Dear Author » Random-House

REVIEW: Spirit’s Princess by Esther Friesner

Jia — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:00:48 +0000

Dear Ms. Friesner,

I’ve never read any of your books but I’ve certainly heard of you. How could I not? Not only do you have a substantial backlist, you’ve had a long career. Recently, it seems like you’ve turned your attention towards YA retellings of mythological princesses. In this novel, you focus on Himiko, the shaman-queen of Yayoi era Japan.

Not much is known about the Yayoi period. My knowledge of Japanese history only goes back to the Heian era, and even the historical facts seemed to be obscured since most of what we know comes from outside sources (China, Korea) rather than directly from Japanese record. So in many ways, this is like fleshing out a myth. Unfortunately, that comes with some pitfalls.

Spirit’s Princess tells the story of Himiko, princess of her clan. The only girl among many brothers, Himiko wants nothing more than to become a hunter. But when an attempt to persuade her beloved older brother that she’s capable goes awry, any possibility of walking down that path is crushed.

But it turns out Himiko is destined for another path. She’s always been able to hear the voices of various spirits: tree, animal, rock, you name it. It’d be easy to dismiss these voices as the imaginings of an especially precocious child but as Himiko grows older, it becomes apparent it’s something else entirely.

She is destined to become a shaman. Unfortunately, the previous clan leader was a shaman herself and her rule left many scars, many of them inflicted upon Himiko’s father. And so Himiko must learn to become a shaman while keeping it from her father.

This book is structured differently from a lot of current YA. For one, Himiko spends a good chunk of the book extremely young. And she reads young, making all the impulsive and terrible decisions young children are prone to do. It isn’t until the latter half of the novel that she’s the “normal” age for a YA protagonist. I can see how this extended timeline would be necessary to set up the world and Himiko’s life, but it also causes the book to drag a bit. I couldn’t help but think that this is a rather long book for a plot in which not much happens.

Readers expecting action will be sorely disappointed. This is primarily an introspective novel. Himiko gives up her early childhood dream of becoming a hunter, only to choose another path that is soon barred to her. There’s some inter-clan conflict but not much is shown on-page. I suppose that’s to be expected since Himiko isn’t privy to many of those interactions and the book is told through her POV. On the other hand, since the historical Himiko is said to have risen to power amidst a civil war, I can see the events of this book laying the groundwork for that backdrop.

I’m sure many readers out there just groaned by what I implied. Yes, this is the first of a series, possibly a trilogy. I wish I had known that going in. Then I wouldn’t have wondered at the abrupt ending and set-up for what I assume is the confict for the next book.

What I’m most unsure of, however, is the historical basis for this novel. I know I said I don’t know much about the time period, and what information out there is murky and often taken from outsider viewpoints, but there were bits that I know are incorrect. For one, the names read particularly modern: Yuki, Kaya, etc. During the Yayoi period, the names would have been much longer and a little more bombastic in convention — including the name of the clan, etc. I realize this boils down to authorial choice. It is easier to remember shorter names, both for the author and the reader. But it doesn’t sit well with me to eschew accuracy like this. And if something simple like the names aren’t remotely accurate, how can I be sure the society is portrayed properly? It casts doubt on a lot of things.

I’m also not convinced about the magic system/religion. I believe Shinto was already established by this time period. It was never clear to me if the book’s presentation of spirits was meant to be equivalent to the kami of Shinto. I’m not sure if the book intended it to be a presentation of early Shinto or if it was meant to be something else entirely. Perhap an animist precursor?

I really wanted to like this book. It’s not often that a Japanese princess is picked as the focus for a retelling, let alone that princess being Himiko. But I was never entirely convinced of the setting, which could have been any “exotic” place save for the Japanese names, and the plot served almost entirely as set-up for Himiko’s burgeoning powers. It’s only been a week since I finished reading the book and already my memories of the details fade. Never a good sign. C

My regards,
Jia

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REVIEW: The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

Jia — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:00:54 +0000

Dear Ms. Wasserman,

I’m a sucker for an evocative title, even more so than I am for a striking cover. And for me, you don’t get more evocative than The Book of Blood and Shadow. It caught my eye immediately on NetGalley. On top of that, the premise sounded different. That’s not something you can say often in the young adult genre these days. Having finished the book, I agree with my initial impression — it is a different book. At the same time though, I’m also forced to concede that it’s also a strange book.

Nora Kane comes from a broken family struggling to maintain a semblance of normalcy. Her older brother died in a car crash because he was driving while intoxicated and took the town’s golden girl with him. After his death, her parents kept up the facade of a functioning marriage even though they might as well have been strangers to each other. Forget even paying attention to it. And of course, Nora is treated like a walking freakshow at school.

When she gets a scholarship to Chapman Prep, Nora sees this as a chance to start over. She can pretend she never had a brother whose screw-up led to such devastating consequences. Unfortunately, her plan hits a speed bump when she meets Chris, an older boy who knew her family from before and is aware of brother’s existence and worse, exactly what he did. But to her surprise, he understands Nora’s reasons for pretending and keeps her secret. And so Chris, along with Adriane (a friend of Chris’s who would later become his girlfriend), accepts Nora into his circle and the three of them become the best of friends.

Things change when Nora, along with Chris and Chris’s roommate Max, begin to translate a series of ancient documents, among them the Book of Blood and Shadow. Nora, however, isn’t trusted with that task and instead is assigned a series of seemingly unimportant letters to translate. But it soon becomes apparent that while the letters appear innocuous, they’re anything but and may hold the key to the alchemical formulas contained within the Book. It is a key that people would kill for, as Nora soon learns to her everlasting regret.

While I don’t place much importance on subgenres myself, I do find them useful when discussing novels with other people. The Book of Blood and Shadow makes pinning down a genre difficult. It’s not a paranormal or fantasy, not in the way we consider it. Based on the premise I want to call it a thriller but the execution lacks the breakneck twists and turns I associate with the genre. I suppose the mystery label comes closest when looking at execution and style. But if anything, I’d call this the YA version of The Da Vinci Code.

I enjoyed the relationship aspects of the novel the most. Nora’s relationship with her family — the nonexistent one with her parents, the way the ghost of her dead brother haunts her steps — affects everything she does and how she looks at life. Nora’s ambiguous friendship with Chris was also enjoyable. He was the friend, the one who understood her best, the one she loved but didn’t dare go after because he was so out of her league. I sympathized with her after Chris and Adriane began going out. What happens when two of the people in a trio of best friends start dating? Where does that leave the third person? Do they become a third wheel or is there still room for them to fit? Even the part where Adriane wants Nora to hook up with Max was believable. She wanted her best friend to be happy too.

On the other hand, I’m conflicted about Nora’s relationship with Max. It was obvious from the start that she was settling and I could accept that from the POV of someone wanting to move on from being in love with her best friend. But at the same time, I had a hard time buying it since Nora starts off thinking he’s creepy and weird. I think we were supposed to see how Nora’s opinions of him changed over the course of translating the documents but that’s a tough transformation since the beginning of the book tells us that Max is believed to be a murderer.

While I enjoyed the parallels of Nora’s life with that of the woman whose letters she was translating, I found the mystery aspects to be the weakest parts of the book. Part of this, I think, is because of the way the book is written. It’s slow and almost dreamlike in some aspects, which doesn’t mesh well with a murder mystery style plot. Nora essentially goes globe-trotting to find Max and clear him of murder, but the execution lacked a certain level of excitement and suspense.

In fact, the further we moved away from the mundane pains of every day life into the world of secret societies and alchemical machines able to grant a direct phone line to God, the more the book faltered. The letter translations were meant to increase dread but as the book continued, the more I found them tedious. When the bulk of the action began to happen in Prague, I should have been excited but instead I found each event even more unbelievable than the last. It was almost as if we moved from one coincidence to the next and then again to another.

Then we got to the climactic revelation about Nora and Adriane. I was truly unthrilled about this. While I understood Adriane’s point — the relationship between Nora and Chris was truly something special — I didn’t care for this twist. Nora’s only female friend in the entire book, and this is what we end with: girls jealous of other girls because of boys. So cliche, and it stands out even more because there really weren’t many women in Nora’s life. Where are the books where girls can be friends with other girls and don’t fight over boys!

While I enjoyed the prose and most of the relationship aspects and portrayals, I thought The Book of Blood and Shadow had some serious flaws. I think its elements were trying to come together to tell us about life, death, and faith but the unevenness of the novels’ second half failed to deliver the thematic resonance. All things considered, this one is a C+ for me.

My regards,
Jia

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REVIEW: The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks

Jia — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:00:42 +0000

Dear Ms. Fredericks,

I was in the mood for something different when I ran across your novel. A reader can take only so many paranormal and dystopian YAs before she loses it. A YA mystery/thriller sounded right up my alley. Your novel delivered what I needed, along with something more.

Rain was once best friends with Wendy Geller. Both outsiders at their exclusive high school — Rain, because of a cleft palate that left her speech imperfect and Wendy, because she came a less privileged background — the two bonded immediately. Rain was shy and quiet; Wendy was outgoing and took no crap. But they drifted apart over the years as Rain remained shy and quiet while Wendy became a bonafide party girl with a penchant for messing with other people’s boyfriends.

Then the worst happens. Wendy doesn’t return home one night after a party. When her body is found in Central Park the next day, people shake their head and hold her up as a cautionary tale. Look what happens to party girls. Never go home drunk or high. Don’t walk through a park alone at night.

