Nimble Books LLC » YA

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System for CVN-78 Gerald Ford

wfz-admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:00:36 +0000

A brand new launch technology for CVN-78 Gerald Ford.

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is a system under development by the United States Navy to launch aircraft from carriers using a linear motor drive instead of steam pistons, used in conventional aircraft catapults. This technology has the advantage of gradually increasing the aircraft’s speed, thus reducing the stress the plane’s airframe has to support. The EMALS is currently being developed for the U.S. Navy’s newest Ford class aircraft carriers. It was also being considered for the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers (CVF), however the Royal Navy opted for a Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (VSTOL) configuration.

Did PRINCE OF WALES change the course of WWII?

wfz-admin — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:02:52 +0000

King George V- Class Battleships: Shipcraft 2 by Rogar Chesneau

The second volume in a new series providing ship modellers with all they need to know about a famous class of warship and associated model kits.
The five battleships of the King George V Class were the most modern to serve the Royal Navy in World War II; all rendered invaluable service in the war effort, and, indeed, the first two could be credited with influencing the very course of the conflict. Instrumental in the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, they bought about a fundamental shift in German naval policy, the emphasis moving away from heavy surface ships and towards the U-boat arm. With its unparalleled level of visual information- colour schemes, models, line drawings and photographs-it is simply the best reference for any model-maker setting out to build one these great battleships.

If you’re going to apply that logic, then you should also credit PRINCE OF WALES with changing the course of the war in the Pacific, sealing the loss of Singapore, and ending the British Empire.

That being said, I’d love to have a copy of this book!

Yahoo!’s open source search is too late

wfz-admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:55:27 +0000

Yahoo s New Build Your Own Search Engine Nips at Google s Lead – Webmonkey

Yahoo announced a new initiative Thursday called Build Your Own Search Service, or BOSS. It’s a set of programming tools developers can use to tailor Yahoo’s search index for their own use.

Good idea, but too late.

Whiney Yang on Yahoo!-MSFT

wfz-admin — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:40:41 +0000

Yang accuses Microsoft of ‘trying to destabilize’ Yahoo

Yahoo founder and chief executive Jerry Yang accused Microsoft of trying to destabilize Yahoo with no genuine intent to buy the company, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Awww. That’s terrible. Those naughty boys!

new novel by Terry Pratchett — Signed UK Proof – eBay item 200229088237 end time Jun-10-08 12:30:00 PDT

wfz-admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:48:28 +0000

I’d love to buy this!

Terry Pratchett Nation – Signed UK Proof – eBay item 200229088237 end time Jun-10-08 12:30:00 PDT
Nation

by Terry Pratchett

This auction is for an uncorrected, unread and brand new UK proof of Nation.
This is Terry Pratchetts latest, non Discworld, novel which is due for publication in September 2008.

Further more, Terry will sign and dedicate the book to the lucky winner

This is an absolutely unique opportunity to own a fantastic piece of Terry Pratchett memorabilia.

All proceeds from the sale of this proof will be donated to the RICE Centre in Bath.

“Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. Hes also completely alone – or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. Shes certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ships parrot. As it happens, they are not alone for long.Other survivors start to arrive to take refuge on the island they all call the Nation and then raiders accompanied by murderous mutineers from the Sweet Judy. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things – including how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good thing – and start to forge a new Nation.”

Payment must be made within 5 days.
We accept payment by PayPal or UK cheques only.

Thanks for looking and happy bidding

Monetizing the Nimble Books website via Amazon Associates

wfz-admin — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:50:30 +0000

I thought I would share with you the results of an analysis I did of my (historically low) efficiency at monetizing my web site via Amazon Associates.

