafter
Insurance
  • 1% of total shipment value
  • USD$10,000 limit
  • Compulsory for item(s) over US$250
Concierge (Buy-For-Me)
  • 10% of total purchase cost + domestic shipping (if any)

 

 

Blog, Writings

Why is BooksAvenue not selling books anymore?

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With so many books now published on Amazon, in particular, the competition to attract book buyers is fierce.

While there are countless sources of advice and marketing tricks on how to sell ebooks and books online on Amazon, the most important factors of all are to have a good product and to attract positive attention to your books. Likewise, if you have published more than a couple of titles, perhaps it has been some time since you analysed what you are really doing to attract attention.

As with all things Internet, change is the only constant, so while certain approaches may have been successful a year or so back, it is not necessarily true that they are working now.

These summarises the external factors why BooksAvenue not selling books now. It’s true that BooksAvenue started with book sales. Yet it is not sustainable in Singapore from different perspectives. Rather to paraphrase this, it is totureous and inefficient to compete with online retailers as well as physical bookstores. That competition itself, is an uphill challenge for us on many levels.

The other factors also include the buyers’ willingess to spend which resulted in profit margins, the book conditions, economic of scale, as well as the availability of title choices.

At the end of the day, it defeats the fundamental purpose of BooksAvenue: Bringing people closer to literature and art. We rather be building bridges to minimise the gap between readers and books efficiently, than to exhaust our resources to fight against profit driven business and corporations.

With a more focused and specialised scope, BooksAvenue believes that this will be the better way to bring people closer to the world of books.

Blog

Freebie Section coming soon!

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While we focus on bringing convenience to our fans, bridging readers to books, we are on the constant lookout to expand and grow.

And with much considerations, we have decided to start a new section to summarise all the freebies and promo codes. This should serve a greater purpose, helping more people rather than just swapping books. So stay tuned and bookmark this page by using the shortcut keys: Crt + D

Now in case you are not aware, yes we are doing FREE book swaps in Singapore. All the swaps in our BooksAvenue telegram group are on voluntarily basis at ZERO costs. So be smart and avoid those scam requests using our name to collect a fee.

If you are looking to read free ebooks, be sure to check our our page on 3 Steps To Read Amazon books for FREE. Kindle has unlimited membership plans that you can read unlimited books for FREE.

Now if you are in Singapore or some parts of the world that has no access to Kindle store, read our guide here to buy/sign up for FREE Amazon books. The basic key is to have a VPN which you can sign up for 1 month for only $7. It’s even cheaper than Netflix! Oh that said, yes you can use VPN for netflix too.

Anyways this new FREEBIE section will include all the stuffs needed for easy reference of all the free stuffs on the internet. Promo codes, freebies, discount or even Free membership plans. So stay tuned and thank you for your support!

Blog

BooksAvenue Book Swap group on Telegram in SG

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Received some feedbacks that the telegram is not working as expected.

First click on this link: https://t.me/booksavenuebookswapsg

After clicking the link, you should see this page on your browser:

11

Then click open in web, login, and it will direct you in.

 

Alternatively, you can search for @booksavenuebookswapsg within the Telegram app on your mobile. You should see the same icon. The group just started very recently. Feel free to share with others to gather more people with the same interest.

This is for book swapping in Singapore.

 

Announcements, Blog, Free Swap

Epiphany

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The idea of having a book swapping app has always been our dream. This will surely facilitate book swapping for free. And if the idea goes well, it is easy to replicate the same model and expand out of our home ground, Singapore.

So far, most of the costs are borne by Team BooksAvenue, coming from personal pockets to build a dream. Everyone wants cheap and good, someone has to start something. And that’s how BooksAvenue started.

Yet how can we build an app when there is no knowledge or monetary strength to support so?

After much brainstorming, a solution has been found. It is a cheap and good solution.

A Telegram group has created to help facilitate book swaps in Singapore. This group will help book swappers to source and search for books available to swap. It’s a brilliant solution, much mobile and efficient in matchmaking book swap requests.

As such, all requests should be channeled to the Telegram group.

The quest for building our app is not over. The desire for building the app remains, but at the same time, it is necessary to advance forward with time.

So to break the vicious cycle of waiting, an alternative has to be done first. Hopefully once we have sufficient users, it is justifiable and in fact, more motivating for us to seek out ways to build the app.

Currently BooksAvenue has a friend in Malaysia who is willing to partner and work with us to build the app. While there are main jobs for us to perform in the day, it is only fair to execute this within our means and in our freetime.

The telegram shall be a public group and will be monitored. Moderator roles will be given, and similarly, it can be requested from Fox. Feel free to share the group with our fellow readers in Singapore. This will help to facilitate readers to swap books efficiently.

A simple solution to a challenge that has bugged us for months!

Such an epiphany!

Blog

Circle

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There is a saying, “Rid the old and welcome the new.”

In the process of doing so, the fundamental elements should not be discarded. It should be retained, evolved and revised with current market conditions.

BooksAvenue started off selling books. Over the years we have been moving away from that model. This is partially due to logistics, management and our targeted audiences.

After 4 years of moving away from that model, there is a chance for us to move back to the initial model again. That is to review and sell books online.

Every chance, every opportunity, every venture is a possible stroke of serendipity. Even if it’s heading back to our initial idea, it is still a beautiful thing.

Like a shape of a circle, moving back to the initial point, completing the shape, creating a harmonious and peaceful symbol : O

Blog

Progress

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Time and tide wait for no man.