But Rain thinks differently. She was at that party. She talked to Wendy. She didn’t seem drunk and she didn’t seem high. Something doesn’t add up. Everyone assumes it was a random attack, but Rain fears the murderer might be closer than everyone thinks.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read, not just because of the short length but also because of the way it was structured. Rain made a wonderful narrator. She’s never been able to speak up for herself. But now that Wendy’s dead and no one can speak for her, she takes it upon herself to do just that in order to find her friend’s killer.

I also liked the look into Wendy. Her character is one that’s often vilified in fiction and in real life. The book pulls no punches and makes it clear that Wendy liked to mess with other girls’ boyfriends, usually in retaliation for the way those specific girls treated her. But there are two details everyone forgets. First, the cheating boyfriend also holds some responsibility; just because a girl goes after you doesn’t mean you have to take her up on it. And secondly, for all that Wendy is treated like crap and gossiped about, she’s still accepted into their social circle because she entertains them. Everyone was always looking forward to seeing what she would do next. In fact, many of them egged her on in her antics and boyfriend-stealing ways. That’s hypocritical.

The incorporation of Facebook was also well done. You always hear the warnings about social media and not putting too much online. You never know the impression you’ll leave. Often this is in the context of seeking employment. If employers are checking up on you, you probably don’t want to make those photos of you doing body shots in Aruba public for anyone to see. But the aftermath of Wendy’s murder shows how else putting up photos, status updates, and videos can leave an impression. With those things used as evidence, Wendy would obviously look like a party girl of the worst kind. And if no one speaks up for her, that’s the image everyone will be left with.

I also liked the commentary about the media and how it’s a feeding frenzy when it comes to cases like this. They swarm the school after Wendy’s death. They comb over the relevant Facebook accounts and exploit everything there to put together the story they want to tell. After all, with the victim dead, who’s going to gainsay them? I liked how all those things came together.

The true identity of Wendy’s murderer really took me off-guard. Looking back, I should have predicted it. I knew the person who eventually does get accused of it was too obvious a choice, but I never even considered the possibility of the real killer. Perhaps because the thought is just too horrible in many ways.

Rain’s emotional struggle throughout the novel — her guilt, her anger — really pulled the story together for me. I liked the exploration of how the faces we present to other people don’t necessarily capture the entirety of us. In fact, one person may see a different face than another. Yes, Wendy was a party girl and it’s easy to paint her in a completely negative light. But people are more complicated than that, and I thought this novel did an excellent job showing that. B-

My regards,
Jia

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Thursday: Refurbed Kindle and Nooks; Random House Revenue Down; Book Sales Up

Jane — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:00:30 +0000

Amazon Fire Refurb for $139
BN is still offering its Nook Color for $129. Throw a Nook Touch on for $20

Mark Coker has provided substantive information to the DOJ arguing that agency pricing does not lead to increased prices in books.

It’s also fallacy to believe that somehow the wholesale pricing model is the savior and enabler of low prices. Under the wholesale model, the publisher has always set the price at which they’ll sell the book to the bookstore, typically a 50% discount to the suggested list price. The $30 front list hardcover you purchase earns the publisher $15, or less. If the publisher decides they need to earn $18.00 on each copy sold, they’ll set the suggested list price to $36.00. If you agree that under normal circumstances, most retailers will not consistently sell all their books at below cost, then it’s reasonable to conclude that even under wholesale, publishers already control the minimum price all customers, on average, will pay.

It’s a good read and I don’t agree with everything Coker writes because the DOJ is looking at anti competitive behavior, not just agency pricing (if you recall the WSJ interview) and thus much of what Coker writes is inapplicable in that sense. Still, always good to read an opposing point of view.

The Bookseller reports that the volume of ebook purchases is not making up the decline in revenue generated by print book sales. I’m not sure whether these numbers are limited to the UK but it is consistent with other ebook sales numbers I’ve heard. Apparently publishing thought that ebooks might increase the number of book buyers? I’m not sure why they thought that. Rather it is keeping the number of book buyers from fleeing to other sources of digital entertainment. Low priced self published books are also affecting the lowered ebook revenue.

2012 brings big change to the numbers reported by the Association of American Publishers. In the past, the numbers reported by AAP were derived from 70-90 publishers but this year, the organization is reporting sales numbers from from 1149 publishers in January 2012. Yay for better data. The only loser in January 2012, out of both print and digital, was Mass Market Paperbacks which continue its downward slide.

Adult books

Hardcover: $69.8M in January 2012; $57.4M in January 2011; +21.6% increase
Trade Paperbacks: $105.1M in Jan 2012; $99.1M in Jan 2011; +6.1% increase
Mass Market Paperbacks: $30.4M in Jan 2012; $39.3M in Jan 2011; -22.5% decrease
eBooks: $99.5M in Jan 2012; $66.6M in Jan 2011; +49.4% increase
Downloaded Audiobooks $8.4M in Jan 2012; $6.5M in Jan 2011; +29.4% increase

Children’s/Young Adult

Hardcover: $57.4M in Jan 2012; $34.0M in Jan 2011; +68.9% increase
Paperbacks: $38.0M in Jan 2012; $23.5M in Jan 2011; +61.9% increase
eBooks: (new AAP category) $22.6M in Jan 2012; $3.9M in Jan 2011; +475.1% increase

Total Trade

Total Overall: $503.5M in Jan 2012; $396.0M in Jan 2011; +27.1% increase
Total Adult Trade: $323.0M in Jan 2012; $277.4M in Jan 2011; +16.4% increase
Total Children/YA: $128.2M in Jan 2012; $71.0M in Jan 2011; +80.5% increase

Random House, a division of Bertelsmann AG, saw reduced revenues but part of the decline is attributable to currency exchanges.

At year-end, Random House had 5,343 employees (December 31, 2010: 5,264). The increasing availability of lower-priced e-reading devices and tablets contributed to the surging demand for Random House e-books, enabling the company to record triple-digit-percentage digital revenue growth and counterbalancing decreased sales of print books, especially in the English-speaking territories. … Their year’s top title was “Inheritance,” the fourth and final volume in the eponymous series by Christopher Paolini. For its first eight weeks, the novel sold more than three million hardcover, e-book, and audiobook editions. In the United States, the world’s largest book market, Random House placed 228 titles on the “New York Times” bestseller lists, including 32 at #1. George R. R. Martin’s five-volume fantasy series “A Song of Ice and Fire” sold over eight million copies in North America in 2011.

…

During the reporting period, Random House acquired the US digital media agency Smashing Ideas and established new English, German, and Spanish print and e-book imprints.

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REVIEW: Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox

Jane — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:00:31 +0000

Dear Ms. Knox:

I received a number of recommendations for this story and the recommenders were correct. Ride with Me was right up my alley. It was a well paced, contemporary featuring a non clingy heroine and a caretaker hero set on a bike ride across America. The only downside was that Tom, in particular, came off as contrived in certain places.

Lexie Marshall has planned on riding the TransAmerica bike ride for years. This was the year she would ride with her brother until he had to drop out. Using Craigslist, Lexie looks for a riding partner. After being turned down repeatedly after finding the respondents discover she is female, Lexie strikes up an email conversation with Tom Geiger using the handle “Alex”. The two agree to meet in Astoria Oregon to start the trip.

Only Tom was actually Tom’s sister, the only member of his family that still spoke to him, pretending to be Tom. The real Tom wants nothing to do with another a person and he certainly doesn’t need a riding buddy. (Say the term as a curse word to get a real sense of how Tom feels). He reminds his sister that he is the serial killer on the road, not the target of one.

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Please, Tom. You can’t ride your bicycle across the country alone. It’s insane. You’ll end up being slaughtered by a serial killer.”

“Taryn, I’m thirty-five, single, tattooed, and antisocial. I’m the serial killer.”

“Okay, point taken. But you could get hit by a car and bleed to death by the side of the road.”

“How would riding with another person prevent that?”

“It wouldn’t, but he could call me on his cell phone so you could tell me you love me with your dying breath.”

Lexie is supposed to be the romantic and Tom the pragmatist, but in truth, Tom is really the romantic whose idealism was crushed. Lexie’s romanticism stems mostly out of nostalgia. Her parents met and fell in love on the same bike ride decades earlier.

Tom realizes that he can’t allow Lexie to bike by herself and commits to riding along until he can find a replacement. In the beginning of the story Tom was portrayed as Angry Antisocial Tom but as the story unfolded and the readers needed to get to know Tom better, Tom transformed into talkative, social Tom. This transformation wasn’t natural and it made his anti social behavior seem like a construct rather than his personality. Angry Antisocial Tom provided a bit of comic relief and the right amount of sexual tension and conflict in the beginning. In the beginning, Lexie felt lucky to wrench a two syllable “mmm-hmmm” from Tom. Later, however, Tom has no problem carrying on conversations with other bike enthusiasts and even waitresses (even though he once derides Lexie for this). The characters, both of them, failed to maintain a certain consistency, mutating according to what the plot called for. For instance, Lexie hooks up with a very easy going, attractive young man at one point. He’s very friendly to the point that he can’t take a no and virtually assaults Lexie. I never felt like this was true to the young man’s character but it provided a leaping point for Tom to play protector.

That said, this is a genuinely enjoyable story. Neither Tom nor Lexie are perfect individuals. Tom withdrew from society, in part, because of something that happened in his past. Something that he did that could be viewed as both heroic and cowardly. Lexie, for all her good cheer and friendliness, often has an unkind thought about her fellow bikers. (I was rather repelled by her describing another rider as “gross” because he was “huffing and puffing like a steam train” but at least she wasn’t a perfect maiden from a Disney movie).

