I have now been using the Kindle Fire for about a month. I thought I’d weigh with my impressions thus far. This isn’t intended to be a thorough, technical review. It is simply my view as a publishing professional and e-reader enthusiast.

I have been a fan of the Kindle since Amazon introduced it in 2007. I have bought every iteration since then and have been pleased with the evolution of the device. The simplicity, battery life, and integrated buying experience have been delightful.

In this brief, 12-minute video, I interview Jane Friedman, professor of e-media and writing at the University of Cincinnati. She also serves as a contributing editor at Writer’s Digest, where she once served as publisher and strategic leader. She is the author of The Future of Publishing: Enigma Variations, as well as the Beginning Writer’s Answer Book.

I first discovered Jane via her blog at Writer’s Digest, “There Are No Rules.” (Her main publishing and writing blog is now at JaneFriedman.com.) I immediately fell in love with her no-nonsense advice, practical wisdom, and insight into contemporary writing and publishing. If you are an author—or aspire to be—her blog is a must-read. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Turney Stevens is the dean of Lipscomb University’s College of Business in Nashville, Tennessee. Recently, he interviewed me on his program, “Conversations with the Dean.” We talked about the future of printed books, e-books, leadership, personal branding, and a few other topics.

More specifically, Dean Stevens asked me the following seventeen questions:

Since publishing my new e-book, Creating Your Personal Life Plan, I have had several people ask how I created the e-book. Rather than try to answer these questions individually, I thought I would document the process here. You might want to try something similar.

I first did this when I published my two previous e-books, Writing a Winning Non-Fiction Book Proposal and Writing a Winning Fiction Book Proposal. I used the same basic approach here.

Last week I attended Digital Book World in New York. More than 1,300 industry professionals showed up, doubling last year’s attendance. It’s clear that digital represents the fastest growing segment of the book industry, but will it grow as fast as industry executives think?

Forrester Research presented a fascinating study, based on a survey of book publishing executives. One conclusion was that “by 2014, [publishing] executives predicted that half of units sold will be e-books, although it was not clear at what price e-books will be sold.”

Last week I “unboxed” the Amazon Kindle 2 in a short video on my blog. I also shared my first impressions. I have now used the device for about a week, so I thought I would share my thoughts in a little more depth.

I still don’t think this is the device that will dramatically change the game for publishing. However, I do believe it is another step in the right direction. I also believe I have more clarity on what is still missing and where e-books are going. I plan to discuss these topics in future posts.

One of the things consumers want in the current economic environment is value. They are reluctant to part with their hard-earned cash, unless you promise to save them money or give them more for the same money.