Google Analytics page views 1/1/2008 – date: 26032
Associates clicks 1303
Associates unit sales 14
conversion rate 0.0107
Associates referral revenue $10.04
revenue/month $2.26
NB after royalties revenue for referred titles 40
Total imputed revenue (referrals + publisher comp)= 50.04
Imputed revenue/month $11.29
imputed $/page view $0.0019
imputed $/1000 page views $1.9222
imputed $/click $0.0384
imputed $/conversion $3.5743
bandwidth used (GB) 56.259
GB/month 12.69
max GB/month 200
days covered 133
months 4.433
Imputed revenue/GB $0.89
overage charge per GB $1.99
Cost of High Volume Plans per GB $0.19
possible ^ in usage w/o incurring additional bandwidth charge 15.76044129
possible ^ imputed revenue by ^ usage x15 w/o additional BW charge =15 x imputed rev /month = $177.89 /month
possible ^ imputed revenue by ^ conversion rate x 5 = $889.46

what all this tells me:

* I could increase the usage of my website by a factor of 15.7 before I hit the bandwidth threshold for my account at Pair
* assuming that revenue increased in linear proportion, and that I could improve the conversion rate, I could increase my Associates & Associates-driven revenue into the several hundreds of dollars per month
* increasing usage by x 15 would be hard work, there are other things I could do that would increase revenue more (i.e. publish more or better books)

My website has always been a bit of a mess because I use it as a combined blog and bookstore. It would be better to have a single purpose store. Right now the website is under construction as I experiment with new Amazon Associates widgets.

Battleship YAMATO: Why She Matters Today by W. Frederick Zimmerman

Fred Zimmerman — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:18:47 +0000

wfzimmerman’s review: “I’m proud of this book, fourth in my WHY IT MATTERS TODAY series. This copy, my first proof, has a couple of minor alignment problems on the front and rear cover which I plan to remedy.”
Nimble Books (2008), Paperback, 44 pages

New and Forthcoming from Nimble Books

W. Frederick Zimmerman — Wed, 07 May 2008 23:44:39 +0000

April 2008: Iowa Class Battleships and Alaska Class Large Cruisers Conversion Projects 1942-1964: An Illustrated Technical Reference by Wayne Scarpaci – beautiful paintings of fantastical battleship makeovers that never occurred … but should have!
May 2008:
Battleship YAMATO: Why She Matters Today
June 2008:
The John Boyd Roundtable from Zenpundit et al.
July 2008:
Through Stranger Eyes by Hugo and Nebula Award winner David Brin

William F. Buckley is dead

wfz-admin — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:45:29 +0000

William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82 – New York Times

William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn.

A loss for literacy. Of all his books, the one I’d most like for my personal collection is a first edition of God and Man at Yale.

release date for THE SOLOMON KEY is set (but secret)

wfz-admin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:36:29 +0000

Finally, some real news about THE SOLOMON KEY. According to the publisher, quoted in today’s Wall Street Journal, the release date has been set — but it is a secret. Which is progress! There was no release date at all before. There’s no new news about the content of the book (or any confirmation of the title), but the thrust still seems to be that the book will be set in Washington, D.C. and focus on those wacky Freemason Founding Fathers.

I brought out my SOLOMON KEY pre-book/meta-book in 2005 (!)

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and I have to say it has stood the test of time quite well. It has already made a pretty healthy profit, and among my forty titles in print ranks sixth in lifetime revenue per month.

The content is still sound because book is far less speculative than most efforts in the pre-book genre. I cover Brown’s entire oeuvre, and I include a detailed analysis of Dan Brown’s work habits and narrative strategies, but I didn’t think it wise to go on speculative excursions into the occult and Freemasonry before seeing the published books. I stick closely to what Brown and his publishers have actually said about the book. Judge for yourself if you like my approach: take a look at the Table of Contents in Search Inside the Book mode.

I’ve gotten better at covers since I published this book, but I’m reasonably satisfied with the dominant cover image: Kryptos in the CIA courtyard is still a pretty darned cool piece of Washington architecture, and it’s neat to look at and learn about. I would probably use a different font for the title type. Although the cover colors look clunky, they are keyed off the colors used in THE DA VINCI CODE, so I don’t think there was a principled basis for a better choice.

I will update this book when THE SOLOMON KEY finally comes out, but I am not sure exactly what mechanism I will use — I may update this edition, or I may issue a separate thinner paperback. Either way, I will provide a PDF softcopy to previous purchasers, as stated in the book. (Simply send me proof of purchase using the email address in the book).

I will update this post as publication nears. Until then, enjoy the anticipation!

Cordially,

Fred Zimmerman
Publisher, Nimble Books LLC