The story takes you from one side of the U.S. to the other and I loved the descriptions of the country as seen by Tom and Lexie. It was one of the things about the book that really surprised me. I am not much of a biker or traveler and worried that this aspect of the story would be boring but it is not. Instead, there is a true love for both that is expressed in the narrative. I never found it boring and it made me want to travel that same route.

This was why she was riding her bike across the country. Not for the miles, not to see the towns, not even to meet the people. Just this. The rain, the wind, the hill, and her legs powering her up toward the summit.

When she crested the top, she didn’t even stop. The rain had slowed, and she was craving the descent. She worked up a little speed, bent over the handlebars, tucked her body into a crouch, and let her hands off the brakes. Inside of a minute, she was flying, her bike computer clocking upward of thirty miles an hour. Her front tire pulled water off the road to wet her cheeks, while the rear threw a spray of wet grit up the center of her back. It didn’t matter. Below her, the Camas Prairie stretched out for miles, the intense bright yellow of rapeseed set off by purple-blue patches of camas flowers. She could see forever, and forever was breathtaking.

The dialogue and internal monologues are fun, peppered with a dry wit. “Lexie wasn’t the type of person who would do well in isolation, even with a really hot hermit who could kiss like Tom.” Even the sex scenes were often infused with mild humor:

Tom brushed his stubbled cheek over the sensitive skin along the side of her neck, which made her shivery. “You have to understand, this is just a typical day I’m talking about. I could fill a book with all the fantasies you’ve inspired in Missouri alone.”

One minor note. Lexie pretends to be married and she carries the deception on fairly long. Tom acts as honorably as possible and often wishes that her husband would appear and quench Tom’s inconvenient lust for Lexie. I wish Lexie had given up the ghost earlier. I also wondered why Lexie, who loves riding her bike so much, didn’t join a bike club. I had a very hard time believing that there was no one in the Pacific Northwest that shared her outdoor enthusiasm.

What is even more enjoyable beyond the scenery is watching the two characters who really do not like each other at the beginning of the story fall in love. Their intimacy grows, almost grudgingly, over the course of their trip. They both need to rely on each other from time to time and the long days and nights result in sharing of their hearts before their bodies. And when they engage physically, it is built upon a foundation of personal admiration. My guess is that fans of Kristan Higgins would enjoy this book. B-

Best regards,

Jane

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REVIEW: Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

Jayne — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:00:26 +0000

Dear Ms. Novik,

Though I fretted for almost two years waiting for this book, I can see from your author’s notes that you’ve had a lot to keep you busy having had your own little egg, as the dragons would say, in the interim. Still, what a book you’ve written for us. Excitement, danger, new breeds of dragons, a harrowing journey to and across a new continent for Temerarie and Laurence, Granby and Iskierka, Kulingile and Demane plus 200 sailors and one airsick ambassador – the action zipped along and kept me riveted. It was a wait but the wait was worth it.

William Laurence, formerly a Captain in His Majesty’s Aerial Corps, is skeptical when Arthur Hammond arrives from China with news that the Admiralty has restored Laurence to the Corps and that they are to travel from the valley where he and Temeraire have been establishing a home to Sydney and thence aboard a dragon transport to Brazil. Oh yes, the restoration comes with strings attached and those strings are going to cost dearly.

News has reached England that Napoleon and theTswana Kingdom have formed an alliance. The French will transport the Tswana dragons and warriors from Africa to Brazil and in return, the Tswana will besiege the Portuguese slave holders who hold many of the Tswana people in bondage. Why should the British care? Because Portugal offers a foothold for British troops even now trying to establish an army on the Iberian Peninsula in order to strike at the French. Hence all aid that can be rendered to the Portuguese colony must be done.

So along with Kulingile and Iskierka, returned from India aboard the dragon transport Allegiance and even more insufferable due to having been involved in several prize captures, Temeraire and his ragged crew embark for the trip to South America. But disaster awaits before they reach their destination and in a bitter twist of fate the dragons, remnants of their crew, officers and assorted worthless sailors from the transport find themselves prisoners of the French before being essentially marooned. It takes a stroke of good luck for them to reach the continent where they face an even bigger challenge – the still mighty Incan Empire which is being heavily wooed by the French. Can the British save the day for King and Country? Or will they be lucky just to save even their own lives.

In my review of it, I made no effort to conceal the fact that the last book, “Tongues of Serpents” had large sections which bored me to tears. The slog through the Outback of Australia went on and on and I felt mentally dragged along with them for the whole damn journey. So when this book began with Arthur Hammond landing in Australia after a long journey from China, and the first things he saw were bunyips and more bunyips, I would almost swear I said aloud, “Jesus wept.” Thankfully, the bunyips were soon left behind or I might have lost my mind at the thought of another book filled with them.
Instead, oh joy!, the action soon shifts to the dragon transport and, even better, Rankin and his ilk remain behind.

Kulingile is still growing, Iskierka is even more of a Grand Diva than ever – often driving Granby to want to beat his head against a wall at her antics – and Temeraire is thrilled at the chance to return to active duty – to uphold Laurence’s honor at what they did – and to action – where he might hope to take his share of the prize money and thus be able to outdo Iskierka in finery. A dragon must maintain his dignity and pride, after all.

Whereas the last book was filled with a large section that became old, same old, this one has something new and interesting around every corner. I recall a tidbit from an earlier book, “Victory of Eagles” perhaps, about the Incans and their dragons and had hoped that a future book would feature them. That book is this one and it’s fascinating to see the relationship between those dragons and “their” people. Though the Admiralty, aviators and general populace of Britain might look with some misgivings at British dragons getting any more outlandish notions in their heads. There’s also enough gold and gems there to satisfy even Iskierka’s avariciousness though Granby is less than thrilled at the means and methods she’s willing to employ to obtain them.

But wait, there’s more! A harrowing flight over the Andes Mountains and across the width of the continent tests the men, dragons and ladies to their limits before they finally arrive where they initially set out for. Years ago I read a travel book called “Up the Orinoco” that gives me an idea of what our intrepid band is up against in the jungle. There are enough details here to flesh out horrors yet also neatly skimmed through so that I never felt as if I were stuck swatting the insects, mopping the sweat and darting back from the shoreline to avoid the river crocodiles. Thank you.

There’s also conflict galore. Laurence has to battle with himself about accepting reinstatement and face another who suffered the fallout due to Laurence and Temeraire’s actions. Temeraire and Iskierka alternately huff and flounce over her relish of fighting, her high handed demands and how much she flirts with an Incan dragon. Granby despairs over keeping Iskierka in check before finally laying down the law. The British delegation muddles through learning about how to go on in this strange land before fleeing for their lives and all too soon are faced with the irreconcilable demands of trying to placate the Portuguese in the face of the justness of the demands of the Tswana.

However there are a few things which seem to be picked up and discarded at will or whim. Initially there appears that there will be some continuing friction from the aviator community against Demane for harnessing Kulingile. A budding relationship between Demane and Emily Roland begins only to have the entire thing dropped. And after an initial period of trouble, the 200 some sailors are seldom a real concern for the remainder of the book.

Still, I’m just so delighted not to have anything remotely near a repeat of the last book that reading this one was a joy. Where will everyone go next? Intriguing possibilities are presented and one character is revealed to be far different in position and situation than has been thought up until now. As well, Laurence’s actions might either forge a new and lasting alliance which could help Britain fight on against the French, or alternately this could merely serve to remind the Admiralty of his tendency to free thinking beyond that required of a military captain. Only time, and the next book, will tell. A-

~Jayne

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REVIEW: I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Jayne — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:00:48 +0000

Dear Ms Kinsella,

I’m sitting here shaking my head at the fact that I’ve some how, some way managed to have not read any of your books. Up til now that is. And this one I read with no blurb to lure me or lead me on. Just your rep and the fact that – as mentioned in the first sentence – yours is a name missing on my “I’ve tried this author” list. After finishing “I’ve Got Your Number,” I agree with your publisher that I lost myself in the story and – throwing this bit in myself – didn’t want it to end.

Poppy Wyatt is frantic. At a luncheon “do” with her bridesmaids and wedding planner, her family heirloom “worth a bloody fortune” engagement ring has gone missing. As she drives the hotel staff mental and sends out a flood of phone texts, her day is capped off when her phone is snatched out of her hand by a drive by thief. Staggering back inside the hotel, she notices a phone tossed in the rubbish bin – a perfectly good phone and once something is thrown away it’s fair game, right? Picking it up Poppy quickly transfers her life to it in the form of her contact list after which she sends out the number to everyone searching for her ring. When the man whose business PA the phone belong(s)(ed) – tense depends on whom you’re talking to – realizes Poppy has it, he wants it back – company property, you know. Poppy quickly spins a deal. She’ll keep the phone for a day until she can replace her own and in the meantime, she’ll forward any texts that are sent to Sam – the businessman – via his now defunct PA. Since Poppy scoots out of the hotel before Sam can do anything, he’s forced to go along.

As texts and phone calls start pouring in, and Poppy begins scrolling back to discover the origins of all these threads in Sam’s life, she can’t help but begin to become involved – it’s just the helpful – okay, slightly nosey – way she is. And honestly she’s doing him a favor to respond to the third or fourth requests some people have sent him. Can the man never answer these? Before long, Poppy thinks she knows as much about Sam as she does about herself. Or does she? Corporate hijinks, pre-wedding jitters and a ton of text messages later will Poppy be walking down the aisle towards the man she thought she would be?

