One of the new front page highlights is the Featured area which shows the last four reviews. Because we are a review site, I feel like that content sometimes gets lost. All new content shows up in reverse chronological order under the Featured area.

One other thing we are unveiling is the Advanced Search page. This will be more and more robust as we do some backend changes to the database by as of now, it is easier to search and find content here at Dear Author.

Globe and Mail writes about the year of 2009 and the upheavals and the opportunities:

One positive result of the upheaval has been to "democratize" the industry, according to Nelson, giving smaller publishers a chance to bid on promising titles once monopolized by the majors, whose acquisition budgets have gotten smaller.

Speaking of small publisher success, OR Books, announced that it’s very first title, Going Rouge, has become a New York Times Bestseller. The only way that a reader could initially get the book was to order a digital copy or a POD copy directly from OR Books which cut down on the print run costs and the returns from resellers freeing up money to spend on advertising. OR then sold the paperback rights to HCI. It is now a NYT Bestseller.

Romance was on the front page of Daily Kos, one of the most popular political blogging sites on the internet. It is an awesome, articulate and pro romance article. Mainstream may never give the genre the recognition and respect it deserves, but the internet is democratizing the reach of opinions.

I’m sure there are a hundred other myths to be attacked, and none will die easily. But in the end, even if they were mostly true, the disgust for romance novels and their readers would still look more like disdain for women and feminized culture than anything else.

If you are an ebook reader with a tethered device, the manufacturer or reseller is looking at your reading habits. Electronic Freedom Frontier has a must read piece on an ebook buyer’s guide to privacy. (Thanks, Phyllis, for the link).

In other words, your Kindle will periodically send information about you to Amazon. But exactly what information is sent? Amazon’s wording -’ “information related to the content on your Device and your use of it” -’ reads so broadly that it appears to allow Amazon to track all content that users put on the device, regardless of whether that content is purchased from Amazon. Some security researchers have indicated that the Kindle may even be tracking its users’ GPS locations. Is this the future of reading?

Related posts:

1. Tuesday Midday Links: Harlequin Horizon’s, A self publishing venture
2. Tuesday Midday Tech Links: BN’s Reader Is Called Nook. Not a Joke
3. Tuesday Midday Links: Stephen Covey Decouples

****

Ursula K. LeGuin charges the Authors Guild with selling authors down the river by entering into a settlement agreement with Google. The Authors Guild responds by saying that it couldn’t allow a court ruling on the case because if Google won and the scanning and snippet display were considered fair use any Tom, Dick or Jane with a scanner and time could set up a search engine of books.

****

Amazon claims that on Christmas Day it sold more ebooks than physical books. This is hardly surprising since Kindle was a hot Amazon gift item and what else are you going to do when all the stores are closed but download music, movies and books? Of course, as always, Amazon doesn’t release numbers. As for Barnes and Noble, apparently unprepared for the onslaught of people who got nooks for Christmas wanting to actually use the devices, the retailers servers crashed and the nook was unable to complete people’s download requests for all of Christmas Day.

****

Washington Post writes that there is a conflict brewing over ebooks because consumers’ desires aren’t being met by publisher business plans. As customers move toward wanting instant access to all books published, publishers are working to funnel customers back to the retailers. The Post hasn’t quite caught on to the publishing mindset because it ends with this:

But if the publishers want a role in the e-books business, they’ll need to get over it and get on with it, embracing lower-priced e-books with higher author royalties. That seems unlikely. Because it’s now clear that publishers just don’t want to listen to what their customers are telling them.

We know that the publishers are listening to their customers. It’s just that the customers aren’t the readers. In Carolyn Reidy’s 2009 year end statement, she clearly defines the customers as the resellers:

The U.S. bookselling marketplace has been truly lackluster, and year-on-year sales at most of our major customers have declined significantly.

****

The rumors of the Apple Tablet are heating up with discoveries of a website called iSlate having been purchased by Apple and that they have rented a stage at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for late January. All signs point to a major product rollout. You can read a roundup of the Apple Tablet rumors here. Essentially it sounds like an announcement of a 7-10″ tablet running around $500-$1000 available sometime in early to mid 2010.

****

Random House makes a move in the right direction by making more of its digital books available internationally. English language books will be made available worldwide, for any region Random House owns (or believes to own) the digital rights. I hope more publishers and authors will do this because it doesn’t make sense to leave piracy the only available path for international digital readers.

