Dear Author » DABWAHA

Monday News and Deals: The Nooks Are On Sale

Jane — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:43 +0000

The Final Four of the DABWAHA is set. Karen Marie Moning’s Shadowfever looks to defeat Courtney Milan’s book, again. You see, Courtney Milan had two books in the tournament. One lost to Moning yesterday and Milan’s novella, Unlocked, goes up against Shadowfever in the early round on March 31, 2012. The other match is Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh v. A Lot Like Love by Julie James.

This weekend we completed the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. The winners can be seen here along with the prizes.

Barnes & Noble is selling the Nook Simple Touch and the Nook Color for $150 on eBay. That’s right. Two ebook readers, one low price. I’m not sure that this is a sign of anything good at Barnes & Noble but it’s a great price for people looking for a good priced digital reader. eBay. Via Nate, the Digital Reader.

Kobo books is having a 20% off coupon for with code: jmar23us20k at Kobo Books This coupon code expires tonight at 11:59 pm EST. A few other deals of note:

No One Lives Forever by Jordan Dane * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
No One Left to Tell by Jordan Dane * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
No One Heard her Scream by Jordan Dane * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S *Higher priced than the others but recommended *

Tuesday News and Deals: DABWAHA Updates, Asian Sexuality and Deals.

Jane — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:00:08 +0000

News

Second Chance Bracket:

Bracket busted? You get a Second Chance! Starting with the Sweet 16, pick your winners – and there’s prizes for this tourney, too!

Deadline: 3/21/2012 at 11:59:00 PM ET

This is a separate contest – your picks in this tourney don’t override your picks in the main tourney, in other words. The winner of the 2nd Chance Bracket will receive a Kindle Fire, a $100 Amazon giftcard, and an ARC of Echoes at Dawn, book 5 in the KGI series from author Maya Banks.

2nd place in the 2nd chance will receive a $50 gift card to either Amazon or B&N from Sarah Frantz and Eric Selinger, who are celebrating the publication of their academic collection of essays titled New Approaches in Popular Romance Fiction.

Have a look at the prizes page for more information on what’s going to be awarded with each round. And, yes, there is absolutely a “Wooden Spoon” prize for the worst bracket overall, so if your bracket is hopelessly broken, aim low and vote against yourself to try to score that prize.

The second chance tourney brackets are open through Wednesday, March 21. Then voting on the Sweet Sixteen begins Thursday, March 22!

I hope you’re having fun as much fun as we are as we play through. Next up: Sweet 16!

Scholastic made Hunger Games a bestseller before it even hit the shelves. Salon does an in depth piece about how the pieces fell into place for The Hunger Games and guaranteed it would be a success even before the first book was published. Of course, a lot had to do with the book itself but the Scholastic editing, sales, and marketing team made this book get noticed.

That spring, a full six months before “The Hunger Games” was set to publish, the official advance reader’s copies were among some of the most sought-after items at the conferences and conventions where publishers present their titles to booksellers and librarians. In early summer, Publishers Weekly, the industry’s trade publication, ran a story on how Scholastic had twice doubled the book’s print run in response to “early raves, particularly online, where commentary has lit up blogs and listservs.” The book was well on its way to bestseller status even before the cover art — a major conundrum for Scholastic — had been finalized.

I loved this piece by Jeannie Lin on the issue of whether the sexualization of the Asian male is objectification or equality. I think what Lin is saying but doesn’t state outright is that we need some Asian male man titty on the cover.

These references are old ones, but I don’t believe they are outdated. You still don’t often see Asian men in leading roles and when they are, they are allowed to be kung-fu masters, technical wizards or comic relief, but rarely are they sexy, romantic heroes.

In the interest of furthering racial equality, I bring you Lee Byung Hun.