When handed a Chick Lit book, I’ve realized my resistance is pretty much futile. It’s like leaving dark chocolate in front of me and thinking I’m not going to at least sample it. Ain’t gonna happen. Still, even though I’m helpless about starting to read one of them, the story and characters had better grab my attention and interest quickly. And I want something beyond the standard ditzy heroine in London with a crap job who makes a prat of herself.

Poppy’s lost engagement ring accounts for her hyperventilation state and neatly sets up the plot which, I’ll admit, has to be swallowed whole in order for the story to keep going. Sam is a very important businessman but it’s quickly revealed he’s also a nice guy as shown when he helps Poppy ace the intellectual Scrabble game she has to play with her brainiac future in-laws and fiance – via the phone of course. And, in a scene that had me busting out laughing, he helps her get a copy of The Ring made in order to buy her some more time before fessing up. I hope he eventually manages to redeem himself in the eyes of the jewelry store assistants.

Meanwhile, Poppy’s efforts on Sam’s behalf do cross the line a time or four but to her credit, from what she can see about it, she really does feel she’s helping Sam at his workplace. This is followed by Sam helping her build her self confidence as he reminds her that she’s just as important as her famous to-be in-laws and that she does great work at the job she loves helping make people feel better. There’s depth here and I can see both Sam and Poppy growing and becoming better because of the other. They work well together, talk to each other and laugh as well. They see the value in each other and help show that to others as hilariously depicted in the finale wedding fiasco. Those last 40 pages had me on the edge of my seat to see how it would get to where I knew it had to go while simultaneously laughing almost the whole way. No doubt about it, Poppy’s near wedding will be a viral sensation. Poor Reverend Fox will probably need a few swigs from a bottle of something potent to get over the shock. Not since the last wedding in “4 Weddings and a Funeral” have I laughed this hard.

It’s obviously taken me far too long to read one of your books but it’s something I’ve finally corrected. And you can bet that in the future I’ll be queuing up as soon as the new one is available. B+

~Jayne

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REVIEW: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Jia — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:00:38 +0000

Dear Ms. Bridges,

I first encountered your debut novel on NetGalley. I admit I’ve always been fond of historical YA, especially if there’s a paranormal flavor. Your book sounded like the ticket. It was a nice change of pace from the urban fantasies and dystopians overwhelming the genre right now. The unique setting was just icing on the cake.

Katerina Alexandrovna is a young aristocrat in late 19th century Russia. She’s expected to marry rich and marry well and thus, is attending finishing school. The very idea is sheer torture to her. She hates the balls, which she considers to be meat markets. In fact, she’d much rather spend her time studying medical textbooks. Katerina dreams of becoming a doctor even though the profession is considered absolutely out of the question for a woman. Especially a noble one, because what suitable husband would allow his bride to do something so pedestrian as treat the sick and poor?

But Katerina has one little secret: she can raise the dead. Some people would consider it a gift. She thinks it’s a curse and has kept her ability hidden from everyone. After all, it’s abnormal and she doesn’t want to be viewed as a monster. Unfortunately, her gift is discovered and soon Katerina finds herself embroiled in a political conflict between the supernatural forces that rule Russia.

I really enjoyed Katerina as a protagonist, but I admit I have a weakness for heroines who love science. I thought it was a good choice, however, given that this time period in Russia is one characterized by superstition and folk belief. Katerina’s mother depends on her tarot cards and routinely holds séances. In fact, it was at one of these séances that Katerina accidentally discovered that she was a necromancer. But she loves science and the advances in modern medicine. There’s already conflict between her career aspirations and her class. To toss in her ability, which drags her back into old world beliefs is great.

One thing I did have a little trouble following was how the supernatural world overlapped with the Russian court. In this world, the Light and Dark faerie courts battle it out in a political dance of power. Some families are aligned with the Light Court (like the tsar) and others are aligned with the Dark Court. Katerina is, I believe, aligned with the Dark Court due to her family’s social circles. It’d make sense considering the fact that she is a necromancer. But on top of that, there are werewolves (I thought it fairly obvious who the werewolves were) and vampires. So many different kinds of vampires, I lost track of who was important, how, and why. At times, it was a little tough to figure out which characters were allies based on their family ties and which were enemies based on their supernatural ones.

I thought the plotline involving Katerina trying to find a way out of the Montenegro family’s schemes was interesting. After all, who wants to become the sacrifice to make a new living vampire? Certainly not me. On the other hand, I thought the romantic subplot was poorly executed. It was fairly obvious who Katerina would ultimately fall in love with, given the fact that one of the potential suitors is Evil with a capital E. But even though I knew and expected it, I needed something more to go on. It seemed like Katerina went from arguing with and disliking him to realizing she was madly in love in a snap. That transition phase between the two states didn’t entirely come through, in my opinion.

While the ending was a little too heavy-handed in setting up the sequel, I really enjoyed Katerina as a heroine. I’m a big fan of characters that love their family and do everything to protect them, even if it’s a mistake by our standards. I’m interested to see how future books balance her career aspirations, burgeoning powers, and new obligations so I’m definitely on-board for the continuation. B-

My regards,

Jia

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Wednesday Links and Deals: Amazon creates a special site for iPads; AAR Is Providing Guidance to Publishing Agents

Jane — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:30:40 +0000

News

Amazon created an Ipad optimized site because Apple made Amazon remove the buy links. If you have an Ipad, this is the way you want to browse the Amazon Bookstore. Here is the link (www.amazon.com/iPadKindleStore.)

*****

Random House acquired Canada’s major book publisher McClelland & Stewart. I’m not familiar with M&S, but the acquisition has been labeled the death of Canadian publishing. M&S had previously received a government loan:

As reported in The Globe & Mail today: “Before announcing the transaction, Random Canada quietly approached the office of Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore to seek an exemption from long-established provisions of the Investment Canada Act, which specifically outlaw such takeovers. The company reported that Mr. Moore granted the approval ‘on the basis of the commitments we made that demonstrated that this investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada.’”

*****

AAR, an association for agents (although not a professional regulatory agency), has advised agents on publishing (reg requ’d). I think the advice they are giving is a bit contradictory:

As the canon already states in broad fashion, “members shall not represent both buyer and seller in the same transaction.”the same transaction.” …

Other areas remain wide open, however. The canon already acknowledges that, subject to a client’s approval, agents can “pass along charges incurred on the client’s behalf.” The e-mail acknowledges that these new publishing models might involve upfront fees for publishing services and notes “the agent and client might wish to restructure the compensation paid to the agent for the agent’s services in this realm…. The issue of how an agent is compensated for services remains a private one between the agent and the client.” As DeFiore underscores, “the canon always allowed for agent-members to be compensated by their clients in any way that is mutually agreeable–as long as there is no conflict of interest and no kind of payment from the buyer.”

*****

Deals

Coupons:

No one seems to mind the coupons. I’ll try to change them up even though some coupons last several weeks.

The Kobodollar off still works. Use Code “KOBODOLLAROFF“
BN: 30% off Moleskine - Use B4V9E4U
BN: 50% Off Your Entire Purchase of Activity Books & Kits 0 - Use D9K8X7Y

Deals:

I use Amazon to search for the deals and there is facebook share button built in so I’m “sharing” the deals as I find them on the Dear Author facebook page. I’ll collate the deals in posts here at DA, but if you want to see them as I find them, you can “like” the DA Facebook page and I believe those postings will show up in your timeline.

The Witness by Dee Henderson * $0 * A | BN | K
Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden * $0 * A | BN | K
Too Close to Home by Lynette Eason * $0 * A | BN | K
The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister * $0 * A | BN | K
Maid for the Billionaire by Ruth Cardello * $0 * A | BN | K * This had over 180 reviews. Average of 4.5 stars.
Blood WIll Tell by Samantha Young * $0 * A | * This has 23 5 star reviews. They could all be bogus. But it’s free

Love Is in the Heir by Kathryn Caskie * $0.99 * A | BN | K
The Bachelor by Carly Phillips * $1.99 * A | BN | K
Red Hot New Year by Diana Mercury * $1.99 * A | BN | K
A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore * $1.99 * A | BN | K
Next to Die by Marliss Melton * $1.99 * A | BN | K
Warlord with Bonus Material by Ted Bell * $1.99 * A | BN | K
Brazen by Carly Phillips * $2.7 * A | BN | K
Curiosity Killed The Catsitter by Blaize Clement * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks * $2.99 * A | BN | K
In Close by Brenda Novak * $2.99 * A | BN | K
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks * $2.99 * A | BN | K
A Taint in the Blood by Dana Stabenow * $2.99 * A | BN | K
The King’s Coat by Dewey Lambdin * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells * $2.99 * A | BN | K
The Heroes by Joe Ambercrombie * $2.99 * A | BN | K
The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller * $2.99 * A | BN | K
True Colors by Kristin Hannah * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Heartbeat Away by Michael Palmer * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Foxy Roxy by Nancy Martin * $2.99 * A | BN | K
Twin Fantasies by Opal Carew * $2.99 * A | BN | K

REVIEW: A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant

Jane — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:00:01 +0000

Dear Ms. Grant:

I don’t remember reading a book like this lately. I’m sure that there have been ones written, after all, romance has been published for decades at a clip of several hundred a month. There are no new stories, only new ways to tell them. However, Marta Russell and Theophilus Mirkwood are two characters that seemed entirely new to me; characters I hadn’t met in fiction before.

This story read to me about two things: connections and opposites. Connections, particularly in this book, prevent seeing the world in black and white, seeing one person as wholly villianous or virtuous. The way in which the connections to people make us better and how, left to our own devices, our viewpoints and life experiences can be narrow and limited. The best part of an opposites attract story is this idea that the other can fill in where one is lacking, making the duo better than an individual. That is definitely true in “A Lady Awakened”.