****

Finally, All Romance eBooks has over 170 novellas, short stories, and a few novels for free at its webstore. I haven’t looked at the list sufficiently to tell you what is worth downloading except for this book by Sarah Mayberry. Home for the Holidays is quite a good read and it’s a steal at the price of $0.00.

Related posts:

1. Ebooks Does Not Equal Free Books
2. Wednesday Midday Links Roundup: More Casual Gaming for Romance Authors
3. Daily Links Round Up: Authors Losing Their Shit & FREE Kindle Books

***

1)   What exactly are you offering?   I have read romance but is it spicy romance, erotic romance, fantasy romance, contemporary, historical, romance with were tentacle sex?

k2 (Kassia Krozser): As tempting as the were-tentacle romance sounds on paper, so far we haven’t encountered great execution. We are, however, very excited about the possibility of a story featuring a were-faux pug, though I suspect, for obvious reasons, said faux pug is more sidekick material than hero. We shall see. Nobody can resist a pug, right?

When it comes to reading, my personal tastes are varied, making me a typical romance reader. Which is one way of saying that we’re looking at different types and styles of the genre. And while this leads somewhat into subsequent questions, we’ll be looking for really good stories and paying attention to what our readers really like (or really hate). The trick is to offer enough variety to tempt readers while encouraging them to try something different.

DL (Don Linn): A good story that follows the basic arc (which is the basis of all literature when you cut to the chase) with believable characters and great dialogue gets me every time. I don’t care what you call it. That’s part of what’s exciting to me about what we’re trying to do.We can live within the genre but step out with new authors or subject matter without somehow breaking the bond of trust with the community of readers.

KM (Kat Meyer): Like Kassia and Don have said, we’re more invested in delivering great stories then we are on focusing on any one sub-genre. This makes it a little harder for me in some respects — I may have to spend a bit more time on wooing readers across the lines of their favorite sub-genres. But, I think if we consistently deliver fantastic writing and characters, we will find readership no matter what the sub-genre.

KB (Kirk Biglione): note, were-faux pugs and faux were-pugs are entirely different creatures.

2)   What will Quench be providing readers that they can’t get somewhere else?

k2: Every publishing company/imprint differentiates itself in editorial taste. Berkley, Samhain, Pocket, Harlequin (oh, the variety!), Loose-ID, and so on. Readers tend to gravitate toward publishers/imprints they know will give them something they’re going to love (though, you know, it’s not always a given!). While house styles — that certain something defining each imprint — evolve over time, the sensibility of the editorial team is what makes the books stand apart (in fact, it’s when publishers fall over themselves to capitalize on trends or styles owned by their competition, without having a strong perspective of their own, that the readers suffers the “been there, read that” syndrome).

All of which is a long way of saying that our editorial perspective will be the difference. We’re hiring very talented editors, and their eye for talent and great stories will be the thing that sets us apart from other publishers. The fact that our taste and style will differ complements other publishers; it would be boring for readers and authors if everyone offered the same style, same stories, same viewpoint.

KM: Another thing that Quench readers will be getting is a commitment to a quality reading experience. We’re investing heavily in editing – both developmental and copy editing. We are working with some very talented artists and designers to make sure the covers and formatting are far above par. And, we are going to great lengths to make sure readers can purchase and read our books how they want, with as little hassle as possible.

3)   You all come from very disparate backgrounds and other than  Kassia, aren’t long time romance readers. How can we trust that you  are going to be providing us actual romance stories?

k2: While I’ll let the others address this in their own way, the editorial team will be in charge of acquiring titles. As we branch out to other imprints/genres, we’ll be working with experienced professionals in those areas as well. I think it’s possible to have both fresh perspective  and familiarity with the genre.

KB: I see our disparate backgrounds as an advantage. It takes many different skills to build a digital publishing house. It’s true that we’re not all long-time romance readers, but I can assure you that long-time romance readers will be making all of the important editorial decisions.

KM: Suffice it to say that the editorial team – starting with Kassia — will have one heck of an impeccable romance pedigree. Expect some news on this in the very near future. The beauty of Quartet is we all have different strengths and we’re all very good at listening to each other.

DL: Our hope at Quartet is to be good listeners, to learn what this community values, to earn acceptance as a contributing member, to build a mutually rewarding relationship with its members over time. We hope they’ll be willing to take a chance on us based on our backgrounds, but we fully intend to earn their trust through our publishing program.

4)   Will Quench books be available at other vendors?

k2: Yes! It’s important to have books available where readers shop. Anything less is a disservice to our readers.