Deals

A Charmed Place by Antoinette Stockenberg * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Keepsake by Antoinette Stockenberg * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Hollywood Headlines Mysteries by Gemma Halliday * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
She Woke Up Married by Suzane Macpherson * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
Highland Master by Amanda Scott * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
Circle of Desire by Carla Swafford * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S *preorder*
Leave No Trace by Cindy Gerard * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S *preorder, I believe this is a novella*
Desert Rain with Bonus Material by Elizabeth Lowell * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
Forget Me Not with Bonus Material by Elizabeth Lowell * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
Lover in the Rough with Bonus Material by Elizabeth Lowell * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
Remember Summer with Bonus Material by Elizabeth Lowell * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
Unstoppable by Laura Griffin * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S *novella*
The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton by Miranda Neville * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S *recommended and part of the DABWAHA tournament *
Out of Time by Samantha Graves * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
Darkness on Fire by ALexis Morgan * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
Lady’s Choice by Amanda Scott * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S *recommended and part of the DABWAHA tournament *
See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S *Hockey series*
The Trouble with Valentine’s Day by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S *Hockey series*
Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S *Hockey series*
Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
It Must Be Love by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
Daisy’s Back in Town by Rachel Gibson * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
Enslave by Cathy Yardley * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
Perilous Pleasures by Jenny Brown * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
Wanted: Undead or Alive by Kerrelyn Sparks * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
Nightfire by Lisa Marie Rice * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S *recommended for readers who like the single minded alpha male *
Hotter than Wildfire by Lisa Marie Rice * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S *recommended for readers who like the single minded alpha male *
Into the Crossfire by Lisa Marie Rice * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S *recommended for readers who like the single minded alpha male *
Cowboy Takes a Bride by Lori Wilde * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
Confessions from an Arranged Marriage by Miranda Neville * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S *April recommended read *
Are of Duke Hunting by Sophia Nash * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
Live to Tell by Wendi Corsi Staub * $9.99 * A | BN | K | S

DABWAHA Voting Is Set to Begin

Jane — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 03:52:25 +0000

The Round 1 Voting schedule has been posted, and voting will be intense for the next two days. The polls stay up for 12 hours each, and the trash talking and vote mongering has already begun. Then, just after the dust settles – Round 2! Voting will begin at midnight Central Time, on March 15th (which is just an hour from now)

Darlene Marshall and Susanna Kearsley’s elderly dogs have been trashtalking one another, and they’re not up against each other (yet?). Kearsley is not messing around, either: her Twitter avatar is her dog’s “Gaze of Hope,” and her teenagers helped her book make a video for the DABWHAHA as well:

Her book is TRAINING. With RAW EGGS. I love it.

But Marshall is up against Courtney Milan, who, as last year’s runner-up, brought her own dog into the fine art of trash talking.

And Jen McAndrews/Gwen Roman, author of Trail of the Tudor Blue, has a short-but-sweet request for votes:

Meredith Duran is ready, facing down Anne Mallory at high noon tomorrow, and the battles that begin at midnight CDT are not going to be pretty either. Sarah (Morgan) vs. Sarah (Mayberry) is going to be fun, as Morgan says she has been taking trashtalking courses, and Nalini Singh vs. Ilona Andrews could get ugly in a fast hurry.

Remember, all the voting takes place at the DABWAHA site, so steer your friends, relatives, readers, librarians, and folks off the street over to vote for the books you want to win. Plus, there are really awesome prizes for every round, including the first round.

So, who did you pick to win it all this year? What books are you voting for tomorrow? It’s going to by mayhem-tastic! Game on!

It’s Selection Sunday for DABWAHA!

Jane — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:13:24 +0000

First, the reader finalists, those voted in by, well, readers, are:

YA: Falling Under by Gwen Hayes
Contemporary: If You Hear Her by Shiloh Walker (Bro Magnet by Lauren Baratz Logsted was a close second)
Historical: A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran
GLBT: Hot Head by Damon Suede
Category: A Man of His Word by Sarah Anderson
Novella: Once Upon a Winter’s Eve by Tessa Dare (edged out Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews by one vote)
Crossover: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
PNR/UF: Radiant Desire by Inara Scott

And now: It’s bracket time! There are instructions on how to fill out your bracket online at the DABWAHA site. Please only fill out one bracket. If your bracket is totally shot to hell after the first round, don’t worry. We have a Second Chance bracket with a whole selection of really awesome prizes.