The story is fairly simple. Martha Russell of Seaton Park is newly widowed and she is childless. While she regrets that she doesn’t have a child and that she will likely have to go and live off her brothers, she is prepared to do so. Her plans are forestalled by suggestion of her lady’s maid and the local clergy that everyone will need to wait to see if she had quickened before her husband’s death. The seed of fraud is fostered when Martha hears that the heir is a disreputable man who had taken advantage of the servants of the house many years ago and that her husband had shunned the heir prior to his death.

Martha learns that Theo Mirkwood has been sent down by his father after an escapade. She propositions Theo and offers to pay him money to father her a child. Theo is bemused but he is in need of money and impregnating his neighbor seems like a jolly way to pass the time until he is forgiven or he has enough money to return to town. Martha and Theo don’t think much of each either. Martha isn’t the merry widow that Theo would like her to be and Theo is far to reckless and irresponsible to appeal to Martha. Theo thinks quite a bit of his sexual prowess but Martha is unimpressed:

He was watching her, hands on his hips, satisfied to be the object of a lady’s scrutiny. “It’s all yours, darling, bought and paid for,” he said with what was probably a rakish smile.

What on earth did one say in reply to that? It wasn’t even accurate — she hadn’t paid him yet — but really, the less said on this subject, the better. Yesterday had been rather excruciating in that regard. Your skin is like silk. You smell like flowers. He must seduce chiefly on the strength of his good looks. He couldn’t expect to overcome any lady with poetic invention.

As the two spend each afternoon in bed, they begin to learn more about one another. Martha learns that Theo’s easy amiability makes it easier to connect with the tenants, to assist them in the manner in which Martha believes is important for the gentry to do. Theo learns from Martha that taking care of the land and tenants is more than a responsibility but a calling.

In reading the negative Amazon reviews, one of the negatives that is brought up is that Martha is engaging in a fraud. She is. She is trying to steal an inheritance from another person who is rumored to be a bad man. This is not without its troubling morality and is an issue that Martha acknowledges, even unto the end.

Another negative comment was that Martha is cold. She is. She is distant from others. She does not make friends easily and her lack of ability to make connections pushes her to further withdraw emotionally. But she is earnest in her desire to provide for those people around her. She feels their reliance keenly. Moreover, Martha recognizes the perilous position of a woman and seeks to set up a school wherein girls can gain an education, empowering them. Theo is distant as well, for all his amiabiity. His connections, while easily made, are superfluous. Martha and Theo are subtle ends of an emotional spectrum. Theo was undisciplined, but generous. Martha was uptight, but thoughtful.

There is this great subplot involving Theo and a single laborer on his property. He learns that because the man has no family, when the man is older and can no longer work the tenant properly, he will be sent to a workhouse. It brings home to Theo how fortunate his birth and what kind of responsibility he holds in his hands. Theo has the ability to prevent Mr. Barrow from being sent to a workhouse. Theo’s transformation doesn’t come at the hands of Martha. She merely opens his eyes.

“The smaller families with older sons are fortunate,” he said as he and Granville moved along. “Two or more wages, and fewer people to divide them among.”

“The shape of your family makes a great difference, doesn’t it? I’m sorry the Weavers have no grown-up sons.” They were walking a path that followed a rail fence now, and from time to time the man rapped at some part of it, presumably to test the soundness of its joints.

“Mr. Barrow has no family at all? Not even nieces or nephews, I mean?”

“No.” This brought an extra gravity, he could see, to Granville’s weathered features. “He had sisters, I know, but they married long ago and settled somewhere far north.”

“No one to take an interest in caring for him, then.”

“It’s not as uncommon a case as one might like it to be. Reminds a man of the importance of marrying. Not a man of independent means, of course — you may look after yourself and then pay others to do so, if you choose.”

This sounded a dismal prospect. He must remember to think seriously of marriage, in five or ten years, and in the meantime, to ingratiate himself with his sisters’ children. “But Mr. Barrow,” he said. “There will come a time — soon, perhaps — when he can no longer earn a wage.”

“Aye, and after that, a time when he cannot keep house, and a time when he cannot care for himself.” Granville stopped, having found a place in the fence that did not make the proper reply to his knock. He rapped at it again, and then took out a pencil and a folded bit of paper to make some note.

Theo waited. “What happens to such a man at that time?” he said when the agent had finished.

He shook his head without looking up. “If a man does live to that age, and has no connections, like as not he ends in the workhouse infirmary.”

“Workhouse.” The one word was all he could manage.

Another negative is that the sex that Martha and Theo have is quite unsexy. This is also true. Martha hates sex initially. So much so that by the third coupling, Theo is having a difficult time even becoming aroused. The sex is actually a source of humor but it provides a marker for Martha and Theo’s intimacy. Initially the sex is horrible because neither have any feelings for another. As the two begin to like each other, the sex becomes better (although Martha begins to feel guilty about this) and then when the two fall in love, intercourse becomes both pleasureful and painful. Sex is almost a chore for both of them, something to get through in order to get to the good stuff which is the talking that they do after sex and the intimacy that grows between them because of the post coital discussions. The sex in the book ranges from awkward to erotic, a range that I’ve rarely seen in one book.

I just appreciated so much watching Theo and Martha change, subtly, into better versions of themselves. How they found in each other something of value. There are so many wonderful small scenes in the book such as Theo watching Martha’s interaction with the vicar and thinking to himself that he wanted to see that look of admiration and respect on Martha’s face directed toward him. Or Martha learning how to make friends with Theo’s assistance. The one small part of the story that I felt wasn’t as well integrated was Martha’s desire for a school for girls. I wasn’t convinced that her school would provide the empowerment that she desired and it lacked the flavor of the tenant / land management issues in the book. I also thought that the first three chapters started off a bit slow and I worried that Martha would be preachy and insufferable for the whole book (she’s not at all).

I don’t think I can really convey how amazing this book is. I hope people just give it a chance. Read the first chapter in the store. Take advantage of the “Sample” feature for ebookstores. It’s worth that small effort to see if the book captures a reader’s attention. I was captivated from the first chapter. A-

Best regards,

Jane

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REVIEW: Scored by Lauren McLaughlin

Jia — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:00:31 +0000

Dear Ms. McLaughlin,

In the glutted world of YA dystopians, it can be hard to stand out. After all, how many variations of a grim future in which a teenager’s entire life is mapped out by a test can there be? But despite that, your novel reminded me that even the most tired plot can find new life through fresh execution.

In Scored, towns all over the U.S. have agreed to take part of a program in which their children are “scored.” Based on an array of criteria, children are assigned numbers, which can rise or fall depending on their behaviors. A high score opens a new world of opportunity, but a low score means your options are limited at best.

Imani LeMonde doesn’t come from a rich family. It’s why her parents agreed for her and her younger brother to be scored. A high score means chances for them that normally would be impossible due to a lack of funds. One month from graduation, Imani is sitting pretty with a high score of 92.

Despite Imani’s high score, there are some things she’s not willing to give up — like her best friend, Cady, whose score is 71. If Imani and Cady followed the unspoken rules of teenage social groups, they wouldn’t even associate with one another. But they made a pact with each other when they were younger, and Imani intends to see it through the end. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? (Famous last words.)

As I mentioned elsewhere, if I’d known the protagonist of this book was biracial, I would have picked it up far sooner. I liked that Imani being biracial wasn’t made the issue of the book. It came up but in ways that were natural and not preachy. In fact, the book does a good job of implying a multicultural cast without hitting us over the head with it. It read natural, and I’m a big fan of that.

I also liked that Imani came from a lower class family. One of the things the book makes clear is that the “score” is meant to be the great equalizer. Of course, there’s a price to pay for that but it allows kids who don’t have the resources to get educations that they want and need. I loved that Imani wanted to become a marine biologist and that her desire to do so stemmed from her family of clam diggers and watching their livelihood dry up as the area gets overharvested and their clients leave for more posh towns.

What’s interesting is that not everyone is “scored.” True, the novel implies that it’s moving in that direction but we’re not there yet. This is that rare dystopian where we catch the beginning of the totalitarian regime. Because there’s a mix of scored and unscored at Imani’s school, there are interesting dynamics that play out.

One dynamic I liked was the relationship between Imani and Diego. Just as Imani is scored, Diego isn’t and he doesn’t need to be because his family is one of the richest in town. He doesn’t need to worry about a score to get him into college on a scholarship. His family’s money can take care of that all on its own. This difference comes to a head when they try to collaborate on an essay about the scoring system that could land the student who writes the winning essay a scholarship. Diego is entering for fun but Imani actually needs it, and this major difference plays out in a compelling way.

I also liked that this wasn’t a book where the girl meets the boy and they hold hands for the rest of the story. Imani has serious issues with Diego and it takes a lot of working out before they can reach an accord. That said, I really liked seeing Diego’s fascination with Imani. While the book is told from Imani’s POV (but in third person, not first), we get enough hints that he really likes her because she’s smart and challenging. Yes, he does make the mistakes you’d expect from a privileged, rich boy but there’s enough hints to infer he’ll work through that.

On the other hand, I thought the ending was rushed and abrupt. I can’t decide if there’s going to be a sequel or if that was intended. There are enough hints that there could be a sequel and given the series-happy nature of the YA dystopian subgenre, I wouldn’t be surprised, but it could also end here. As I mentioned earlier, this is the beginning of the dystopian society. I’m not completely sure I’d want to read a book about the rise of the oppressive regime.

