Dec 13 2006
Dear Ms. Shinn, Once again I’m lost in the world of Samaria. Every time I pick up one of these novels, I feel transported to a different place and time. Some of the characters I like, others I despise but they all feel real to me. They have hopes, dreams, fears, plans. But let me [...]
Dec 13 2006
Dear Ms. Holly: Whenever I think of erotica, my list always includes you. I remember that the first modern erotica book I read was menage. It was such a different story for me at the time. It was the first story I ever read that featured a menage. Since that time, you have moved from [...]
Dec 12 2006
Interesting article at The Register about falling ITunes sales. One analyst suggested that the problem is the DRM which prevents the song purchased at ITunes from being played on another device. A complaint I made about Sony’s Reader and its proprietary ebook scheme. Sales show that more people are buying CDs than digital downloads. The [...]
Dec 12 2006
Dear Ms. Francis, A friend recommended “Free Spirit” to me as a good dark fantasy novel. As I read it, I was surprised that I was liking it as much as I was since its type of heroine can sometimes drive me batty. Diesa isn’t resigned to the fact that she’s now a slave. Despite [...]
Dec 12 2006
According to the Association of American Publishers, net sales of books in October were up 13.8% but down overall by 0.3%. Among the categories that say gains in October: E-books, up 34.2%, to $2.1 million Adult hardcover, up 29.4%, to $295.1 million Adult mass market, up 25%, to $76.4 million Losers in October Children’s/YA paperback, [...]
Dec 12 2006
The advertising firm of Spiers New York conducted a survey which revealed that 18% of readers have visited a publisher’s website and 23% have visited an author’s website. So, I guess if you don’t have an online presence, you may be missing out on giving nearly a quarter of your potential readership information on your [...]
Dec 12 2006
Dear Ms. Bujold: There has always been a low grade chatter at romance websites and listservs about how awesome the Miles Vorkosigan/Naismith series is. But there are alot of books in that series and if you read my series post, you would know I have a little issue with commitment. A number of the ladies [...]
Dec 11 2006
Chère Madame Florand, Until I happened to look down while passing a shelf in Waldenbooks I had no idea your book existed. Thank God for serendipity. I haven’t laughed so hard over the course of an entire book in a long time. I’ve never been to Paris but after reading about how you met your [...]
Dec 11 2006
For Sales ending December 2, 2006. Hardcover DEAR JOHN, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner, $24.99.) An unlikely romance between a soldier and an idealistic young woman is tested in the aftermath of 9/11. #4 FIRST IMPRESSIONS, by Nora Roberts. (Silhouette, $17.95.) Seeking peace, a wealthy businessman retreats to a small town, but his lovely and charitable [...]
Dec 11 2006
Alison Kent asked last week what Wendy, Superlibrarian thought was good promotion. Promotion is largely in the hands of authors, particularly new authors. I won’t begin to speculate on why publishers don’t spend more money on promotion. I have to guess that there simply is not a high enough return on investment to warrant it. [...]
Dec 11 2006
Holly Lisle has contacted me and accused us of engaging in libel. She has claimed that we have lied and misconstrued her statements in the post that was published last week. We suggest that you readers, if you have any question in your mind about what she said, read her blog posts here, here and [...]
Dec 10 2006
Cory Doctorow wrote that giving away his books has made him alot of money. He acknowledged that there is no empirical evidence to suggest that giving away books has increased his print sell through numbers but that his books have sold better than other authors at similar points in their careers and have outperformed his [...]
Dec 9 2006
Dear Ms. Enoch: This is the third in the series and I would rate it better than the last one but still not as good as the first. Enoch has pretty good knack for setting up a heist and bringing in the kind of Thomas Crown Affair aura to it. My main problem with the [...]
Dec 8 2006
Warner books are hardly ever released in ebook format so I was quite surprised to see Ereader.com release Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt. I haven’t found it in my favorite “Lit” form so Ebookwise readers are out of luck right now but Raven Prince is a good read, and I recommend it to those who [...]
Dec 8 2006
American Booksellers Association and Ingram Digital Ventures have agreed to allow BookSense.com booksellers to sell ebooks in Palm, Adobe, and Microsoft formats. (What, no Sony BBeB?). Via ShelfAwareness Does this mean Amazon is cut out of this loop as well? This summer, Amazon refused to carry any ebooks distributed by Lighting Source, the Ingram e-distribution [...]
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