Comments on: Hot Books for Fall: Spotlight on Avon/William Morrow

By: vanessa jaye

vanessa jaye — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:53:45 +0000

Thanks Anji. I can live without the video. I just checked my library, but they don’t have the book. I’ll have to check out Holly’s post when i get home, Dear Author is one of the very few blogs I can check into from work. Blogspots, LV, et al, –most especially Facebook(!) lol– are all blocked.

By: Anji

Anji — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:47:57 +0000

So I have no desire to read a book and disrupt my reading experience by watching an author's commentary?

Me too – I’d rather be able to take the book with me on my reading device… Plus, I’d rather read a brief commentary or find such a video on the author’s website. No, I’d rather buy the straight ebook than the video ebook,

By: Ann Bruce

Ann Bruce — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:36:04 +0000

Personally, I’ve never watched a movie with the director’s/writer’s/producer’s commentary. So I have no desire to read a book and disrupt my reading experience by watching an author’s commentary?

Does the author’s commentary add any value for other readers?

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:52:47 +0000

I think Holly at Bookbinge.blogspot.com has watched them all. I watched only the first one and I think that there are about 5 of them interspersed through the book. I can’t recall. They all include Victoria Alexander, the author, talking about the book. The first one is the inspiration for the book, IIRC.

By: Anji

Anji — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:44:24 +0000

Went and took a look. The one sold at the etailers must not include the video:

Yup, I borrowed the ebook from my library (which is how I knew it was available in Mobipocket), and it didn’t include video. Anyone who has seen the video, please enlighten me – what did I miss out on?

By: Kathryn S

Kathryn S — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:41:05 +0000

First of all, I’m tickled at being mentioned. Makes me feel like I’m sitting at the adult table instead of the kids’ now. lol.

And Emma — it’s all about sales. UK set historicals seem to be what work best for Avon in terms of sales. Obviously other houses can make them work, but Avon’s not in the business to lose money — or have their authors not sell books. I’m sure if the powers that be found a great American set book that they thought they could market and sell to it’s potential then they would. Meanwhile, I know that doesn’t make you like it, but I hope that it at least makes the decision easier to swallow. :-)

Kathryn

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:28:30 +0000

Went and took a look. The one sold at the etailers must not include the video:

OEBFF Format (IMP) [180 KB], SECURE MOBIPOCKET FORMAT (105 KB], SECURE MICROSOFT READER FORMAT (441 KB] – Requires Microsoft Reader 2.1.1 for PCs, or Microsoft Reader 2.2.2 on Pocket PC 2002 handheld devices. Some older Pocket PCs can be upgraded. Learn More., SECURE EREADER (FORMERLY PALM) FORMAT (86 KB], SECURE ADOBE READER 7 FORMAT (979 KB]

Those files are too small to include any video.

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:24:09 +0000

How interesting. I wonder how the video is delivered. May have to go buy to see.

By: Anji

Anji — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:19:49 +0000

Lady Amelia’s Secret Lover is also available from Fictionwise and Books On Board in the the standard ebook formats: Adobe, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket and eReader – and it’s cheaper at both websites than on the Avon website (Fictionwise offers a 5% Micropay rebate that makes it cheaper than 3.99, and Books On Board is even cheaper).

By: vanessa jaye

vanessa jaye — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:18:09 +0000

The problem I had with LAL is that it is yet another encrypted format which requires a software download.

Drat. I was going to mention that I’ve only bought e-books from the usual suspects (EC, SAMHAIN), and wondered if the transaction would differ with AVON. I don’t have a reader, so being tethered to my pc is par for the course. Glad to hear there are no pop ups, though. Some sites drive me buggy with all those rollover popups. What do you mean by, released into the stream of commerce? Massmarket PB?

uhm… now that this announcement is out, will you be posting the review afterall? This books does sound a bit different from the usual. I think I just realized that I like marriage in trouble plots, when done well.

By: Emma

Emma — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:16:34 +0000

Sorry, but Avon slipped off my must-buy list when they stopped publishing American-set historicals. They claim readers aren’t receptive to them. My response to that is, HUH? Gee, if that’s the case, I wonder why all the other pubs don’t practice good business sense and stop publishing them as well?

By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:01:06 +0000

Holly says that LAL is pretty good. I meant to review the ebook release but was going to wait until it was released into the stream of commerce and then forgot.

The problem I had with LAL is that it is yet another encrypted format which requires a software download. It also requires you to be tethered to your computer. The videos aren’t really popups though, as much as embedded in between the pages. It was easy to skip them.

I think that the better idea would have been the ebook file and then podcasts that all could be loaded onto a portable reading device.

By: vanessa jaye

vanessa jaye — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:39:34 +0000

That ebook, Lady Amelia’s Lover, looks interesting. Juries out on the interactive aspect of it, though. I’d like to read it through without the pop-ups, then go back and view them.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:12:28 +0000

Thanks, Jeaniene!

By: Jeaniene Frost

Jeaniene Frost — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:04:19 +0000

I’m flattered my publisher mentioned my book, but as they didn’t include the series title (which is on the cover) I wanted to clarify: HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE is the first novel in the NIGHT HUNTRESS series. This series will feature the same hero/heroine. So book one doesn’t end with a happily ever after. My hero and heroine WILL get their HEA, but it doesn’t happen in the first book.

Just wanted to make mention of that, since there’s a link to buy the book, but no mention of it being a series (which I know turns some readers off, so I wanted to give a head’s up :)

By: Jayne

Jayne — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:24:34 +0000

I almost dread asking how many unmarried characters Laurens has left to marry off. Will she descend to matching up the chambermaids to the butlers before it’s all over with?

By: Anji

Anji — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:19:37 +0000

Just curious – how well are Stephanie Laurens’ s titles selling now compared to 1999/2000/2001, at the beginning of her Cynster books?

By: Kristie(J)

Kristie(J) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 10:33:37 +0000

We are looking for deliciously romantic historical novels for all parts of the list, set primarily in Great Britain before 1900,

Gee – surprise!