Game on, folks!

It’s time for the DABWAHA!

Jane — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:00:31 +0000

What is DABWAHA? It is a tournament of books. We pit 64 books against each other, fill out brackets predicting who will win, and vote vote vote.

The nomination slate is ready and seven out of eight books have been listed at the DABWAHA site. Why is one missing? Because it’s time for you to nominate the book you think should be included that isn’t listed right now.

Which book were we insane to leave off? Fire up your browser and head on over to fill out the form to enter your nominations.

A few words of caution: please make sure that the book is published in 2011 – but not late December 2011. Anything published the last week of December 2011 is counted as a 2012 book (we had a mighty discussion about it on our last podcast).

Please make sure that the book you’re nominating is not a reprint of a previously published book, or the paperback release of a 2010 hardcover.

And finally, please make sure to use the PRINT ISBN number (unless it is an ebook only book) so the results will compile correctly.

Selection Sunday is March 11, and that’s when we’ll be announcing the full slate of nominees and their seeds (1-8) including the reader nominated selection for each category. Then, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, March 11, 12 and 13, IT IS BRACKET TIME!

You’ll be able to start selecting your brackets for the tournament then, and the voting will begin on March 14.

This is a lot of dates to keep track of (even for us!) so we have a calendar created that tells you what’s happening when.

You can also view the calendar online.

Everything happens at DABWAHA.com, including prize announcements, round winners and prize awarding.

64 Books. One Winner. Game on!

Thursday Midday Links: Random House hires Sue Grimshaw, former romance buyer for Borders

Jane — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:13:05 +0000

DABWAHA Voting started up again. Courtney Milan and Loretta Chase are dueling it out in a very close race.

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Borders romance buyer, Sue Grimshaw, will be the new Editor at Large and Category Specialist for Random House acquiring “selective romance titles for hardcover, paperback and original digital lists”. Original digital lists. Sounds like Random House is following Avon Impulse who followed Harlequin’s Carina Press. Sue starts her new position on March 28. Congratulations Sue! Who’s next?

*****

Amanda Hocking, self publishing star, has purportedly signed a deal for four books in excess of $2 million with St. Martin’s Press. Hocking is tired of the publishing gig and just wants to write. One thing I thought was really curious about the Barry Eisler/Konrath exchange was Barry and Joe’s claim that self publishing saves time

Now, with digital books, once again there's no more profitable use of an author's time than writing.

…

Dealing with a legacy publisher can be quite time-consuming, and aggravating, too. Of course, publishers might say the same about authors! But that doesn't change the fact that publishers can take up a lot of your time.

Compare to Hocking who says

I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling e-mails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full-time corporation.

I think the big difference between Hocking and Konrath (and what may affect authors going forward) is reach. Konrath’s success is built on cumulative volume. He has over 24 stories for sale and the cumulative sales is what makes him a success. His individual sales must not be significant enough, however, to attract the deal that Hocking is getting. If you recall, Konrath shopped around his book, like Hocking, but did not have enough interest from publishers at the price Konrath wanted. Hocking must have broader and more mass appeal creating volume from a single title alone.

*****

A modern day artist recreates a few Mills & Boon covers. My favorite is the last one where it looks like the hero is choking her. Oh, I am sorry. Maybe he is just a face holder.

DA BWAHA 2nd Chance Tournament

Jane — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:00:57 +0000

Ahoy! Is your DABWAHA bracket shot to smithereens? Did you bank on the romance novel equivalent of the University of Pittsburgh and are now in 1156th place? Fear not – Pitt’s going home (ouch) but you get a 2nd chance! It is 2nd Chance Tourney time in Dabwaha-land! Simple as pie (mmm. pie).

IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU DID NOT ENTER THE FIRST TIME.

What Do I Do?

Step one: Cut a hole in a box. Ha. Kidding!

Step one: Fill out your 2nd Chance tournament bracket - note, fewer choices, more agony!

Step two: hit submit!

How Does it Work?

Same as the regular DABWAHA tournament does: voting for the DABWAHA counts for both tournaments. (But you knew that!)

When is the Deadline?

