May 10 2012
News Dear DOJ: Agents Speak Out | Publishers Lunch – “The 13-member board of the Association of Authors Representatives has sent a letter to the Department of Justice opposing the proposed agency ebook pricing settlement with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. In a separate email, the AAR called on members “to express [...]
Apr 29 2012
In the past two weeks, we’ve seen two publishers engage in some experimental changes in the way they sell digital books. Sourcebooks launched a DRM free subscription site and TOR/FORGE announced it would be selling DRM free digital books beginning this summer. Traditional publishers have been quietly moving toward digital first programs for a couple [...]
Apr 27 2012
Some people have argued (Micah Bowers of Bluefire for example) that dedicated devices will go the way of the dodo bird and I’ve always disagreed. Seeing the rise of the affordable Kindle Fire, however, is making me wonder if Micah Bowers et al is correct. E Ink Holdings reports first loss in 10 quarters | [...]
Feb 20 2012
News An author by the name of Mainak Dhar has several self published books for sale and many of his books have an average of 4 stars with over 200+ reviews. The number of high ranking reviews is propelling sales. Alice in Deadland, one title, had been lingering on the #1 Kindle sci fi spot for [...]
Dec 4 2011
I’m concerned that publishers have a deep disconnect with readers. This shouldn’t be a surprise given that readers aren’t the customer of publishers, but recent events really highlight this. I have wavered on posting this article because on the one hand, do I really care what happens to publishers? Won’t I be able to find [...]
Nov 10 2011
In the UK, a self published author is suing a reviewer for panning his book. Chris McGrath, an online entrepreneur from Milton Keynes, who wrote and self-published a little-known book entitled The Attempted Murder of God: Hidden Science You Really Need to Know, has launched libel proceedings against Vaughan Jones, 28. He claims Mr Jones [...]
Sep 7 2011
Sometimes I forget what news pieces I’ve posted here so if I have posted this, please forgive my lapse in memory. Tech Crunch has actual details of the new Amazon Tablet. It’s 7″ and supports two finger multi touch gestures (instead of the 10 finger supported by the iThings). Runs on a modified Android platform [...]
Aug 9 2011
PubIt! asked Dear Author to participate in their review day event on Facebook. PubIt! posted blog summaries on its wall and invited self published authors to make short pitches. Our blog summary was that we wanted unusual historicals and erotic romances and were looking to review books between 50,000 and 80,000 words. Of course, there [...]
Jul 18 2011
Enjoy sites like Groupon or Living Social? If so, you aren’t alone. Around 50 million people have used Groupon inviting a hoard of copy cat social coupon sites like locusts to a wheat field. All Things D reports that Hearst Owned magazines will launch its own group commerce site that will launch this summer: The [...]
Jul 7 2011
I can hardly believe it is already Thursday. The holiday shortened week (for the US readers) and last week’s RWA conference has me all mixed up. Hopefully I will get caught up by Sunday. Item number one today is the news that we are going to host a Q&A with Maya Banks. Why Maya Banks? [...]
Jul 3 2011
Here is my list of things I learned from RWA 2011: Harlequin and Sourcebooks are really interested in what the reader has to say in all areas of the publishing process from the cover, titles, and content to how the stories are sold. They use their blogs, facebook and twitter accounts, and customer service emails [...]
Jun 28 2011
I asked Harlequin about a couple of things regarding the new royalty rate as well as whether Bob Mayer’s claims that Harlequin was inserting a non compete clause in its new contracts to prevent authors from self publishing. Here is their response (from Donna Hayes, CEO of Harlequin) Concern: These new rates aren’t actually better [...]
Jun 25 2011
Tor Books is launching an “Author Voices” digital initiative. Starting with RWA, Tor will be releasing free content exclusively for convention goers via a QR Code at the Tor booth and then after to the general public (for free) as an ebook download at most etailers. Amazon has a link up already. This free content [...]
Jun 21 2011
RWA is coming up and even though I have been degowned (as opposed to defrocked) I am going to meet up with editors, authors, publicists, and other bloggers and readers. As part of the TBR newsletter, I’ve offered some tips on packing. I’m a big believer in carry on only but this year will be [...]
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