Laura Novak
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Floating On Float

7/26/2011

6 Comments

 
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It’s been one week since Scribd launched Float, its app for the iphone.

I was so pleased to be included as a suggested person to follow (which means, essentially, you can see what I am reading) and to have my new novel Finding Clarity available under Scribd’s Books and Lit (right above Peter Pan and Huck Finn.)

I’ve been playing around with the app for a week and have good things to report.

-  First, I love the icon. The bright red balloon on the sky background really pops on my iphone. The graphic makes me want to go there.

-  It's great that I can see my Scribd feed and follow Twitter and Facebook as well if I want. No need to have 3 different icons on your phone when it can all be combined under one “heading.”

-  Float formats everything I could read on my computer, onto the iphone, so gone is the madness of having to try to read documents in a browser. Letters are large (and can become even larger if you wish) and Float offers many fun ways to read (in the dark; save your eyes; computer green; Gutenberg Bible font etc.)

-  Swipe left to right and the pages stay neatly paginated. Scroll up and down if you prefer. Float knows where to go and what to do.

-  The Favorites page is what makes Float the great coordinator of iphone apps. Social Feeds are listed at top (Scribd, Twitter and Facebook) followed by Websites marked by their colorful icons. A dozen can be listed (some come with the app and you can add more from lists of participating partners.) I’ve got Huffington Post next to Robert Reich, above the Daily Dish, across from the Smithsonian, which is poised next to Gawker and Talking Points Memo.  News, gossip, literature: you choose your source and Float makes it very easy. And you can eliminate all those app icons from your iphone “desktop.”

-  People is the next category on this sort of “home page.”  I see many of the people I follow on Scribd and I can add more.  For example, I am one of the people Float suggests you follow and I’ve met more there than I knew about from Scribd.

-  My List shows you some of the articles that I have “bookmarked” and can read later “off line” if I wish. There is also my Library, which I can keep private, and my activities, which shows you what I’ve uploaded on Scribd on the computer.

-  Perhaps the only problem I have, and it’s minor, is with the People section on my “Home” page, or Favorites page.  I don’t know yet how to move the people I really want to follow to that page, and let the others, who seem to be programmed in there, float into the distance. 

-  Same with my Websites. As on an iphone, I would like to be able to press the icon, have it shimmy and shake, thereby allowing me to drag it to the top line or move it next to a similar category. It’s very possible that this is possible, but I’m not sure how.

-  One of the delightful things I discovered is that I can “float” anything I’m reading to my other social media, that is, Scribd – the online feed – and Twitter. In fact, I was thrilled when I found my comment and the writer’s response on the Scribd feed, for something I sent from Float on my iphone.

The Scribd folks should be commended for months of hard work and stellar engineering on Float. I’ve long wanted to be able to read articles while standing in line at the bank or waiting for a BART train. Now, I can pick up on a novel (including my own!), an article or even the Scribd feed.

For more on the Float launch at the Braintech conference in Aspen, click HERE, HERE, HERE or HERE.

Thank you Scribd for floating us into the future!

6 Comments

Finding Clarity on Float

7/19/2011

23 Comments

 
I am thrilled to announce that my novel that I just uploaded as an e-book on Scribd, is featured on their new iphone app launched at 6 this morning, Pacific Time. 
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Click on the book cover to take you to the Scribd page where you can read the first two chapters and then purchase Finding Clarity for $4.99. 
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Then click on the Float logo above to read Fortune's great rundown of Float and all it can do. 

I've been fortunate enough to beta test the Float app throughout the weekend in anticipation of the launch, and I am here to tell you that the folks at Scribd are on to something great. 

This is what your new "desktop" on Float will look like:

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Float essentially aggregates the reading experience, putting your favorite apps and social feeds onto one screen.  Read articles, blogs and literature on your desktop or mobile device.

Find me and "Finding Clarity" under Favorites; Books; Books & Lit. Multiple reading fonts and styles are available for excellent readability. And where ever you leave off "Finding Clarity", you pick right up again.

The Scribd feed is more active than ever, pulling in from Twitter. That's how I found
THIS MURDOCH ARTICLE. With a keystroke, I emailed myself the article, linked here and then sent further into the social media sphere.

For now, find the Scribd Home Feed here on this icon. You'll see "Finding Clarity" featured in the right hand sidebar.


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Scribd truly is "where the world comes to read." If you're a writer (and you know who you are) or make excellent videos (ditto) consider posting your work to Scribd and then Float your work between all the social media networks. I have 45,000 followers and more than 100,000 reads of my fiction, essays and news articles on Scribd alone.

More to come as I learn more about the new Float interface.  Meantime, I am beyond thrilled to introduce Clari Drake and her zany cast of misfit friends as they lurch through a school year, wreaking havoc, uncovering dirty truths, and investigating dark secrets among the wealthy elite at a posh private school in the People's Republic of Berkeley. In fact, it all reminds me a certain story we've all been working on for a while!  "Finding Clarity", $4.99 now on Scribd. 



23 Comments

Scribd Voice of the Week

3/16/2011

 
I am honored to be named the first VOICE OF THE WEEK by Scribd, the worlds leading publishing and social media site. I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute I've spent there, reading commenting and receiving feedback on my own work. I've made friends and learned so much about my strengths and even errors in my work. Thank you, Scribd, for this great honor!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/50876300/Voice-of-the-Week-Scribd-Blog-3-16-11

The Red Purse in reality

2/14/2011

 
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Fleet Street Photographer captures me mid-stride in Knightsbridge, February 1994 wearing The Red Purse from Dubai.

The Red Purse

2/14/2011

 
Food is love and in our family, love is food. We are blessed to have dined with the world's greatest chefs as part of my husband, Mark's, work designing for them. Here's a four-star, five-course dine down memory lane. http://www.scribd.com/doc/48503434/The-Red-Purseweeblylink_new_window

    Laura Novak

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