Deadline to submit your 2nd Chance bracket is 8pm CDT, 23 March 2010.

What Do I Win?

Prizes? Of course there are prizes!

The winner of the 2nd Chance Tourney wins a Kobo reader in the winner’s choice of color, PLUS a $50 gift card to the Kobo ebookstore. Thank you to Kobo for the awesome prize donation!

But wait, there’s more! The absolute worst 2nd Chance bracket wins a iPod Touch, 3rd generation (i.e. the one without the camera).

Best of luck, and may the best bracket win!

DABWAHA and other news

Jane — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:20:00 +0000

Don’t forget to vote. http://dabwaha.com/!!!

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The White House has come out with a strong statement in support of stricter copyright laws primarily focused on combatting live streaming. I understand that sports organizations are having a very difficult time with this. Because of the money behind this endeavor (primarily funded by movie studios, record labels, the porn industry, and sports entities), this is a largely bi partisan issue. I wouldn’t be surprised that we see stricter copyright laws including felony convictions of those involved in web streaming of sporting events or pornography. Of course, the by product of these stricter copyright laws will likely result in a stifling of creativity but I’ve become sanguine about this. I figure that the copyright laws have to become so strict as to foment revolt much like what is happening in the patent arena. In the meantime, I await the opportunity to start copyrighting ideas so I can start my litigation business of suing copyright infringers for using my ideas. I plan to copyright angel books, demon books, marriages of convenience, bands of brothers (whether human or paranormal), second chance lovers, and any other trope I can think of. (These last two sentences are snark but it is what goes on currently in the patent world).

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Thanks to Laura V and Sarah T, comes this article in the Guardian UK about how publishers are losing a PR battle over ebooks, according to the author. Sam Jordison states that the unpleasant whingeing of customers bleating about how prices are too high and that readers ignore the complications and costs of digitizing books. This is true. I don’t think readers pay much attention to the publishers’ costs or the rights’ issues when looking at whether they can actually buy a book or buy a book that the reader thinks is a fair price. Jordison also points to the influx of $.99 self published books which drive a consumer’s perception about value and cost of a digital book. Jordison is hopeful that Agency pricing will be deemed legal and publishers can return to the net book agreement of limiting discounts and establishing a price floor.

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Globe & Mail wonders whether mid list authors are endangered by digital books.

An e-book market cluttered with the self-published but unedited, and a beleaguered professional publishing arena where only a few bestselling writers can make a living is a particularly unfriendly scenario for Canada, a nation that has produced few bestselling genre writers but many mid-list literary writers.

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Rich Adin over at The Digital Reader posts about the appalling lack of quality amongst self published books. Rich finds that the reviews out there on indie published books are sparse and unhelpful and that he has been burned too many times by poor quality work from Smashwords. (Excerpts! use the Excerpt feature) Overall, though, I agree and I wondered as I read about 5 $.99 self published books whether existing traditionally published authors were actually hurting their brands by putting out shoddy work in order to take advantage of the self publishing bandwagon.

DABWAHA Schedule and Deadlines

Jane — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:00:29 +0000

This is the last day to fill out your bracket. Voting will begin at midnight tonight (CST) and will run in 12 hour blocks. Voting takes place at the dabwaha.com blog.

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This year, we had 8 books (1 in each category) nominated by readers and the top nominations in each category filled out the 64 books in the tournament. We have had requests for what other books were nominated. Here are the top ten books, with the finalist and the nine runners up as nominated by readers in each category. An asterisk denotes a tie.

