Comments on: Wednesday Midday Links: JA Konrath Posts a Must Read Article and Dear Author Has Neat News

By: Jane

Jane — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:07:46 +0000

@ShayKeishon read one of those vintage books...not so good.

By: S. W. Vaughn

S. W. Vaughn — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:13:14 +0000

I’m participating in JA’s ebook advertising experiment (wherein he’s sold space at the end of his ebooks and includes excerpts from and links to other authors’ ebooks). I am currently the only excerpt in Truck Stop. :-)

Will be interested to see if it has any effect on my sales (the excerpt thingy is running through October and November). I think Joe has a lot of good out-of-the-box ideas, and he’s definitely a hard-working writer who takes the promotion end of the writing biz very seriously.

Plus, he’s a good writer. I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of his Jack Daniels books and some of his short stories.

By: Shay

Shay — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:26:11 +0000

Very cool, Jane, can’t wait to see what you suggest.

Has anyone checked out the Harlequin Vintage Collection Bundle http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/BP-8527162180 at Diesel ebook site? Fun stuff.

By: Nadia Lee

Nadia Lee — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:32:49 +0000

@Shannon Stacey:

BUT...without those traditionally published titles, would he sell worth a damn through Kindle? His cheaper, self-pubbed Kindle books sell well because he's Konrath, with a readership built by a hardcover series. I think somebody out there reading his post who decides to self-publish via Kindle instead of pursuing a NY contract is going to have a very different experience.

JA Konrath later clarified his post with the following:

I do not think that ebooks are able to replace the exposure, or money, you'd get with a print publisher. To All New Authors: JA says try the traditional route first. Find an agent. Land a deal with a big NY house. Ebooks aren't there yet. I'd hate to think some writer gave up on their print aspirations because of something I've said on my blog. I suggest you keep up the agent search. While I have no doubt others will be able to sell as many ebooks as I have, and probably many more, I still haven't made anywhere near the money I've made by being in print. Plus, everyone's situation is unique, and no writer should compare themselves to any other writer. Most of all, don't change the future of your career base don one man's ideas. Learns as much as you can, do research, get other opinions.

So I don't think he's saying everyone should just give up trying print pub and put stuff out via Kindle. Even though he made lots of money via Kindle sales, he's advising people that ebooks aren't there yet and the money isn't as good as print pub (assuming you care about things like money...).

By: Kim H

Kim H — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:22:44 +0000

Just wanted to comment on the blip about the incident at Goodreads – I sent that in to Jane, and thought I should mention that the author in question put on her big girl pants & apologized for patting the flying monkeys on their tiny monkey heads:P She sez she didn’t consider it from that angle – that her “thanks for the support” or rather, *cough* “heartfelt support”comments could be construed that way, and she thanked me (several times) for pointing it out. Not to be nitpicky about it, but this was after I pointed out to her that thanking these people for their behavior was highly inappropriate and could possibly be detrimental to her career – I think what I said was “Imagine your name being bandied around at Dear Author”:P
Nevertheless, she was very mature & gracious in admitting her mistake, and she took the criticism very constructively, so good on her. I’m planning to buy the book that caused the hoopla this weekend (and review it at Goodreads).
And speaking of Goodreads, kudos to them for doing exactly what Amazon should have done in the face of the now infamous Big Mac attack against Reba Belle.

By: Jessica G.

Jessica G. — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:42:50 +0000

I’ll buy that bundle just to support Harlequin for doing something so cool :)

By: Shannon Stacey

Shannon Stacey — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:23:15 +0000

Konrath does the math to figure out what he would be earning if he sold his NY published titles directly on the Kindle BUT...without those traditionally published titles, would he sell worth a damn through Kindle? His cheaper, self-pubbed Kindle books sell well because he's Konrath, with a readership built by a hardcover series. I think somebody out there reading his post who decides to self-publish via Kindle instead of pursuing a NY contract is going to have a very different experience. And I'm still desperately hoping Harlequin will digitally reprint The Sweetest Taboo (Blaze) by Alison Kent.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:27:24 +0000

Clearly we need to have a Harlequin Bundle suggested by the Dear Author Readers! That would be very fun.

By: maddie

maddie — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:25:39 +0000

You know I would actually buy a kindle if they Harlequin Book reissue their old out of print Harlequin Presents Books, authors like Anne Hampton, Margaret Pargeter, Patricia Lake and the likes.

I would love to have all of them in one E-Reader, that would be lovely.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:56:45 +0000

I love Bundles that they sell over at Sony.

By: library addict

library addict — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:43:47 +0000

That’s cool news, Jane. I hope Harlequin continues to “rerelease” more OOP gems in e-format.

I would love to get my favorite Lee Magner, Naomi Horton, and Carole Buck books in E. And the beginning books in Rachel Lee’s Conard County series.

By: SarahT

SarahT — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:29:38 +0000

I’m delighted to see that Jo Leigh’s Arm Candy will be part of the digital bundle! After our Twitter conversation, I looked for a used copy but balked at the prices plus international shipping. I’m so glad I waited.

Kathleen O’Reilly is another fave of mine and I haven’t read Just Kiss Me. Kay David and Kathryn Shay will be new-to-me authors.

Way to go Dear Author and Harlequin!