We’ve got a new front page!

We’ve been doing some super secret work at Libboo HQ to make the site even awesomer, and we’ve finally got some stuff to show you. First off, we’ve got a new snazzy-looking front page, complete with virtual bookshelf:

We’ve also got a few new features for authors and promoters. As an author, you can now see who your best promoters are, instead of only being able to see who’s promoting a specific Libbook.

Once you click “See All,” you get a list view of all of the people that are promoting your Libbooks and how well they’re doing.

As a promoter, you now have the ability to see how many more hits you need on a particular Libbook before receiving a badge.

Other awesomeness:

-Libboo is no longer taking 15% of the royalties you receive from storefronts such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Our aim has always been to help authors, and as such, we’ve decided to lower this to 5%, and will soon update our pricing page to reflect this change.

-You can now add a link to your site on your bio. We think this will be especially great for illustrators, since now they can link to their online portfolios and show off their skillz.

-Improvements to the book discovery page are coming soon!

-Team Libboo

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For more Libboo news, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or add us to your Google+circles.

Sometimes the job has perks! It’s a sunny day and Chris is enjoying an afternoon of baseball at Fenway park. OK, he had a great time watching the ballgame – beer and hotdogs…. The next batter is on deck and here is the pitch!

Baseballs were not the only thing being pitched last Tuesday – Team Libboo was on deck for the MassChallenge PitchFest 2011. MC PitchFest is the time for the finalists to show off and ‘pitch’ their company to the world in only 60 seconds.  All the finalist teams did an awesome job during this friendly competition. And, like at Fenway park, there was plenty of beer and snacks!

So, it’s the bottom of the 9th and Chris is on stage ready to deliver the Libboo pitch – the clock is set for 60 seconds and…. Chris bring his guitar….! He delivers a homerun – singing…..Yes, singing the pitch to an audience of MC finalists, mentors, and visitors from around the Boston area. Afterwards, everyone was talking about the only pitch that was a song..Wow!

We are also very happy to introduce our newest team member, Dan Zuch. Dan is from Buffalo, New York and will be working with our development team. You will get to know more about Dan in our upcoming podcast.

Please feel free to leave us a comment or suggestions. You can do this by clicking on the blog post title. Be sure to follow our ‘News from the Cube’ every Tuesday.

-Team Libboo

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Visit us on www.facebook.com/libboo and www.twitter.com/libboo – where you will find news and content from the publishing world, along with advice for writers and news from our community.

As we were humming along, working on our podcast #7; I peered out the 14th floor window and saw this amazing view of the city of Boston. The glow of the city lights against the evening sky gave that feeling of adventure and excitement!

Our week’s adventure included a book project launch, a guest blog, one podcast, filming videos and the MassChallenge Pitchfest 2011.

We are including interviews and news reports in our podcasts along with the usual banter that Chris and Fernando are very good at. On the social media front, we are bringing a lot of relevant content for our community of writers, editors, illustrators, etc, through our twitter feed and Facebook page. And we always look forward to your suggestions and feedback!

I submitted my first invited blog – Wow! We are definitely getting the ‘word’ out about all the amazing things happening in our community. So, I will post a link to the invited blog as soon as its out.

And speaking of new adventures – we launched our MassChallenge book project called ‘The Incubator Project‘ – a crowd-sourced book about the life and evolution of start-up companies within the MassChallenge program. We invited the MC finalist teams to help us by joining Libboo and write about their experience as entrepreneurs. But wait, there is twist! In this book, the companies are the main characters, telling their story as they evolve and grow through the MassChallenge program. So a big THANK YOU goes out to all the 2011 MC Teams who are joining in on this literary adventure! So even at MassChallenge, we are getting written, at Libboo.com

Be sure to follow our ‘News from the Cube’ every week at www.libboo.com/blog!

-Team Libboo

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You can follow our adventures on www.twitter.com/libboo and get the latest content, including writing tips and advice at www.facebook.com/libboo.

Week six of MassChallenge and it’s proving to be an amazing experience for team Libboo. If I could summarize today’s blog in one word, it would be ‘building’ – We’ve been building partnerships, new writing projects and our online presence! Speaking of buildings, Fernando went to New York City. His first time in the Big Apple and he brings back this photo!

He seems very serious or in deep thought… So, here are some important highlights from this week:

- We have begun finalizing our deals with potential partners. This, of course, is a page 99; so more details to come in the near future…

- We have smashed our target for our first angel round and can now self-support, with the addition of two new team members.

- We are soon to launch a partnership project at MassChallenge. (codenamed ‘The Incubator Project’) – creating the world’s first crowd-sourced book about the life of entrepreneurs. We are inviting all the teams at MassChallenge to join in.

- We have established a technology partnership to improve the Libboo social network experience and create an even larger community. More details to come soon…

- Our metrics are growing. We hit over 400 published works, and in the first week of concentrating an online social presence gained about 50 retweets and mentions on Twitter. A special shout out goes to:

BWBooks – Better World Books is a company that is dedicated in promoting literacy around the globe and helping the environment by recycling used books – 70 million pounds! so that books go to new owner instead of a landfill.

The Muse Daily – A site to find inspiration about literature and humanities, and to help you get creative, find meaning and purpose.

So, we hope you check these sites out and keep a look out for new content aimed at helping you with your writing projects. You can find these on www.facebook.com/libboo and on www.twitter.com/libboo.

And remember – Get it written, at Libboo.com!

-Team libboo

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Be sure to visit us at www.libboo.com and follow our Friday community blog!

