Reader Habits

Reader Survey

Reader Survey

I’m privileged to be able to give a presentation at this month’s Tools of Change conference along with Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches Trashy Books and Editor Angela James from Carina Press. Our presentation is what readers want and it is based on conversations we’ve had with ebook readers for over four years on our(…)

Tuesday Midday Links: Win $1,000 from Avon

Amazon is publishing four previously unpublished manuscripts through Amazon Encore.   We anticipated this move back when Amazon purchased CreateSpace.   I anticipate that these books will be distributed, in print, through third party wholesalers and receive prime advertising at Amazon. Avon is holding a big contest for readers.   Suggest a novella idea and if yours is(…)

Have It My Way

Have It My Way

Ned is thinking of getting a new vehicle and at dinner the other night, one of our friends talked about the new Ford Fusion dashboards.   Apparently the new Ford Fusion dashboard is highly configurable, allowing four different types of displays.   Users are pushing for the dashboards to be opensource so that people can customize the(…)

Friday Midday Links: Publishing Haiti Relief Efforts

Bloomsbury decided to change the cover of Magic Under Glass after intense criticism of the cover arose around the web. “Bloomsbury is ceasing to supply copies of the US edition of Magic Under Glass. The jacket design has caused offense and we apologize for our mistake. Copies of the book with a new jacket design(…)

Where Does Reading Rank for You?

Where Does Reading Rank for You?

In Bowker’s 2008 PubTrack Consumer Survey, the activity in which largest amount of time that READERS spent doing any one thing was browsing online. Reading books came in a distant fourth, right behind reading newspapers and magazines and far behind TV viewing. The good news is that in 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts(…)

Authors Whose Books I Wished I Liked

see more Lolcats and funny pictures I was reading Rosario’s blog the other day and she was blogging about how much she enjoyed Linnea Sinclair’s Down Home Zombie Blues. As I was reading Rosario’s review, I was thisclose to buying the book but the fact is that Linnea Sinclair’s books just don’t work for me.(…)

Tuesday Midday Round Up: Winners and Lawsuits

The winners of the CL Wilson, Queen of Song and Souls are as follows: Pamk stephanie Rexe Julie Sharon I have sent you an email. **** Inside the Higher Ed blog has another piece on technology and scholarship. This time, Alex Golub laments the shift of readers from paper texts to digital texts arguing that(…)

Poll: Reading in the Bathroom

There was a person who mentioned that the idea of a book or a phone or a laptop in the bathroom is pretty disgusting to them. I confess, in a manner of TMI perhaps, that I read in the bathroom. Do you? [poll id="206"] Send to Kindle

Poll: Do you like the beginning or the end of the book the best?

[poll id="197"] I asked this question of Sarah last week at Borders. My initial response was “the end, of course” because I love that feeling at the end of a good book.   When I pondered this more, though, I came the realization that I am much more excited to start books than I am to(…)

Tuesday News Roundup: Sony & iRex Out With 3G Wireless Readers

Sony announced that along with the PRS 300 (the 5″ screen at $199) and the PRS 600 (the 6″ touchscreen at $299) it will release Sony Daily Edition at $399.   Sony Daily Edition comes equipped with 3G wireless capabilities, a 7″ touchscreen, and is powered by the ATT Network.   You can see pictures of the(…)

Poll: What Do You Do When You Are in a Reading Slump?

[poll id="197"] Reading slumps are a bad, bad thing. You start thinking that the genre sucks or that maybe you’ve changed so that the genre no longer appeals to you. You pick up ten books in your to be read pile and they all look horrible. The mere mention of a bookstore makes your lip(…)

Poll: What reasons do old favorite books not work for you anymore?

[poll id="196"] This coming year will see a lot of re issues of older books.   It’s financially convenient for publishers as they’ve already paid the advance on that book.   Sometimes, though, our old favorites simply don’t hold up over time.   Keishon, Avidbookreader, blogged about her recent re-reading of Sandra Brown’s Tiger Prince.   Dated,   Keishon wrote,(…)

Monday News Roundup: Angela James Leaves Samhain & other stuff that’s not as important

First up is the news that Angela James, former executive editor of Samhain, is joining the Quartet Press folks. I think QP means business, no? In other QP news, Anne Frasier aka Teresa Weir is going to be releasing Bad Karma in ebook form through Quartet. Under the penname of Teresa Weir, Frasier wrote some(…)

Golden Era of Romance

[poll id="194"] McVane has kindly thought up some poll ideas for me. (They are hard, you guys!).   I thought this topic was particularly apt given two things.   First, there are some readers who believe that the best of romance is in the past and that what is being published today is good but will never(…)

Spoilers in Reviews: Yea or Nay

[poll id="189"] Robin, who cheats on Dear Author by blogging at Access Romance and Romancing the Blog, posted her thoughts about spoilers in reviews.   Robin is for it (and I am too) but we both work hard to have spoiler free reviews. It’s often quite hard, particularly when an element of the story affects how(…)