YA
1. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Finalist)
2. Matched by Ally Condie
3. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
4. The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
5. The Duff by Kody Keplinger
6. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
7. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
8. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
9. Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
10*. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
10*. Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Series

1. Her Best Friend by Sarah Mayberry (Finalist)
2. A Little Consequence by Amy Knupp
3. Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly
4. LA Cinderella by Amanda Berry
5. The Admiral's Penniless Bride by Carla Kelly
7. The Vampire's Kiss by Vivi Anna
7*. America's Star-Crossed Sweethearts by Jackie Braun
7*. His Virgin Acquisition by Maisey Yates
7*. Poisoned Kisses by Stephanie Draven
7*. A Bride for Jericho Bravo by Christine Rimmer

PNR/SF

1. Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews (Finalist)
2. The Last Queen by Christine McKay
3. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
4. Touched By An Alien by Gini Koch
5. Lover Mine by JR Ward
6. Warrior by Zoe Archer
7. Scoundrel by Zoe Archer
8. Play of Passion by Nalini Singh
9. Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie
10. Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole

Novella

1. Storming the Castle by Eloisa James (Finalist)
2. The Ice Princess by Elizabeth Hoyt
3. Deep Freeze by Merline Lovelace
5. Midnight Assignment by Victoria Dahl
6. Unwrapped by Jaci Burton
7. Honeybone by AJ Llewellyn
8. Friendly Fire by Megan Hart
9. Little to Hex Her by Janet Mullany
10. Midnight Confessions by Robyn Carr

Crossover

1. Song of Scarabaeus by Sara Cready (Finalist)
2. Embers by Laura Bickle
3. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
4. City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane
5. All Clear by Connie Willis
6. The Native Star by MK Hobson
7. 32 Candles by Ernessa T. Carter
8. Stay by Allie Larkin
9. Changeless by Gail Carriger
10. Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

Contemporary

1. All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins (Finalist)
2. The Search by Nora Roberts
3. Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts
4. Slow Heat by Jill Shalvis
5. The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks
6. Backstage Pass: Sinners On Tour by Olivia Cunning
7. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas
8. Just One Taste by Louisa Edwards
9. The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins
10. Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

Historical

1. The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne (Finalist)
2. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
3. The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
4. Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas
5. Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas
6. Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt
7. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig
8. Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn
9. The Heir by Grace Burrowes
10. A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James

GLBT

1. Double Blind by Heidi Cullinan (Finalist)
2. Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane (Finalist)
3. Duck! by Kim Dare
4. Life After Joe by Harper Fox
5. Starting from Scratch by Georgia Beers
6. The Angel of 13th Street by Eden Winters
7. Somebody Killed His Editor by Josh Lanyon
8. The Pearl by Geoffrey Knight
9. The Gentleman and the Rogue by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon
10. ePistols at Dawn by Z.A. Maxfield

DA BWAHA – It’s Bracket Time

Jane — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 09:00:39 +0000

Sarah and I actually got an earlier start on the DABWAHA tournament and thus our brackets are ready for you to fill out now. Woot! Deadline for picking your bracket is March 15, 11:59 pm CST.

To recap. DA BWAHA is a tournament of romance books. Sarah and the DA reviewers put together a list of 64 books that we think were great reads in 2010. These 64 books are broken down into categories:

Historical
PNR/Science Fiction Fantasy Romance
Crossover (books that have a romance plot but romance isn’t the focus)
Series (these are category length. We may have to rethink this category for 2012)
Novella/Short story (this is a new category to give a nod to the emerging digital shorts)
YA
Contemporary
GLBT

Last year we had two categories devoted to paranormal romance and UF. We had PNR/SFF Romance and a UF category. This year, we discontinued UF category and put any UF books into the Crossover category. By deleting the UF category, we were able to make room for Novellas and Short stories (anything under a category length book).

A new feature this year was allowing the 8th book in each category to be voted in by readers. When you look at the individual posts over at the dabwaha.com blog, you can see which books have been nominated by readers. You may want to remember these books as they already have supporters.

Want to know how much each book costs? Datadiva put together this spreadsheet.

How to pick your bracket:

1. Click on the tournament entry link.

2. Fill in your name and email address. You can use whatever name you like, so long as you remember what it is.

3. Make your picks. New this year are drop down boxes. Each dropdown box will give you two choices. Pick the book you think is going to win in the polls that we will start on Wednesday:

4. Keep picking until you have a champion. Pay no attention to my picks. These were chosen for illustrative purposes only.

VERY IMPORTANT: Your picks will not show up right away because these brackets have to be uploaded by Jane manually. This is done approximately 3-4 times per day. If your bracket hasn’t shown up in 24 hours, definitely email jane at dearauthor.com. Also, print out a copy of your bracket and keep it in a safe place. Just in case.