It’s almost mid August now, and in Singapore there are 2 public holidays. This translates to shorter working month, approximately 18 working days by the assumption of 4 X 5 working days.

Once a while, I will do a review mentally of the things I have achieved, stuffs pending and plans outstanding. I foresee that in coming months, I will be more busier than before.

Achieved

  • Found an Android partner by chance to work together. Rough details are agreed verbally for future opportunities.
  • Invested and helped my friend to start his crypto currency exchange in Singapore; Tokenize
  • Rearranged and minor improvements to BooksAvenue website.
  • Did up a very simple and crude Android app for my own understanding and learning. (pls don’t laugh at me. Lol)

Pending

  • Android app for book swaps
  • Little junior is coming (December 2018)
  • At least 1 book review per month.
  • At least 1 blog entry per week.
  • To enhance my trading strategies and breaking my own record.
  • Improve my own stretching for higher kicks.

Outstanding

  • Personal fitness
  • Settle baby cot, stroller and pram.
  • If possible, fly up to meet Android partner in person.
  • Push my scenic photos I took over the years and compiled on this site
  • Oh yes, source for a good and cheap gym too

Kinda glad that I have this little space to pen my thoughts. BooksAvenue started from a small book sales, to ebooks download, to the current book swap and book reviews.

In case you are wondering, our book forum is at BooksAvenue.boards.net

Stay tuned, more to come.

Blog

Necessity

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The search for an Android developer for a bookswapping app is not easy. After all, we have bills to pay and time is money.

Now that being said, I also realised I have been paying quite a fair bit to ensure this project continue to survive and exist.

I have some thoughts on the need of a mobile for book swaps.

  1. Already, I have started an online forum for users to swap books: BooksAvenue.boards.net
  2. Will users still be keen to swap physical books?
  3. If I pay to build the mobile app for book swapping, how can I recover this cost? (Never mind the profits if any)

Certainly, it is not wise to pay for the mobile app. But, I am ready to share the revenue generated from the app itself. It is only fair to share.

Nonetheless, I think it will be good to have the mobile app ready. More is better than less in this case.

The search for a partner continues…

Blog

Recruit

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When I was very young, I aspire to run a company. A company founded by me, providing a product or render services to the masses. I dreamt that my company will be important and great. A company whose product is of great excellence, something that everyone needs and cannot live by without.

Fast forward to the present reality, BooksAvenue is very far from it. Very very far indeed. I have great yet simple ideas and concepts. I can run the show and have been doing it for some time already.

Yet, I myself is utterly insufficient. As the saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to be great, go together.”

I need like-minded people to come together, fresh blood means fresh ideas and renewed energy to generate activities. Hence I have been trying to recruit volunteers.

Certainly I am ok if I do not get it through at the first thousand attempts. Even if it will not be successful at all if it’s really beyond my abilities. But there are 2 things I will not stand for or tolerate in life:

  1. Failure to try due to laziness
  2. Irresponsible people

Failed attempts are admirable. It shows courage and tenacity. I tried many times and I failed many times. I can successfully say that I can die without regrets.

People who are irresponsible on the other hand, are obstacles and hindrances to other’s attempt at success. Either they are flicker minded, or they just trying their luck. Regardless so, I dare say such candidates will not be successful at all.

Projects are meant to be executed, dreams to be realised. One should always forging ahead, moving forward. Make it happen and do it, but never try to do it.

I welcome all to come forth and join me to create and move this project together. I hope for more sincere candidates who will be more responsive and active to contribute.

Please apply if you are keen and keen only. Thank you for not wanting my time, as I did not waste yours from the start.

Candiate 8

Applied, answered but no reply yet. Perhaps I’m too impatient?

Candiate 3

Applied and I am not able to reply. I have emailed 2 times but to no avail.

Blog

Present

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Technology has disrupted many sectors, many industries. Even with a small not-for profit company like BooksAvenue, it forces changes to our current settings.

Change is always for the better. And it has to be, if not it makes no sense for it to happen. Can anyone imagine backward progress? How elevators are avoided but staircases are chosen instead? Other than health and fitness reasons, what are logical reasons are there?

On the same note, in some examples of backward progress such as invention of Concorde but there is zero supersonic passenger plans today. And vaccines. Diseases are eradicated but we have managed to bring them back. For research and documentation purposes I think.

In my previous post, I mentioned I’m working with android developer. The intended app is to help readers to swap books at ease. Preferably, some location based estimation for a rank of choices for a more efficient exchange too.

Now that the rudimentary yet paramount function has been addressed, the economic costs have to be addressed as well. Very unlikely to charge users for each book swap. Rather, no one is willing to pay for it.

The best solution to address this is to be handled by mobile advertising. This will monetise the web traffic, and fray some of the costs, hosting expenses and whatnots. Plus the best part is keeping the entire service free of charge to end users.

Development of android app is of no easy task. As much as I am engineer by training, I tried to learn and pick up basic Java coding. Even if I can come up with a basic app, I’m afraid that the user interface may result in a bad user experience, which sort of defeat the main purpose.

Not to mention, the costs are meant to kept to the minimum. Hence there was an ad to look for Android developer volunteers. This will be more efficient and effective, in theory.

So far there are some responses from SG and Malaysia. It’s a good start and I’m still waiting for replies and progress.

It is also of this reason a new Blog section is started to connect to more people to help bring BooksAvenue forward. Will continue to update and document the progress.