KM: Absolutely. We have partnerships in the works with a number of vendors. We’ll be making official announcements in the near future, but expect to find Quartet Press/Quench titles available at all major online book retailers, as well as the major romance book retailers, and in some up and coming online venues that we’re very impressed with and excited about.

5)   Why should a prospective author submit to Quench instead of  somewhere else or even instead of self publishing?

k2: Good question, and one every author should ask before submitting to any publisher. I’m sorry, but there’s so much more to publishing than throwing together a cover in Photoshop and opening a Paypal account. I’m big on authors checking their egos and focusing on what’s right for their careers. If you’re only in this business to say you’re published, without regard to what that really means, then your priorities are wrong. No career can grow from poorly written, poorly edited, poorly marketed books.

One point that I think is important, and without judging the business plans of others, we do not exist to publish books written by any of the Quartet partners. To my mind, it creates a conflict for everyone involved, and I’d rather not go there.

We’re focused on quality — this means good stories and professional editing. It means making sure our books look good and are readable in whatever format our customers choose. It means a commitment to marketing our books and authors. It means making sure the basics, like title management and royalties, are in place. It means, frankly, making sure the publisher is run like a business, even though books are creative endeavors.

I’m not one who raises her nose at self-publishing — I’ve been around too long to discount the success some authors find. But it’s not easy. Not only do you have to incur many of the out-of-pocket expenses generally covered by a publisher, including editorial, but you have to work harder to market your book. You have to establish relationships with retailers, you have to make sure you’re on top of sales and collections. All sort of things must be considered, and we sometimes see that authors who go the self-publishing route spend a lot of time and effort reinventing the wheel or trying to figure out processes that publishers have already mastered.

KM: Kassia covered it well, but I would add – Quartet is new, but none of us are novices. Each of us has a great deal of experience with publishing and digital content, and an even greater deal of commitment to creating a working model for digital book publishing.We are taking all the things that work in traditional publishing(vetting manuscripts, applying the highest quality of editing and production, identifying and engaging with the core target market of readers) and adding things that will make digital work even better (no hassle online purchasing, online communities and tools for readers, etc.). We’re invested in success for everyone involved: authors, readers, and us.

6)   You talk about having a community based readership, but I’m not  sure I know what that means?

k2: Community means a lot of things. First, of course, are the people who buy and read our books. We want to make sure the experience is the best possible for them (see question below). We want to make sure our books are available where the readers shop, in the formats the readers want. We want to make sure our readers can talk to us, our authors, and each other. I’m often frustrated by the fact that publishers don’t reach out and talk with the people who buy and read their books.

Beyond that, as you know, we are engaged and involved with the larger publishing community. We participate in conferences, workshops, discussions, and more on a regular basis. Through that community, we are raising awareness of the digital romance market and finding new readers — I personally believe that, despite all the growth and maturity of this marketplace, we are nowhere near reaching all readers. Look at the monthly ebook sales numbers. Look at how technologies like Twitter have given us (all of us!) access to different readerships and part of the greater publishing world.

When we talk about community, we are focused on all levels of conversation. People who read books love to talk about books. But they also love to talk about the things that surround books. So in some ways, the community we’re building isn’t just about Quartet/Quench/next imprint, it’s about talking with people who share our love of books, reading, writing, and publishing. (Also, funny pictures of cats!)

DL: And for me, the community of readers (and writers and editors and reviewers and agents) is the big attraction to the Romance category. Since I’ve begun looking seriously at it as a business proposition, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a fair number of folks each of those group and I’ve never come across a more passionate, devoted,   enthusiastic, tech-savvy, professional, generous, smart and funny group of people in my life. And even though the publishers   and editors are obviously competitive, what I saw at RWA and what I’ve seen online is a sense of collaboration that results in a rising tide for all boats. What it shows me is that there’s an appetite for good books and a community that loves to talk about them. If it was just about the business I’d still think it was a good opportunity; but since it’s all those other things, it’s something I can get really fired up about as a long term thing.

7)   I know that you won’t be offering ebooks with DRM but how do you  plan to make it easier for readers to shop at your store? (Shopping is  a huge frustration for readers because of lack of usability).   Will  there be features for mobile users?

kb: Shopping for ebooks really is a huge frustration for any number of reasons.

Regarding format issues, besides offering DRM-free books, we’ll be offering multi-format bundles. When you buy a Quartet Press book directly from our website you’ll have the ability to download whichever format you need for that title, and you’ll be allowed to re-download books as many times as you need to.   We realize that the ebook landscape is still evolving rapidly and that the format you purchase today may not be the format you need tomorrow.

