Dec 1 2009
Tuesday Midday Links: Dorchester’s Big Secret Sale
Reader Karen brings this great deal to readers:
I found this holiday code at Scooper Speaks blog. Today (and yesterday), all of the books on Dorchester’s site are 70% off. The promo code is Holiday70. (http://www.dorchesterpub.com/)
There’s no indication on the site that the sale exists. I called their 800 number to confirm before creating my account (which requires credit cad info before the promotion code entry is available). I’m thinking about placing another order today since i don’t own any Marjorie Liu books…
Go forth and buy!
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Here are links to a couple of book trailers from high powered authors: Born of Ice by Sherrilyn Kenyon and What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. These videos are quite different in look, feel, and tone. They both match the overall feel of the books but does one sell better than the other?
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The nook is delayed again and customers are not happy. (link via Teleread.org). The forum thread is interesting because there is discussion about the Spring Design lawsuit and debate over whether demand is causing delays. I have a hard time buying into why increased demand would cause delays in shipping for all orders. The pushback of release dates seems to me either a production issue or a legal one rather than – oh, we can’t ship out the thousands of nooks we have already produced because there is too much demand.
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Search Engineland has a live blog of the FTC Workshop on Journalism and the Internet.
Today, papers are in position of producing a product that’s liked but not considered needed by college grads. But you can’t reverse the internet revolution. You couldn’t if you tried. Nor would you want to, as it has benefits. Goal should be to extend the benefits broadly and ensure survival of journalism (not necessarily newspapers). Seattle PI is now online; Rocky Mountain News [I think] closed. Nearly 47,000 workers in journalism laid off, hardest in investigative and foreign coverage, as these are most expensive. Meanwhile in Trenton, where 50 reporters were covering the statehouse, now think he said only 10.
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Bookavore pleads with authors to a) stop describing every non white character’s race because the default assumption that all characters are white unless otherwise described is, well, irritating; and b) to stop using shorthand in YA books.
To go a bit further: look, I know WHY you create these mythical best friends, these girls who wave their hands in the air like they just don’t care, who pair Converse with tutus, who play viola in the morning and varsity soccer at night. It’s because they make your protagonists seem normal and relatable. Of course we all think other people are cooler than us (especially when we’re 14) and of course this is a good way to impress upon your reader that your main character is "JUST LIKE YOU!"
Send to Kindle
Dec 01, 2009 @ 11:44:12
I wonder if there is any evidence about whether book trailers help sales. I usually don’t bother watching unless they show up on a blog I read.
Does that make blogs the gatekeepers for book trailers?
ETA: I do remember waiting breathlessly for my first Kindle– from first of December to end of February 2008. But there were signs of Kindles being shipped to keep our spirits up. I suspect you are right about the possible legal problems. B&N’s position looks a bit iffy.
Dec 01, 2009 @ 12:54:45
I think you crashed the Dorchester site. Or is it always slow like molasses in January?
Dec 01, 2009 @ 12:58:41
@RStewie Um, oops? It is 70% off though.
Dec 01, 2009 @ 15:13:48
@DS: Similarly, I remember waiting breathlessly for my Sony 500, which was delayed by almost a year (or maybe more than a year?). I bought it the instant it was finally available in stores, and I bought the new Sony 505 before it was released. I’m sticking with the 505 for now, but I may upgrade sometime in the future.
I’m not sure if it’s because the Sony Reader came out so long ago, 3 years ago, that people have forgotten its release problems, or if nobody noticed the release problems because it was such an unknown (and then-unpopular) device.
For the nook, while I don’t know much about it, I had simply assumed they were having trouble meeting demand, just like all the other reader manufacturers.
Dec 01, 2009 @ 15:41:13
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the info on the dorchester site! My husband is very happy that my Christmas present from him is now on its way : )
Dec 01, 2009 @ 19:50:45
The Dorchester sale is real and you still have a few hours left. Sorry if the site has been slow. The sale, announced only to newsletter subscribers, has drawn a lot of traffic.
Dec 01, 2009 @ 21:12:16
I just stocked up on Jade Lee books at the Dorchester site. Thanks for passing this along!
Dec 01, 2009 @ 22:11:45
Hm, if you look at the views I’d say Kenyon’s is more popular *59,000 VS 2,000″-, it is much more appealing visually. The Phillips video looks disjointed and not well put together. I don’t like the whole mish-mash of photos rather than a cohesive whole. Phillips voice sounds very unprofessional and she does not sound excited about the book. I think the Kenyon one is much better and I’d be more inclined to buy her book if I did not know both authors books/ writing styles. As it is I’ll probably read both but I’ll borrow Kenyon’s and buy Phillips because I like Phillips so much.
Dec 02, 2009 @ 08:32:25
For some reason, I never look at trailers, and to be honest I wasn’t impressed with either. The Kenyon was too short, though it did seem to hit it’s style mark, and I agree with Helen R, Phillips seemed very disjointed.
I don’t think the Kenyon trailer would push me to buy the book (haven’t read Kenyon in years) and I’d buy the Phillips without a trailer. I’d actually buy the Phillips book without reading the blurb, so it’s probably not a fair comparison.
Dec 02, 2009 @ 08:34:30
@Tara Mari I only know a handful of readers who have ever said that they were convinced to buy a book from a trailer. If you look at most author videos on YouTube, they only have a few thousand views at the most.
I guess it is telling, as Helen points out, how many views the Kenyon has received.
Dec 02, 2009 @ 09:53:19
The few book trailers I’ve watched have actually turned me OFF the books they’re advertising. I think they’re a waste of time, pixels and author funds.