There’s a pretty sweet deal brewing in the ebook world through the end of the June. From now until the end of the month, Barnes & Noble is offering up a $50 gift card with every Nook purchase.

It’s a nice way to get you started on your ebook craze. One of my many complaints about the current state of ebooks is price. I just can’t justify most of the prices without the option to lend/share/resell my books (I realize I sound a bit like Bradbury here). The Nook, though, does offer the option to lend books, which is leaps above the way things were just a year ago. Unfortunately for consumers, B&N prices tend to err on the high side when it comes to digital content. A lot of titles are pushing $20 or falling somewhere between $15 and $20, which means you’ll get three books – max – out of that gift card.

Still, if you were considering one already this might be enough to push you over the edge.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Barnes & Noble has finally gotten its Nook production to catch up with consumer demand, and it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day. The company is using the holiday of love to help market its Kindle competitor, throwing in some extra goodies just in case you weren’t already sold on the device.

When you order you’ll get access to the “More in Store” content from Barnes & Noble, which includes a short story from Adriana Trigiani, a red velvet cupcake recipe by Anne Byrn, aka Cake Mix Doctor, and access to a regular feature called “Read Between the Wines,” which is about pairing your books with your vintage of choice.

If you order online your Nook will be shipped for free. If you prefer the in-store experience, the device will be available starting February 10th.

Source: Engadget

In a post regarding Nook delays yesterday I mentioned the Barnes & Noble holiday certificate, a gift card that would be sent to Nook pre-orderers who wouldn’t receive the device by Christmas. There was also some talk of a $10 gift card. Believe me, you want the holiday certificate.

A reader over at The Consumerist emailed in the image he received from Barnes & Noble this week. It included the following information:

If for whatever reason we are not able to ship your Nook in time for arrival by December 24th, with our sincerest apologies, we will send you an email notification on December 23rd with a $100 Barnes&Noble.com Online Gift Certificate to use as you wish at BN.com, including for eBooks that can be enjoyed immediately on your devices enabled with free Barnes & Noble eReader software, and soon, your Nook.

Yup. A hundred big ones for your patience. All you people bitching about canceling your pre-order should shut up and enjoy at least ten free books. For me, this would completely make up for any kind of “lost time” associated with the delay.

Source: The Consumerist

There seems to be a never ending string of delays associated with Nook shipments. Barnes and Noble’s Mary Ellen Keating, the senior VP of corporate communications and public affairs, has confirmed to TechCrunch that more shipments have indeed been delayed. It seems the company will be offering a holiday gift cretificate and a $10 gift card (maybe not both to every customer) to assuage the anger of affected customers.

I’m amazed B&N couldn’t see this coming. The company made a huge deal about the announcement and for good reason. The device is cool, much better than a Kindle, and it previewed some features that Amazon later copied for Kindle users. So why so many problems? A commenter over at TechCrunch ordered his device on November 12th. That’s a two-month delay without much notice.

The worst part of the story is that B&N had to know this was coming, but it chose to delay giving customers information until a week before Christmas in some cases. That’s pretty terrible PR, regardless of how good the device turns out to be.

If you didn’t pre-order your Nook, you won’t be seeing a holiday arrival. Barnes & Noble announced today that it had sold through the initial order and wouldn’t have more before the holidays are out.

“While we increased production based on the high consumer interest, we’ve sold out of our initial Nook allotment available for delivery before the holidays,” said a company statement. It’s not a huge delay – any order placed from today forward will be filled on January 4th. Anyone who pre-orders up to that date will receive a holiday certificate. Sometimes those are the best gifts. Right when you thought the festivities were over there’s a package on your doorstep.

B&N announced the delay after Sony did the same for its “Daily Edition” ereader yesterday. Despite the high price of ebooks and still limited functionality, ereaders seem to be one of the hottest items on the world’s gift list. Amazon’s Kindle and Kindle DX are both in stock and ship immediately.

Source: Reuters