As you’ve noted, usability is a serious issue with most ebook stores. As a professional web developer, usability and accessibility are two issues I take very seriously. I believe that Quartet customers will be pleasantly surprised by the user experience we’re creating for them. More importantly, we’re   building our platform in such a way that we’ll be positioned to respond in a timely manner to both customer needs and new technology developments.

We’re exploring a number of different mobile features for both shopping and reading.

***

All the Quartet Press folks will have extensive bios on their blog.   The first one posted is Kirk Biglione’s, the Tech Guy. I thought in lieu of what they wrote for me, I would tell you what I thought was so impressive about their backgrounds and why I’m excited to see how QP will change romance digital publishing because I do believe that they will.

Don Linn is someone I met on Twitter while he was the Vice President and Publisher of Taunton, a woodworking, cooking, sewing, knitting, etc. how to business.   Don struck me as someone totally pragmatic but incredibly savvy about publishing.   I read his every tweet.   One day Don asked me for some romance recommendations and I gave them to him.    I had some inkling that the request was motivated by something more than just a request for pleasure reading.

When I read Don’s bio (something you’ll have the chance to do in the upcoming days), I was even more impressed. Harvard MBA, Wall Street money credentials, running an extensive family mini empire, and finally acquiring a publishing interest, making it profitable and selling it to Perseus Group.    If there was a businessman I would want on my team, it would be Don.

Kat Meyer is someone I met online via Kassia.   Kat hosts #followreader on Twitter and then posts these discussions that bring together readers and authors and publishers and booksellers about interesting topics of the day.   The greatest thing about Kat is that she really does listen and she really is interested in hearing what readers have to say.   Plus, the fact that she knows what she is doing having been in marketing for trade and academic publishings across the country for countless number of years means that she’ll know what to do with the information she is acquiring.

I have communication in my blood. My dad was a CBS news correspondent turned PR man, my mom was a teacher, and all of my four sisters work in careers that involved sharing information. Some might even accuse us of oversharing, but can we help it if we like to talk?

Kirk Biglione is known to me at Kassia’s husband. (Kassia is clearly the hub here. I’m sure I know Kevin Bacon through her).   Kirk is the guy who inveted Dura Sport (TM) Smell of Books (TM).   He is the know it all tech guy and frankly I do think he knows it all. I have high hopes for the technical capabilities that   QuartetPress will offer readers.   A little known fact? He’s the father of the Romance Wiki.   Even more important for we romance digital readers is Kirk hates DRM as much as we do.

Finally is Kassi Krozser after whose name  I mentally append the words “One of Us”.   Kassia has been reading romance since forever.   She’s worked in the fim industry in her real life, but has reviewed romance books, runs the very popular booksquare.com and is considered to be a pioneer in the digital book industry. I don’t have much to say about Kassia because I think her long time contribution to the romance community is something that needs no introduction.   Really, the most important thing to know about Kassia, from my standpoint, is that she knows romance, loves romance, and will deliver romance to us.

Related posts:

1. Interview with an Editor Series: Jennifer Enderlin, St. Martin’s Press
2. Essays Wanted and Other Dear Author Miscellany
3. Venus Press Contest Reminder

The thing I like most about Mayberry’s characters is their self honesty and the sense that these individuals could be real people. They aren’t fantasy creatures but instead, like Borrill’s characters, there’s a sense of normalcy about them (even if they are artists, chefs, or business people). Their interactions rarely are over the top and it’s like Mayberry is simply serving as the narrator of a real life couple which is really one of the best fairy tales of all. I recommend starting with Anything For You, which was my favorite.

Amorous Liasons

Maddy Green is a dancer who has been told that she hasn’t been able to recover to the tear to her ACL and that she must “hang up her slippers.” Max Laurent left dancing to care for his father. His father has just passed away and Max is ready to start his life anew (not going to say what, it’s a bit of a surprise). Maddy, who feels totally adrift, runs to Max with whom she had a wonderful friendship before he left at the pinnacle of his career. I never really understand why Maddy would go to Max despite her fond memories. The two hadn’t really ever kept in touch. But Max had held a torch for Maddy and when she came to his home in Paris, he wasn’t about to turn her away. This is really a lovely story and one that I didn’t think that I was going to enjoy as much as I did. The story started out a bit slow but Maddy and Max were different and the differences ended up being intriguing. The plot is fairly simplistic and focused more on showing Maddy falling in love with Max, Max dealing with his long buried feelings, and the two not communicating very well about their desires to each other. They both play the overly sensitive artist at times and I thought the ending was a bit sappy but there’s a bit of poetry in the story that mirrors the spirit of the characters. B

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Island Heat

This is for the Top Chef fans out there. Tory Fournier is the daughter of a famous chef who has brutally pushed her all her life to be the very best. Her father had a signature restaurant in New York and rather than hand it off to Tory, he closed it. While Tory says she understands, it is easy to see how her efforts to please her father have left her at once driven and vulnerable.

