Aug 31 2008
The rules for Author Promo Night Open Thread are as follows: The book has to be released in that month (i.e., anything released during the last week of April would be a May release) You can post for yourself or you can have a friend post for you if the idea of posting about your [...]
Aug 31 2008
Amazon is banking on the idea that dedicated eBook readers are what will drive paper book readers to the digital format. A recent article in September’s Searcher magazine argues that it is not. Nancy K. Herther, an anthropology and sociology librarian at the University of Minnesota Libraries, took a look at the history of ebooks, [...]
Aug 30 2008
Dear Ms. Janzen: I really liked the first Steele Street stories. One thing, in particular, is that they sounded very modern. Over time, however, because the books are similar to one another, I stopped being impresed by the fresh tone because, well, it wasn’t fresh anymore. And with extended exposure to anything, the flaws in [...]
Aug 30 2008
Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously. *** I glanced out at the Great Lawn as I sat alone on an iron park bench, trying to be [...]
Aug 29 2008
Two more Author Talk videos. I forgot to put the Kessler up last week.
Aug 29 2008
Last month we received an unusual request at Dear Author. We were asked to review something other than a book -’ a DVD set called "The Romance Collection: Special Edition." The 14 DVD set, which can be found here, retails currently on sale for $49.98 and contains nearly 30 hours of programming (not including the [...]
Aug 29 2008
Someone sent me twelve chapters of Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun (the story of Bella and Edward told from Edward’s POV) a few days ago. There was a bit of speculation as to whether this was an authentic Meyer voice or whether it was fan ficced. I leaned toward the latter. But apparently the chapters circulating [...]
Aug 29 2008
Starting October 1, Comcast will start capping its customers' Internet use. The cap will be set at 250 GB which is quite high. It's the equivalent of 124 standard definition movies. Comcast has, in the past, blocked traffic without informing consumbers by blocking peer to peer applications like BitTorrent. Time Warner and Comcast will look [...]
Aug 29 2008
Libraries are having two issues. First, patrons aren't returning books. Second, when the books are returned, they often come with a variety of junk inside them. An Arizona librarian reports everything from cash to toilet paper to muscle relaxants to a check for $10,000.00. Many libraries will keep the personal items to return to the [...]
Aug 29 2008
I read somewhere that Debbie Macomber has a mailing list of over 75,000 readers who receive postcard updates of her latest releases. Her first sale, HeartSong, was the first ever romance to be reviewed by Publishers Weekly. It’s hard to imagine that someone like Ms. Macomber ever worried about being published. But Macomber, like every [...]
Aug 28 2008
I’ve had the opportunity to purchase a gently used Kindle from a friend of mine but I’ve held off, thinking that there might be a new Kindle coming out in October. According to a report to the Times, though, Amazon says that there are no new Kindles slated for release in 2008. Update to Add: [...]
Aug 28 2008
Dear Ms. London: I can’t remember the last time I read a Julia London book. I thought that your books were more, well, flighty or frivolous. Maybe I got your name confused in my head with another author which happens not infrequently for me. In any event, I liked the plot of this story even [...]
Aug 28 2008
CL Wilson, author of the NY Times bestselling high fantasy romance series, Tairen Soul, writes about winged shape shifting cats. Her latest book, King of Sword and Sky, is due out September 30. According to a news report, a winged cat has been found in China. Apparently, the wings developed as a defense mechanism because [...]
Aug 28 2008
We have asked loonigrrl, who did the fabulous hosting of our inaugural “If You Like” series, to come and guest review for the blog. We hope you enjoy her contributions. *** Dear Ms. Kennedy: I was very pleasantly surprised by Enchanting the Lady, the first book in the Relics of Merlin series. I found the [...]
Aug 28 2008
Update per commenter: Black Lace is still going strong . . . the Black Lace site is being revamped now. Virgin’s erotica imprints are now owned by Random House, which might have something to do with the sites not being online at the moment. *** Superlibrarian Wendy noticed that the Black Lace website has been [...]
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