Some interesting factoids about last year’s tourney.

Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh was picked to be the champion by the most brackets (43 times) but it was Ectasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione that ended up winning the day.
Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville, the other book in the championship round, was picked by only one person.

Sadly last year’s tournament file has been lost but you can view the results from 2009 tourney here.

Good luck! Sarah and I will be around today but specifically for a couple of hours beginning at 8 pm CST to help you fill out your bracket.

DABWAHA Time

Jane — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:00:04 +0000

It’s DABWAHA time petals (TM Laura Lee Guhrke’s Scandal of the Year). For newcomers, DA BWAHA is a tournament that Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches and Dear Author runs during the college basketball tournament. The college basketball tourney is called March Madness because of all the hoopla surrounding the event so please envision me throwing confetti around you while you read this post.

DA reviewers and Sarah have put together a list of finalists in 8 different categories. These can all be viewed here. This is where you start yelling at the referees (us) for being blind and missing the call and generally being incapable of calling a good game (if you’ve ever been to a sporting event this is de rigueur) . BUT! there’s hope because this year the 8th book in each will be nominated and voted by you the readers. Scoot yourself over HERE to do that until Saturday.

What comes next are the brackets. Between Saturday and midday Sunday, I will be working feverishly to seed and rank the books. Eventually all 64 books are placed in 4 regions, pitting the 64 votes against each other. This is the tourney site. Sunday you get to fill out your brackets.

Finally, you all vote. We host polls over at the DABWAHA blog in 12 hour increments. Trash talking and vote mongering is encouraged. The point is to win. (and get prizes like a poster sized version of The Perfect Play. INORITE?)

Confused? I’ll be online on Sunday for two hours beginning at 8 pm CST to assist you in filling out your bracket. You can email me jane at dearauthor.com or tweet me: @jane_l.

DA BWAHA Heads for the Championship Round

Jane — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:15:07 +0000

We are down to the FINAL TWO. It’s the Championship Round tonight at 10pm EDT/9pm CDT. GET READY to vote and scream to everyone you know.

This year’s DABWAHA Championship round is a verrrry interesting match! Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville is up against Ecstasy Unveiled by Larissa Ione. Gay mob romance vs. demon paranormal? WORD to the UP, Yo!

Before we get down to vote pandering action, let’s crown the winner for Round 5 – and yes, this time I double checked! The winner for Round 5, who will take home a selection of books from Berkeley/Jove, is J Levy – so email me, J Levy, with your mailing address at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom.

For the championship, there is some awesome prize booty on the line. The winner of the 2010 DABWAHA will win an iPad from AllRomanceeBooks. And the winner of the second chance tourney wins a Kindle courtesy of Samhain Publishing. Plus, there’s the Wooden Spoon prize: a selection of books for the worst DABWAHA bracket from the Oddshots Bloggers. And and AND Jennifer Estep has provided a prize pack for a RANDOM non winning bracketologist. There’s a lot on the line, so get ready to get your vote on.

Congrats – and GAME ON!

DABWAHA Final Four Voting Starts Tomorrow

Jane — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:00:22 +0000

So now: IT IS ON. It’s the Final Four, and then the championship, where the clicking gets crazy and the tension goes nuts.

Final Four voting will begin at 10:00 pm EDT/9:00 pm CDT on 3 April 2010, and run for 24 hours.

Then, the Championship voting will be held on 5 April 2010, beginning at 10:00 pm EDT/9:00 pm CDT. That voting round will also run for 24 hours.

So get ready to pimp your favorite, and keep your Tweetin’ Facebookin’ emailin’ pleadin’ beggin’ votin’ hand strong!

Wednesday Midday Links: DABWAHA Third Round Voting

Jane — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:05:07 +0000

It’s time for more voting. Only 16 books remain and it’s not just bragging rights for the DABWAHA and a iPad from AllRomanceeBooks on the line – there’s also bragging rights for the second chance tourney, with a Kindle from Samhain publishing up for grabs, too. It is on, folks. On, like books about Donkeys and Pong.