While I went into this book expecting more of the same, I was pleasantly surprised to discover it wasn’t. Even though I thought the conclusion was rushed, I liked this portrayal of a society where scores could mean opportunity or disaster. The protagonist and subtle touches of race and class were a bonus. B

My regards,
Jia

Tuesday Midday Links: A Reader Poll and eBook Rumors

Jane — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:00:31 +0000

EBook device rumor alert:

Amazon is holder a press conference tomorrow that many are saying will be used to announce the Kindle Fire, a 7″ tablet. This device seems marketed more toward video and audio consumption. Amazon announced yesterday that Fox has signed up for video streaming and this content is free to Prime members bringing the total number of free movies and TV shows to over 11,000.
Barnes and Noble is rumored to be replacing the Nook Color with two new nooks, one a tablet device like the Amazon Fire and another an updated NookColor. This is likely to be announced in October at some point.
Kobo may have a tablet up its sleeve too.

*****

Pete Cashmore of Mashable says that a new Facebook look will be launched soon and it may freak you out because it is a total redesign that Facebook is implementing to use its new algorithm which weighs the update status and photos and videos and puts them in a life timeline highlighting the important moments in your life. I am not a big facebook user but I have to say this sort of thing frightens me. Cashmore is excited:

Through this process, you’ll realize that Facebook Timeline is much more than a way to post the minutiae of your existence. While a typical social networking profile might highlight what you ate this morning, or what time you left for work, or where you had lunch, Facebook Timeline takes these thousands of seemingly inconsequential events, discards the irrelevant ones, finds the most emotive, the most visual, the most striking and emotionally touching moments and pulls them into sharp focus.

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Barnes & Noble purchased Borders 48 million member customer database for $14 million. The judge approved the sale requiring Borders to send an opt out message to customers. If you are a former Borders customer, look for an email. If you don’t opt out, your personal information will be sold to B&N including a list of items you purchased except for DVD and video titles:

The deal announced on Monday gives customers 15 days to opt out of the transfer by responding to an email that will be sent when the deal closes, Borders lawyer Andrew Glenn said at thehearing. A closing date is still uncertain, but the parties are working to close as quickly as possible, added Glenn, no relation to the judge.

The companies will split the cost of an advertisement in USA Today giving customers information on how to opt out, Glenn said. Barnes & Noble, whose own privacy policy will govern the information once it is transferred, has agreed to purge any information it deems unnecessary.

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Betsey Mitchell, the editor in chief for Del Rey, is leaving for early retirement. Del Rey is the science fiction/fantasy arm of Random House.

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Authors want a higher royalty rate. This is no surprise as the only way an author earns more is a) getting a higher advance that she doesn’t earn out or b) getting a higher royalty rate. The rate that authors want increased is the ebook royalty rate. As ebook sales climb beyond print sales, the question is what is the justification authors give for believing that they are entitled to a higher ebook royalty rate versus a higher print royalty rate? One article suggests that this is the reasoning:

Q: One of the Writers’ Union’s proposals is that the publisher split proceeds of e-book sales equally with the author. So, are you proposing a royalty rate of 50 per cent? Do you think this is feasible?

A: The traditional 15 per cent of the list price of a hardcover book is derived, approximately, from an understanding that the publisher and author share the net proceeds 50 per cent. (Roughly, if 70 per cent of the cost of books pays for its production, that leaves 30 per cent to be split 50-50 between publisher and author, i.e. 15 per cent of list for the author). This (50 per cent) is the rate Random House began by offering authors for e-books but then cut back. It seems to us that with minimum production costs and virtually no return costs, e-books are not as expensive for the publisher to produce as hardcover books, and yet the industry standard remains around 25 per cent of net (not list, notice!).

I think it is both interesting and dangerous for authors to argue that the production costs of an ebook are minimal. It’s the same argument that readers use for lower prices. What will authors say when readers argue about prices being too high?

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There was yet another conference about books held yesterday in New York City. Michael Tamblyn of Kobo Books presented and one of the factoids that came out of the speech was that self published books are doing as much business as some traditional publishers for Kobo.

The entire tweet stream is interesting to read.

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This Harlequin author talks about the pros and cons of self publishing. My take away is that if you can sell over 17,000 copies per ebook, it is better to go it alone. If you can’t, then maybe a traditional publisher is a better way for you to go.

Indie: Can you make those numbers? Possible, but not likely. BUT! Because of the royalty rate structure, the book that sold over 300K copies has earned me slightly less than $35,000 total. About .12 cents per book. A self-published book doesn’t need to come anywhere close to those numbers in order to exceed Harlequin royalties. If it costs you $1000 to publish an ebook and list it at $2.99 (on Amazon that would give you a 70% royalty rate), then to net $35,000 you’d only need to sell 17,225 copies. Is that likely? Indie publishers are doing it all the time. So I’d say it’s quite possible.

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Lindsay suggested we do a poll pertaining the the ebook promotional matter. There are a number of ways to word the poll and so I’ve actually created a couple of questions.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Thursday Midday Links: eBooks 20% of the Market?

Jane — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:00:56 +0000

Barnes & Noble reports that the majority of its ebook sales are agency priced books (which feeds nicely into my Sunday article about how the biggest winner of agency pricing was BN). BN announced its quarterly results two days ago. Total sales are up 2% to $1.4billion, driven by large increases at bn.com as a result of nook color and nook touch and “a quadrupling of digital content sales over last year’s first quarter.” In store sales decreased 3% for the year, particularly for books whereas in store sales of the Nook and toys and games are increasing. It’s selfpublishing section PubIT! is also experiencing strong growth. To wit: BN’s book orders from publishers will not be increasing in the near future. Source: Market Watch

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Amazon moves:

It launches a PDF challenger.
You can now bother authors by typing @author and your comments/questions inside a Kindle book . These will be sent to participating authors.
The 7″ AmTab is coming but the 10″ is delayed until 2012 says DigiTimes.

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BISG came out with a new study about reading behavior. You can read some of the tweets by BISG here. Of interest:

3 most popular channels for mass market paperbacks are supermarkets, Wal-Mart & independent bookstores
Amazon readers’ preferred e-tailer increasing mkt share to 71.5% from 60.5% last yr
e-books have been adopted by >15% of bookbuyers…many still want print. But some of the heavy readers r loyal to ebooks

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Random House’s digital revenue was 20% of overall sales for the first half of 2011 (source) and that figure is true for Hachette as well (source).

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Sony debuted a new eink reader. It’s cheaper ($149) and has wifi and direct access to participating public libraries. I would have been excited if this was released in 2010 but in 2011, I think Sony has to come up with something more enticing than this. It’s still the most expensive wifi device on the market with no web based store and the highest prices.

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You really need to watch this video. It only takes seconds. I watched it three times in a row. Are you back? Good, now recommend a firefighter story for me.

Interview with Shauna Summers, Executive Editor for Ballantine Bantom Dell

Jane — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:15:30 +0000

Shauna Summers is the executive editor for the Ballantine, Bantom, Dell imprint. She edits authors such as Suzanne Brockmann, Shana Abe, and Lara Adrian.

Two debuts that she is excited about include Cecilia Grant’s “A Lady Awakened” (hhttp://www.ceciliagrant.com/) that will release in January 2012 and Molly O’Keefe’s contemporary series that will be released in the summer of 2012. I’ve had the opportunity to read “A Lady Awakened” and I felt like I hadn’t read these characters in a romance before. It was an amazing read and I’ll be excited to start talking about it later this year and hopefully have a giveaway for it in the late fall.

Molly O’Keefe’s previous books have been published by Harlequin Superromance and these books will be bigger stories that are in the vein of early Jennifer Crusie and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Funny and emotional. The first book, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, is about a hockey player who is one concussion away from serious and debilitating injury. He is being forced into retirement but unhappily. His father is an old rich Texas guy who gets engaged to a MUCH younger woman. But this is all a ploy by the estranged father to get his kids to come back so that he can make amends. The first two books will be published back to back in summer 2012 with the third in 2013.

Shana Abe is writing a YA series set in the Drakon world with a tentative title “Beautiful Dark”. The first will be released in the fall of 2012.

Some highlighted fall titles include

The Secret Mistress by Mary Balogh
Another two in one former Signet releases (sorry I forgot to get the titles)
Maya Banks’ fall trilogy set in the Highlands

Spring will see Lara Adrian’s 10th book in the Breed series. This will be in hardcover and is titled “Darker After Midnight”. It will be the last book in the Breed series and the next series from Adrian will be a spin off with younger characters.

Suzanne Brockmann will start hardcover series beginning with “Born to Darkness.” The concept is that in a slightly future Earth we have tapped into the full extent of our brain and thus are faster, stronger, with telekinetic powers.

The BBD publishing philosophy is that they acquire strong voices and have no set publishing schedule. Some months may have more releases than others. The new digital Loveswept line will operate under the same philosophy. There will be no set number of books that they will release although the plan is to launch with 8 titles and one release a month thereafter, either a digital reprint of a former Loveswept line or a new original fiction piece purchased new for the Loveswept line.

All of the editorial staff can and will acquire for the Loveswept line. Any good romance, any subgenre, any length. They are unsure about erotic or m/m and will be exploring that for the future. The digital publishing program is very fluid and they only want to publish books that they really love. The Loveswept line may be a place to publish more niche material that is great but may not have a wide reaching audience.

They are paying a negotiable advance and 25% off the net for royalties.

The price point, which will excite readers, is $2.99 to $4.99, probably based on length.

