Tuesday Mid Day Links RoundUp: The Medieval Chronicle

A short piece in Publisher’s Weekly notes that   July booksales fell 0.5% and down 2.5% for the year.   The good thing for bookstores is that the new Dan Brown book is out.   Increased foot traffic in stores will hopefully lead to an increase in book sales over all.    M.J. Rose jump started a twitter campaign yesterday to get people to make recommendations of what book to buy with the Dan Brown purchase: #buyplusbrown.

Via reader GrowlyCub is this article on CNN regarding the rise of ebook readers.   At least one author sees this as a positive because of the lower costs of digital publishing can lead to more diversity in publishing:

That raises the question: What will happen to printed books?

“E-books will gain, especially in the indie publishing market, making it far easier for a company or individual to sell a quirky, unique book for little money and see profits almost immediately,” said Jessup, the Pennsylvania author and e-book reader.

Smashwords is helping authors provide books to soldiers.   Through Operation eBook Drop, authors can email soldiers 100% off coupons that the soldiers can use to download free ebooks.

we’ll encourage Smashwords authors to email Ed to opt-in to participate. On a regular basis, as Ed receives requests from deployed soldiers, he’ll pass these requests on to the authors, who will directly email the soldiers hyperlinks to their book pages at Smashwords, along with Smashwords coupons which the troops can redeem to download the book in multiple formats, readable on any e-reading device.

BCM Sydney won the ad account for Mills & Boon. In the article it noted that it would be aiming for a younger audience.   One in five books sold in Australia is a Mills & Boon. Not just a romance, but a Mills & Boon romance.   Incredible.

Leah Hultenschmidt posts previews of the upcoming Dorchester books.   I liked L.J. McDonald’s Battle Sylph cover. It would make me pick up the cover in a bookstore. It’s kind of like the Angel of Death from the Raiders of the Arc is shooting from his eyes though.   (Don’t look directly into the sun!)

There is a new webzine available to Medieval lovers.   Called the Medieval Chronicle and located at   www.TheMedievalChronicle.com

, the e-newsletter aims to entertain and inform readers about the Medieval time period.

There are also articles written by modern day troubadours, architects and builders, artisans, etc who love the medieval period as much as we do. Each issue introduces you to a personage of royal birth in Keeper of the Realm. Bits of trivia will entice you In Days of Yore. Discover how they kept time in The Medieval Year and Canonical Hours. Learn about the role of a lady in waiting in A Day in the Life.

The Miedeval Chronicle will cover the following time periods:

• Early Middle Ages – 476 AD to 1000 AD (encompasses the Dark Ages)
• High Middle Ages – 1000 AD to 1300 AD
• Late Middle Ages – 1300 AD to 1520 AD
• Tudor Period – 1485 AD to 1603 AD
• Elizabeth Age – 1558 AD to 1603 AD

Elizabeth Chadwick writes about the relationship between a knight and his war horse. Tanya Anne Crosby tells of the importance in placing the right castle in the right time period and location when writing your book. Ashland Price takes us into the world of Halloween which was first known as the Vigil of Samhain. A new writer, Lauri Rawlins-Betta, will begin a series on religion and how it dictated the waking and sleeping hours of the medieval person’s life. Know when the organ was first played? You will after reading composer Michael Eglin’s article. And this is only the beginning.