Ben Cooper trained at the Culinary Institute with Tory but he was scholarship and she was food royalty. He presumed that she was rich and snooty and aimed to take her down a peg. Tory returned the favor by setting up a humiliating experience that Ben never forgot. Of course, living well is the best revenge for Ben and he has gone on to run an award winning restaurant in Antigua.

Tory has just penned a very popular cookbook on Caribbean food and is ready to open her first restaurant that focuses on Caribbean flavors. She agrees to go on a cruise to the Caribbean and be the celebrity chef on the cruise. It’s her first visit to the Islands.

The story does address why Tory should be considered a serious Caribbean chef without ever having visited there, I never really bought it in part because Tory came from a well off family and it just doesn’t make sense to me that she wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to visit before. The other thing that bothered me was that this must have been part of a Harlequin mini series because there was an underlying suspense thread that was unresolved and felt very disconnected to the book. The ending of the book was one of my favorite because it didn’t lead to an instant marriage but two individuals addressing what seemed to be an impossible type of long distance relationship. B-

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Anything For You

This was my favorite of the three Mayberry books (and as can see above, I liked the previous two). Sam Kirk and Delaney Michaels have been best friends forever. They turned their friendship into a successful business partnership by way of publishing an extreme Sports magazine. The problem is that Delaney has been in love with Sam for as long as they have been friends. Because she’s been in love with him but he thinks that they are just buds, her whole life has felt like it has been on hold. Delaney wants a family and it’s not going to happen while she is in love with Sam. She decides that she is going to cut the ties to Sam entirely. She is going to sell her apartment (which is in the same complex as Sam’s). She wants to be bought out of the business. She’s going to move out and move on. This crushes Sam and not because he secretly harbors feelings for Delaney other than friendship but she has been such a part of his life, he can’t imagine his life without Delaney.

Watching Sam flail about for an explanation for why Delaney is leaving him was really amusing.

He shrugged sheepishly. “Okay,” he conceded. “You know I’ll be jealous as hell when you get married and have kids,” he admitted.

She looked startled. “Jealous?”

“You know-”cause things won’t be the same anymore,” he explained awkwardly.

Delaney’s eyes dropped to the carpet and she hunched a shoulder. “No, they won’t.”

“But I don’t see what any of that has to do with leaving the business,” Sam said. He might be about to lose most of Delaney, but he would cling to what little he had left. If she stayed in the business, she would always be a part of his life, no matter what.

“It’s too all-consuming, Sam,” she said. “We live for this place. How am I ever supposed to meet someone when all I do is eat, sleep, breathe Mirk Publications?”

“Then we’ll get a sales assistant. You can do half days. Whatever it takes,” he countered.

“No. It wouldn’t work. I’m a control freak, you know I am. And it’s thinking about the business when I’m not here that’s part of it, as well. I’d still be doing that if I owned half of it. I need a complete break,” she said.

There was a determination in her tone, a firmness that he recognized. Delaney had made her decision. Without talking it over with him. Without consulting him in any way. She’d simply gone away, and come back determined to do her own thing.

He started to get angry. “And where does that leave me?” he asked. He hated the fact that he sounded like a sulky kid, but that was how he felt, so he might as well own up to it.

The two of them try to have sex to “save the friendship” and one needs only guess as to how that ends up. What really made this story for me was the slow realization that Sam actually did love Delaney. He just didn’t know how to define it in his life. A-

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells or ebook format.

Related posts:

1. Not So Lightning Harlequin Reviews: The Lori Borrill Edition
2. Harlequin Lightning Reviews: May Edition
3. Harlequin Lightning Reviews

AP is concerned, for example, that based on their past academic relationship, Senator Obama might choose among his appointments a divisive figure such as Larry Lessig – a law professor and leading proponent of diminished copyright rights.

I am a big fan of Lawrence Lessig and diminished copyright rights myself.

Related posts:

1. The Political Elites and Their Book Income
2. University of Michigan Weighs in on Fair Use, Copyright and Google Bookscanning
3. Stanford Law Professors to Lead Defense Against JK Rowling Copyright Infringement Lawsuit