Thursday Midday Links: Loveswept Is Coming Back

Jane — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:00:03 +0000

Romance at Random, a community site devoted to romance books and romance readers, has launched. With the launch comes some pretty exciting news. Romance at Random is run by former Borders buyer, Sue Grimshaw.

We are pleased to announce the 2011 Loveswept publishing program – a digital-exclusive imprint, comprised of original, newly written e-books, as well as beloved Ballantine Bantam Dell romances and classic Loveswept titles. The program launches with eight titles in August, and continues with one new e-only release monthly in the fall.

Among the initial August Loveswept offerings are Remember The Time by Annette Reynolds, Dream Lover by Adrienne Staff, The Vow by Julianna Garnett, This Fierce Splendor by Iris Johansen, The Baron by Sally Goldenbaum, Lightning That Lingers by Sharon and Tom Curtis, Tall, Dark and Lonesome by Debra Dixon, and Legends by Deb Smith.

Stay tuned for more from Loveswept!

Dude, Lightning That Lingers by Sharon and Tom Curtis. Old time Iris Johansen book. Loveswept was an incredible line. I can’t wait. For international readers, the press release had this to say:

The new Loveswept imprint incarnation will now be a Random House transatlantic publishing collaboration between the U.S. and their sister company, Random House Group U.K.’s Transworld Publishers division. The e-books will be released simultaneously in North America, the U.K., and the British Commonwealth.

No word on the pricing. Sarah Wendell points out that Random House is an agency publisher and that means the prices of the backlist books might be 44.99 (she jokes, a little).

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JK Rowling is indeed self publishing her Harry Potter books in the digital format. She is working with Overdrive to distribute the product to be sold through her Pottermore store. The site is sponsored by Sony, royalties will be shared with her print pubs and there will be new content as well:

Rowling talked about going into the digital format for the first time, and said: “It is my view that you can’t hold back progress. I love printed paper . . . This year for the first time I have downloaded e-books and it’s miraculous . . . I feel good about bringing it into this world.” She added that she did come up with the name “Pottermore”. She also said that at the time of writing the Potter series, she always knew she had more content than it would be possible to include in the books, in particular the back stories’ of characters such as Professor McGonagall, and so this was a way for her to share that content. Some of the content will also be entirely new, with Rowling saying it was “scary” how easy it was for her to return to that world.

No word on the pricing. I’m curious about the delivery of the Kindle format. ~~Overdrive can do DRM and so I’m thinking that they are licensing Amazon’s DRM scheme?~~ According to a post over at Mike Cane’s blog, these books are going to be DRM FREE!

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There are two device rumors of note. The first is that Amazon’s Tablet might be launching in August according to parts makers. Amazon, like Apple, is doing a pretty good job of keeping the details of its new devices under wraps.

The other rumor is that there is a new iPhone 5 headed for market in September. I’m not sure I buy that one, but I am intrigued about the iPhone lite – a smaller, cheaper iPhone.

Speaking of Amazon and Apple, Apple sued Amazon to prevent them from using the term “App Store”. The federal judge hearing the case isn’t very impressed with Apple’s arguments.

“I’m troubled by the showing that you’ve made so far,” U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton told Apple. “[And] that’s where you’re likely not to prevail at this early juncture.”

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BN is being saved by ebooks and ebook technology. Literally. In store sales were down 3% and the brick and mortar retail operations have resulted in greater than $58 million loss. The bright side, and BN’s only avenue for growth according to one analyst, is their digital book focus. Nook’s market share is around 26-27 percent and their BN.com sales are up 60%. Link Resource: Paid Content.

Overall, Lynch said, Nook-related business grew to over $250 million in the fiscal year ending April 30—close to 300 percent growth over the same period last year.

BN sells three times as many digital books as all formats of physical books from BN.com and that PubIt! “is the fastest growing part of our digital catalog in units and volume sales.”

Thursday Midday Links: The RITA Version

Jane — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:00:40 +0000

Earlier this week, the RITA nominations were announced. We collected some of them here at DABWAHA and the full list is here. First off, congratulations to the RITA nominees. To the authors, this is akin to receiving an Oscar nomination. I understand that readers don’t necessarily feel this way but I do want to take a minute to congratulate the nominees on an honor that is very meaningful to them.

To readers, this is another list full of books, the validity of which they agree and disagree about. Here are some of my thoughts. One thing I like to do is look at the category selections because those nominations are generally for strong books. The majority of RITA voters are category writers and they know category writing. What I feel isn’t well represented is the paranormal sub genre. The paranormal writers aren’t allowed to judge this category and I think it shows. Instead of deep rich works with great world building, we get wins like Gwen Cready’s time travel fan fic, Seducing Mr. Darcy, and Anne Mallory’s The Earl’s Pleasure, a ghost romance. (and I really like Mallory’s writing).

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

The historical and the contemporary categories are pretty interesting as well. Victoria Dahl received a double nomination. (I think she received a double nomination last year?) I have to say I was surprised because Dahl’s heroines in both books are unusual. Dahl’s heroines have been castigated by readers for being amoral and unlikeable. (I’m a fan, full disclosure). Sherry Thomas was also nominated for His at Night and Joanna Bourne for The Forbidden Rose. Newcomer, Kaki Warner, received a historical nod for one of her epic Westerns.

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

Thoughts?

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Remember Brian Keene’s calls for a Dorchester Boycott because Dorchester keeps selling his books, books they don’t own the rights to? Dorchester has now said that it isn’t their fault, but the retailer. The retailers aren’t talking so it is easy for Dorchester to point the finger. Chris Keeslar told Publishers Weekly that Keene will get the money that is owed to him. The problem is that Dorchester owes money to a number of authors, including Keene, and they don’t have the funds to pay those authors at this point:

Anthony acknowledged that in rebuilding Dorchester the company has had to "prioritize its cash flow." This has resulted in not all authors being paid the money they are owed and that Dorchester had committed to pay when Anthony took over from John Prebich last November. "All authors will be paid in full," Anthony vowed. The Keene controversy has been a setback to Dorchester's turnaround efforts, but Keeslar said Dorchester is committed to rebuilding.

Making Light has a great timeline of Dorchester events.

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This link was tweeted by author Susan Mallery. Apparently heartbreak can cause physical pain.

Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans while they:

•Viewed photos of their ex-partner and thought about how they felt during their breakup.

•Viewed a photo of a friend and thought about a recent positive experience with that person.

•Wore an arm device that created tolerable pain sensations to measure physical pain reactions.

Researchers compared the findings with 500 scans of other people’s brain responses to physical pain, emotion and other psychological processes.

“We found that the intense experience of social rejection activates regions of the brain that are involved in the sensory experience of physical pain,” Kross says.

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Author Sarah Mayberry pointed to this article relating the rise of ebook interest following the collapse of a major brick and mortar bookselling change.

The Australian arm of Canada-based e-books company Kobo estimates there has been at least a 30 per cent increase in traffic to its sites, generating "good" sales, since REDgroup Retail slipped into voluntary administration in February.

“The mere fact that there is all this speculation whether e-books had pushed REDgroup into administration drove a lot of people to look at e-books," said Kobo's Australian head Malcolm Neil. "We actually saw a huge sales spike in the couple weeks afterwards."

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Random House had a very good quarter and much of it is due to the rise of digital book sales. I’m not sure if this will decline now that RH has adopted Agency pricing.

Random House Group (RHG) revenues were up 6.1% in 2010 compared to 2009, to â‚¬1.8bn ( £1.bn), with worldwide digital sales up 250% on the previous year.

Operating earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) for Random House also rose to â‚¬173m ( £152.6m) from â‚¬137m ( £120.8m) in 2009.

RHG expanded its e-book programme to include 25,000 titles worldwide by the end of 2010. In the United States, Bertelsmann said as much as half of first week fiction sales were now in digital.

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I haven’t tried this out yet, but it intrigues me. Asus Eee Pad Transformer is soon to hit the US shores. This is a tablet and laptop in one because the screen (or tablet) detaches from the keyboard base. I suspect that the internal guts of the Transformer is netbook and I gave up on my netbook. At $400, though, this might be a decent replacement for the iPad.

EBOOK ALERT: Random House Instituting Agency Pricing as of March 1

Jane — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:57:45 +0000

Update:

I took some screenshots of prices last night to see how the new Agency prices would compare. Random House’s digital book prices appear to be equal for mass market, $9.99 for trades, and varying prices for hardcovers.

As of March 1, 2011, Random House will move from its existing retail relationship to Agency pricing. This means that Random House will set the price for ebooks and retailers like Amazon and Barnes&Noble will NOT be able to discount. I have been perusing the catalog over at Amazon and buying some sub $5.00 deals as I doubt those will be in existence tomorrow.

For those who might want to engage in a late night shopping excursion, here is the best way to search for titles.

Click on Books. Look to the right and click on Advanced Search.

Here you will be able to enter the publisher, format (Kindle), and subject (romance etc). You can also set it so that the search results are from low to high:

Publisher = imprint so you will have to run this search a few times to pull up all the titles. I’ve done Bantam, Ballantine, Dell, Spectra, and Random House.

REVIEW: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Jayne — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:00:05 +0000

Dear Mrs. Simonson,

This may be your first published book but wow, just wow. I am in love with it and want to go around telling all my friends, my coworkers, total strangers on the street, almost everyone about it. I haven’t read too many A grade books this year but the wait for another was worth it.

“When Major Pettigrew, a retired British army major in a small English village, embarks on an unexpected friendship with the widowed Mrs. Ali, who runs the local shop, trouble erupts to disturb the bucolic serenity of the village and of the Major's carefully regimented life.