There will be four polls starting at midnight EDT tonight and the four polls will run for 24 hours. That’s a lot of time to get out the vote – by which we mean “shamelessly guilt, bribe and coerce people into voting for the book you want to win, provided you double-checked your bracket and are pimping for the correct book.”

Here’s some quick and handy links for you:

Voting is here!

DABWAHA Tournament brackets and standings are here!

2nd Chance Tourney is here!

Go forth, and pimp some voting!

There are low cost ebook readers dropping which may mean that the sub $100 eink reader may be on us before Christmas. Sony Reader has dropped the price of the Sony Pocket Reader (which I like quite a bit) to $169 until April 4. Kobo has another eink reader that has bluetooth capabilities for over the air synching (no need for a cord) that will be available at Indigo Bookstores in May and Borders in June for $149. Kobo Launches New E-reader! over the design but for $149.00, I think the design is okay.

I think the DVD wars are interesting to follow because there are a lot of parallels with the ebook market. Warner Bros refuses to give Redbox or Netflix new movies in a timely fashion, forcing a 30 day delay on them. WB has made a distribution deal with Blockbuster, allowing Blockbuster to get a 28 day exclusive for new movies. Blockbuster is on the verge of bankruptcy and is closing over 500 locations. Essentially WB is trying to prop up Blockbuster who was too slow to adapt to the Netflix business model.

The Book Smugglers have a post about upcoming books that they are interested in. The Boy with the Cuckoo Clock Heart looks charming in its oddity.

An anonymous poster (who looks familiar) at Absolute Writes notes some big changes at Medallion Press.

1) Medallion Press is now Medallion Media Group. The three branches are for publishing, movies and music.
2) The business hook-up with IPG has had no major positive effect on distribution, from those authors I spoke to. In fact, the issue of dealing with backcover blurbs and the like became a nightmare.
3) Today, the publisher cut loose some of their long-standing authors with regards to their upcoming releases. The company is paying out the full advance, but will not be publishing the books. Authors are recieving ALL their rights back, including characters used in series.
4) Today, some authors who were to be published in mass market and hard cover were notified that the books will only come out in ebook. Lets just say, thats not going over well.
5) One author in particular was told that the company focus is switching to ebook, rather than print.

DABWAHA: 2nd Round Winner (not same thing as 2nd Chance winner)

Jane — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:39:09 +0000

Round two of the 2010 DABWAHA is over – and our winner is Mary Kennedy. Congratulations, Mary! EMAIL ** Email me with your mailing address, please, and we’ll hook you up with your prize.

The prize? Oh yeah – it’s hot awesome.

The Round 2 prize is being provided by author Maya Banks (thanks Maya!) and includes a $50 GC to Amazon or BN (reader’s choice) and a book package that includes signed copies of Sweet Surrender, Sweet Persuasion and Sweet Seduction and an ARC of The Darkest Hour.

And don’t forget – if your bracket is shot to hell by all those pesky upsets and those Briggs vs. Briggs or Singh vs. Singh matchups, you can still compete for fun and awesome prizes in the Second Chance Tournament. The winning bracketeer is going to get a brand new Kindle from the fine folks at Samhain.

Jennifer Estep, author of the new Elemental Assassin series, is contributing a $50 Amazon gift card, a copy of Spider’s Bite and an e-ARC of Web of Lies? And matching bookmarks, of course. Because you can never have too many bookmarks. This prize will go to a RANDOM non-winning Second Chance bracketologist. Hopefully someone tied for 500th place.

So you can head on over and pick new brackets and be hopeful once again.

2nd Chance Tournament Open for DABWAHA-ers

Jane — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:18:04 +0000

Is your bracket destroyed? Did your picks go awry? Do you find yourself tied for 500th place and full of despair? Weep no more, bracketeers, because our 2nd Chance Tourney is created just for you. The stakes aren’t as high but the prizes are just as fine. (Note: anyone can participate, even if you didn’t sign up the first time around or if you are placed 10th or 860th).

The winning bracketeer is going to get a brand new Kindle from the fine folks at Samhain.