Today has been especially wet. I was completely drenched form head-to-toe and I needed a snorkel and fins to get home. And they call it a New England summer shower… Yea..! We have a deluge of activity at Libboo!

This week we are getting interviewed for a radio show. It’s MYOB - Mind Your Own Business. MYOB is a local radio show that focuses on entrepreneurs. So, it a great chance to tell the world about Libboo! I hope to provide a link to the show soon- so stay tuned.

We’ve also been working hard to release a new project with MassChallenge. It will be announced this Thursday, August 4th at 5pm.

I’m looking forward to seeing some recipes that include using blueberries in a fun and creative way. – Iron Chef style! And NO, filling Libboo up with blueberries does not count. We’ll feature a few recipes from our members on our Friday blog.

That’s it for now – from our News From the Cube!

A special hello goes out to our new members! Be sure to follow our Tuesday news blog and our Friday community blog at www.libboo.com/blog

-Team Libboo

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If you are visiting – join our growing community of writers, editors, illustrators, proof-readers and critiques at www.libboo.com. And be sure to follow us on www.facebook.com/libboo and www.twitter.com/libboo.  We always appreciate a ‘Like’ and a RT or #FF!!

Chris returned from his trip to the UK just in time for a redecoration of the Cube. We proudly hung up our newest item – A giant Libboo banner!

Our banner hangs on top of our Cube at MassChallenge. The space is now filled with many colorful banners and signs of all shapes and sizes from various companies living at MC.

We’ve started the week with our first meeting as a corporation – Libboo Inc. We took care of a few formalities: meeting minutes and signing paperwork and more paperwork. Then finally getting down to business…OK – perhaps a coffee break..

Here is some news from the UK: During the last two weeks Chris had spent a lot of time around Tech City meeting various entrepreneurs and executives. Tech City UK was created to become the world’s leading technology and innovation center. During this time, Chris met with Adrian Tipper – Director of the Tech City initiative at the UKTI. We have established a relationship to use Libboo as a bridging company between Tech City and MassChallenge in the US.

Our week is rolling along with:

- First mentor board meeting set for August 3.

- We reached our Friends & Family investment goals.

- We have now entered Silicon Valley Banks (SVB) and are part of their accelerator program

I’m also very happy to announce our newest Team Libboo member – Katherine Pereira.

Katherine will intern in our community and social media team. She brings experience in video production, radio and has been a magazine editor. She also has an award winning commercial! So make sure to say ‘hello’ to Katz on Libboo!

Be sure to follow us every Tuesday blog for our ‘News from the Cube’.

-Team Libboo

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Visit us at www.libboo.com and be sure to follow Libboo on Facebook and twitter!

With the mercury pegged at above 90F for the last week in Boston -things are sizzling for team Libboo at MassChallenge.  Having survived business bootcamp, our mentor board officially selected, along with our team goals submitted to MC- we are executing our projects, goals and plans to make Libboo the hottest writing community on the planet!

Our first exciting news of the week – Richard and Anna tied the knot and were married on Saturday. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

While in the UK, Chris met with best selling author, Professor Richard Wiseman – and talked about his latest book Paranormality, recently released in the US. I’ve just downloaded my copy and its proving to be awesome and intellectually stimulating seeing how Professor Wiseman debunks paranormal behavior and brings it into the context of our every day. Time to throw away that crystal ball!

Richard Wiseman is also co-author and generously helped us start The Great Libboo Experiment: ‘PARADOX: The curious life and mysterious death of Mr Joseph’ Wheeler’ – A shout-out goes to our members currently working on ‘Paradox’, You guys rock!

In the meantime, while a bit lonely in the Cube, Fernando has been working away on developing new projects for our community. We’ve planned a few things:

- Summer Writing Expos: We would like to feature content from our members: for example poetry, BBQ recipes and short stories. We’ll be announcing the first of our Expos this coming week!

- Libboo Interviews: Every two weeks, we will interview one member from our community and feature one of their libbooks on our blog.

Be sure to follow our Tuesday and Friday blog for news- and content to help you get your project written at Libboo.com

And now, this week’s photo:

-Team Libboo

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Be sure to follow us on www.facebook.com/libboo and on www.twitter.com/libboo!

Libboo is moving on up – To the 14th floor, that is. Team Libboo has won as a finalist into the MassChallenge competition- The word’s finest start-up / small business accelerator. Chris, Richard and Fernando have moved into our new office:

One Marina Park Drive

Libboo @ MassChallenge, 14th floor

Boston, MA 02210

Along with 124 awesome start-up companies from around the world, our office is a Cube within an exciting, energetic and dynamic space. At MassChallenge, Libboo has gained a wealth of resources such as mentoring from leading entrepreneurs, business resources and connections – that will help us grow, innovate and become a huge success!

So, here’s our latest news from THE CUBE:

- Started MassChallenge business BootCamp -Helping us be all we can be!

- Filing US incorporation paperwork- Lots of writing!

- Expanding our team- We welcome our newest team member, Peter Dublin -35 year veteran of the publishing and media industry.  And speaking of team, we seeking interns to fill a variety of positions. So if you would like to learn more about this awesome opportunity; send an e-mail to: fernando [at] libboo [dot] com. Here are some pix from the cube:

Hard at Work

Hard at Work

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Be sure to visit our Blog every Tuesday for News from the CUBE and get the latest updates, events and information about us Team Libboo. Come and be a part of our growing community at Libboo.com and follow us on Facebook and twitter.

-Team Libboo