As the Major and Mrs. Ali discover just how much they have in common, including an educated background and a shared love of books, they must struggle to understand what it means to belong and how far the obligations of family and tradition can be set aside for personal freedom. Meanwhile, the village itself, lost in its petty prejudices and traditions, may not see its own destruction coming.”

Rich, meaty, satisfying, filling – I’m making this sound like an advert for a pot pie but it was just such a treat to read this book. I don’t just mean I enjoyed the story, the plot, or the characters, what I’m trying to say is the experience is something to be savored as well. The gentle humor, the cutting truths, the ease as the story flowed on – all of it came together for me and made reading the story magical.

Since I’m headed towards becoming a woman of “a certain age,” the fact that the romance is between a woman in her fifties and a man ten years older is an attraction for me. I don’t mind that most romances these days are about people in their 20s and 30s but every once in a while, I like to be reminded that anyone at any age can still fall in love. Here it’s shown delicately, slowly advancing, almost gently occurring but totally believable.

Mrs. Ali and the Major are from different backgrounds, different religions, different experiences and yet…they have so much in common. Their sense of loyalty and honor is bred in the bone, their love of literature calls to the other, their enjoyment of the countryside, of England brings them together more closely than any mere physical attraction can. They are perfect for each other.

But it’s not easy sailing as the combined prejudices of a village and both families thrust themselves in the story like a cold wind, seeking out vulnerabilities and testing strengths and weaknesses. I like the story better that both Mrs. Ali and Major Pettigrew have their moments of failure, their fleeting experiences with clay feet yet no knight in shining armor ever rode – or in this case drove – to his lady’s rescue with any more feeling than does the Major. And no lady ever seized the day and demanded her joy in life more sweetly and more insistently than does Mrs. Ali.

What brings my grade down from a straight A is a bit that is at the end of the story and which seems out of place compared to the rest.

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

Both the Major and Mrs. Ali grow as people and learn as the story progresses. They make each other better and, to some degree, help those around them be better too. In the end, the circle of friends and acquaintances might have been pared down by the prejudices of those around them but in each other, they have found that which will sustain them through what I can just feel are going to be happy years together.

~Jayne

Thursday Midday Links: Borders’ Corporate Building List for Sale

Jane — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:21:04 +0000

This is really a week’s worth of stuff in one post so excuse the length:

Next week we are going to celebrate National Coming Out Day and the “It Get’s Better” movement started by Dan Savage:

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With all the layoffs and downsizing, Borders has no need for the space its current headquarters offers. Thus Borders Corporate in Ann Arbor has been quietly listed for sale for a bargain $18.439 million dollars. That has to be a blow for the local Ann Arbor economy given that only an estimated 600 people still work there.

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Macmillan Publishers (you know, the company whose CEO won’t allow digital lending of books and thinks readers should have to get out of their house to buy a book) is launching Macmillan Films so that it can package literary projects to Hollywood. I suspect Macmillan will start to want authors’ film rights now.

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On Agency Gatekeeper Blog is a fun rundown of things that drive an anonymous reviewer for a “major book-reviewing outlet” crazy. (no, it’s no one from Dear Author that I know of). While the reviewer holds up the JR Ward series as one that gets it right (which is ironic given that the Ward series is devoid of any female personality and the heroines are distinguishable only by the color of dress that they were), she nails some points like how

#2– A career is something that happens while you’re waiting for a rich man (or in some cases, a rich vampire) to sweep you off your feet. If there is ever a choice between pursuing your career, maintaining friendships and enjoying daylight versus becoming a blood-sucking immortal fiend of the night who forsakes all human contact and can’t practice medicine anymore, a woman will always choose her man.

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Speaking of lists, I particularly enjoyed Stephanie Draven’s 7 Deadly Sins of Paranormal Romance.

GREED: Too Many Speculative Elements. The best paranormal romance takes the world as we know it, or the past as we imagine it, and twists one or two crucial elements, following the repercussions from those changes like ripples on a pond. The worst paranormal romance turns itself into a carnival for every strange and unexplained myth, magic, and phenomenon in the cosmos. Elves and vampires, mining together on Epsilon 4 with space aliens who are ruled by the Wicked Witch of the West in a kingdom called Oz-readers need to be able to focus. In a world where everything is possible, what is truly at stake? (For an example of how too much of a good thing can ruin a series, see the television series LOST which started out with an intriguing premise, but eventually piled so many new paranormal elements onto the stack that the whole thing collapsed under its own weight, bleeding viewers and disappointing long-time fans.)

I refer to Greed as the “No Paranormal Left Behind” syndrome.

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Sourcebooks is launching a new “line” of books called Casablanca Classics. CC will republish old books that have gone out of print. Unfortunately, the price of these new books will be $9.99. I love this idea and hate the price point. After all, I can find most of these used on Amazon for $.99 + shipping.

November 2010
Devil’s Desire by Laurie McBain

February 2011
Fierce Eden by Jennifer Blake
Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain
My Love, My Enemy by Jan Cox Speas

March 2011
Merely Magic by Patricia Rice
Legacy by Jeanette Baker

May 2011
Tapestry of Dreams by Roberta Gellis

June 2011
Bride of the MacHugh by Jan Cox Speas

August 2011
Midnight Waltz by Jennfer Blake
Catriona by Jeanette Baker

Given that the only thing Sourcebooks has to do is pay for a new cover and marketing, the $9.99 price point seems excessively high.

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Random House is running at online promotion at Suvudu.com where fans get to vote on the direction of a chain story, in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style. Here is the link to the page, and the original announcement is below. Lara Adrian, Harry Connolly, Lucy A. Snyder, Kelly Meding, and Stacia Kane are writing this short story of Munira, a "retriever" of magical items in the fictional city of Port Nightfall.

The daughter of a djinn, Munira is contacted by the most powerful sorcerer in the city, the wily Temesis who makes her an offer she can't refuse: steal the Light of Ta'lab from an evil necromancer or he will kill her father! Fans will have the opportunity to vote on the choices Munira makes in the story via Suvudu.com, and each new section (penned by the various authors), will reflect the fans' voices. The short story began on Monday, September 20, 2010 and, once completed, will be available for download as a ¢99 eBook.

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Orbit has launched The Orbital Drop which is a monthly special ebook deal. Deals will include two-for-ones, digital boxed-sets, and big discounts on some of the best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Urban Fantasy in the known universe. Each deal lasts one month though. You can sign up here. When I signed up, it looked like it might be US only which is a big shame.

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You know who loves happy endings? It might not be who you think. Eva Ibbotson, author of several beautiful YA novels, admits to loving the happy ever after ending. Eva’s childhood

was a “very cosmopolitan, sophisticated and quite interesting” childhood, but it was not a happy one. With parents who were very bad at hiding their dislike of each other living at either end of the country and grandparents in Vienna, Ibbotson was “always on some train, going about and wishing I had a home. When I came to write, consciously or unconsciously I always wanted to make things right for the hero or the heroine.” As a result, Ibbotson describes herself as a “happy endings freak”.

Thanks from Reader Robin F.

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HarperCollins’ CEO says that revenue from digital books, excluding children’s books, is about 20% this year. That’s a hell of a sea change from just a year ago. No wonder publishers are in turmoil.

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Tuesday Midday Links: New Readers, New Prices

Jane — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:00:02 +0000

Sony quietly launched its new ereaders with a strategy designed to capture a more global market. The three models have been revamped to all feature touch screens. The readers have the same Pearl Ink screen as the Kindle which means better, clearer, crisper text. They all have touch screens which allows on notetaking on the screen and highlighting. The price is still high which the lowest version, the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, coming in at $179. Only the highest end model, the Daily Edition, comes with connectivity (3G and Wifi). Nate at the Digital Reader notes that Sony is working on apps for Android and iThings for late fall release.

Sony has always manufactured a beautiful feeling product and I don’t doubt that these feel great. At $179, though, I think the Kindle is a much better deal particularly because the $139 one comes with the same screen (although no touch) and wifi connectivity. Even the nook at $149 comes with wifi and a small touchscreen.

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Borders has cut the prices of the Kobo and Aluretek readers. The Kobo is now $129 and the Aluretek is $99. The Kobo at $129 is too high because it lacks any kind of connectivity, has content issues (not enough content compared to BN and Kindle), and has much lower refresh.

Borders is also going to sell Build a Bear accessories in its children’s section. BN has a large assortment of toys and stuffed animals as well.

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After several quarters of struggle, Random House has seemingly turned its ship around with the help of sales by Stieg Larsson. Digital is also growing.

"In the past half year we have really embraced digital transition throughout our companies, replacing anxieties about the format with forward thinking and with well-executed action," Dohle said with Random on track to generate e-book sales of over $100 million (which will roughly be about 5% of worldwide sales). The majority of sales have come in the U.S., but the U.K. and Germany have also seen good gains. E-book publishing operations will soon start in Latin America and Spain.

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Michelle sent me this link to an Amazon discussion regarding the bleeding of paranormal romance into urban fantasy. What I think is interesting is how proprietary readers are of their favorite genres and how much they dislike any “mislabeling.” I am the same way for romance. Some of these readers really dislike romance (which is perfectly fine) but I thought reading the thought processes of other readers was interesting.

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Sarah Rees Brennan, author of the highly recommended Demon Lexicon books, talks about why she doesn’t write negative reviews. For various reasons from not wanting to unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings to understanding that her viewpoint might not be totally objective, Brennan talks about the books she loves but understands and appreciates those that write the negative reviews. Reviews, she concludes are primarily for readers. (I agree!).