Jennifer Estep, author of the new Elemental Assassin series, is contributing a $50 Amazon gift card, a copy of Spider’s Bite and an e-ARC of Web of Lies? And matching bookmarks, of course. Because you can never have too many bookmarks. This prize will go to a RANDOM non winning bracketologist. Hopefully someone tied for 500th place.

Go forth and pick new brackets and be hopeful once again. Bracket entries close on March 24, 8 pm EST.

Round One Winner: Seattle Heather

Jane — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:36:33 +0000

Congrats to Seattle Heather, who emerged the victor after Round One of the DA BWAHA. She receives a huge awesome package of books from the authors at the Unusual Historicals blog, including:

Sherry Thomas – Not Quite a Husband
Margaret Mallory – Knight of Pleasure, Knight of Desire
Lisa Marie Wilkinson – Fire at Midnight
Maureen Lang – My Sister Dilly, Look to the East
Elizabeth Lane – On the Wings of Love, His Substitute Bride
TJ Bennet – The Legacy
Michelle Styles – Sold and Seduced
Zoe Archer – Half Past Dead
Lorelie Brown – Jazz Baby (ebook)
Carrie Lofty – Scoundrel's Kiss
Jade Lee – The Concubine, The Dragon Earl

Super thanks to the authors for donating the prize, and mad props to Seattle Heather. As usual, the standings change after each vote, so Round Two will likely look entirely different after the voting ends.

Good luck!

DABWAHA Voting for Round Two Begins

Jane — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:00:19 +0000

We are already into round 2. The voting link is here. EVEN IF YOU DID NOT FILL OUT A BRACKET, you can still vote.

The voting schedule is in 12 hour blocks to accommodate people in all timezones. My instructions were apparently hard to read last time so I’ll try to make it a little simpler. The polls open at midnight and noon each day and run for 12 hours. Today, the round 2 polls opened at midnight, March 19, 2010 EST. The first set closes at noon on March 20, 2009 EST and the next set starts again until midnight.

Keep checking about every 10-12 hours and you should catch each round of voting. After the voting for Round 2 is over, we will unveil the second chance bracket. Huzzah for second chances!

DABWAHA Voting Will Commence Soon

Jane — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:31:16 +0000

The time for filling out the brackets is closed and the time for voting, trash talking, vicious vote gathering, and the ruining of other brackets is ON. The voting commences at midnight, March 18, 2010 EST. (That’s tonight). The voting link is here. EVEN IF YOU DID NOT FILL OUT A BRACKET, you can still vote.

The voting schedule is in 12 hour blocks to accommodate people in all timezones. For Round 1, please observe the following times:

Round 1, Set 1 of 4: March 18, 2010, 00:00 am to March 18, 2010, 12:00 pm
Round 1, Set 2 of 4: March 18, 2010, 12:00 pm to March 19, 2010, 00:00 am
Round 1, Set 3 of 4: March 19, 2010, 00:00 am to March 19, 2010, 12:00 pm
Round 1, Set 4 of 4: March 19, 2010, 12:00 pm to March 20, 2010, 00:00 am

DABWAHA Update: Get to Filling Out Your Brackets

Jane — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:51:07 +0000

What could be better or worse than 666? 999 – the total number of entries allowed by the tournament software. And we’re getting close to that number, much to our surprise and delight!

So heads up: bracket pick time ends tonight at 8pm EST – OR when we hit 999 entries, whichever comes first! As of 12:30 pm EST we had over 780 entries, so, in the words of philosopher and sage Larry the Cable Guy, “Arrange the completion of your tasks post haste!”

If you want to check and see if your entry is showing up, here is the place to do it. (Use Ctrl/Command + F to search and find your name). Remember to only enter once for fairness to everyone. If you have entered more than one time and would be willing to delete an entry, please email me jane at dearauthor dot com.

Voting will begin tonight – YES TONIGHT – at midnight EST at the DABWAHA Blog, and there will be sets of multiple polls running for twelve hours so as to make all the time zones happy. We’re sluts for your time zones like that.

Any questions – let’s hear ‘em.