In 2001, Amazon took over Borders online bookstore, but it looks like the two may be parting ways. What I found interesting was the market share reported in this article:

Barnes & Noble has 15 percent of the book market
Borders has 13 percent
Amazon.com has 10 percent

Dear Ms. James:
You have an immense talent and I love your writing style. I particular love how you show that women are a community of individuals rather than separate and alone. Josie has been a favorite of mine since the very beginning of the Essex sisters. She’s a little bit of each [...]

The existence of amazon reviews and reader review blogs, like this one, are being touted as the downfall of literary taste. Seeing as how I never aspired to having literary taste but read for entertainment and review for entertainment, I suppose I must agree. The Smart Bitches and Sybil have links for those [...]

I’m not sure that this is a romance but it sounds kind of interesting
Writer/producer Jessica Brody’s debut THE FIDELITY INSPECTOR, about a sexy woman hired by the rich to test their spouses of the intention to cheat and the problems her alter-ego causes in her everyday life, to Jennifer Weis at Griffin, by Elizabeth Fisher [...]

Dear Ms. Blair,
I know there will be people who adore this book. People who enjoy a more wacky, screwball type of comedy and who’ll love watching these two characters interact. I’m not one of them.
I know that lots of people have enjoyed the two previous books in this series, The Kitchen Witch and My [...]

YBP Library Services, the world’s leading provider of materials to academic libraries, has announced plans to market a comprehensive collection of ebooks in partnership with EBL. Slated for launch in the first half of 2007, the deal will make EBL’s growing list of over 40,000 ebook titles available to YBP’s library customers around the world. [...]

Apparently you cannot get your change made into dollars at a bank without fee anymore. Who knew? (Apparently Ned). Coinstar to the rescue. You can turn your coins into e-certificates for vendors like Amazon.com or Borders/Waldenbooks even give your change to charity. That’s cool.

Dear Ms. Crusie, Foster and Phillips:
I would have never thought the three of you were a good match in an anthology but, for the most part, it worked. For the readers edification, however, only Hot Toy by Jennifer Crusie is a new contribution. Christmas Bonus by Lori Foster was previously published in All [...]

Remember the Harris Interactive study which reported that Baby Boomers were feeling left out of the TV market. In a small nod toward baby boomers, HarperCollins is releasing its large-print titles with the debut of HarperLuxe. HarperLux will feature 14 point font (compare to the 16 point font used in large print titles) [...]

Sales for Hastings and Books a Million were up in the third quarter due to improved sales of hardcover bestsellers.

Dear Readers,
In addition to her novels about India, M.M. Kaye also wrote a series of mystery novels set in exotic places. In “Death in Berlin,” she uses war torn 1953 Berlin as a backdrop to mystery and romance.
“The strange beauty and terrible past of war-scarred Berlin. Miranda Brand
is a beautiful model visiting Germany for what [...]

On August 24, 2006, Avon began a round robin sort of fan lit contest in which writers would submit chapters which were voted on by readers. Two winners were chosen, one at random and one which was an “editorial” selection. Sara Dennis (I think she’s commented here before) was the editorial winner and [...]

Dear Ms. Frank:
This book, apparently, has been a highly touted first novel. I am always looking for a new debut author to latch onto like white on rice. Alas, while this is a paranormal not featuring vampires or shapeshifters, the concept of the story is not new and the worldbuilding had some real [...]

Yeah, I think. Still have the Sharing Knife Book 1 to read but have heard tis very good.
Lois McMaster Bujold’s WIDE GREEN WORLD, Parts I and II: the third and forth novels in the world of “The Sharing Knife,” to Jennifer Brehl and Katherine Nintzel at Harper, by Eleanor Wood at Spectrum Literary [...]

Dear Ms Archer,
The back blurb for this Harlequin Next book was a little confusing. Something about grown children and empty nest syndrome and being in Hell. Well, that’s a lot of the story but not quite all.
Dana Logan can’t imagine where all the years went. One day her children were young and suddenly she [...]

Dear Ms. Dean*:
I guess this is your ode to Laurell K Hamilton and Buffy the Vampire slayer. To which I say, haven’t we had enough of that?
Candace Steele is a vampire hunter. She lives in Vegas where she made her home after leaving San Francisco and her vampire lover. Having had a [...]

Sybil, Lora Leigh’s Harmony’s Way
Sara Dennis, set of Catherine Mann’s Wingman Warriors, Signed by the author.
Monica Jackson, Anthology Unleashed
Susan, Charlene Teglia’s Yule Be Mine
LLL, Emma Holly’s Prince of Ice
jaq, Kathleen O Reilly’s Diva’s Guide to Selling Your Soul
Rosie, Kathleen O Reilly’s Diva’s Guide to Selling Your Soul
Robin, Erin McCarthy’s Bit the Jackpot
Seton, Catherine Mann’s [...]

Ian McEwan, nominee of the Booker Award for his novel, Atonement, has been accused of copying Lucilla Andrews’ work. Ms. Andrews wrote an autobiographical novel, No Time for Romance, of her work nursing injured soldiers druing World War II. McEwen’s female protagonist has similar experiences as the ones related in Andrews’ book. [...]

Not to be left out, even though Thanksgiving has past, here’s my list.

Those Calgon, Take Me Away moments wherein you are transported from mundane suburbia into the rich lives of the Old West, the Near Future, the Distant Past, and the Alternative Reality.

No matter how many big silly misunderstandings a couple suffers through [...]

The romance cover contest results for 2005 are in. Let the discussion begin! The “worst” one is definitely a bad cover.

First James Patterson joins RWA and now Hiassen is selling a romance?

Regan was responsible for the Simpson book. Apparently, she had great discretion in what books would be published under her imprint using the HarperCollins money. She produced such bestsellers as How to Make Love Like a Porn Star by Jenna Jameson and Juiced by Jose Canseco. According to Newsweek, Regan’s future projects will [...]

One issue that constantly crops up in the ebook discussion is pricing. Common sense tells us that ebooks cost less to make and distribute than paper books. According to an indepent epublisher, Sony charges $200 to have a book converted from a PDF to a digital BBeB (Sony’s proprietary content). In order [...]

Dear Ms. Ward,
As everyone who has read your books knows, Zsadist is the most feared member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. A vicious fighter in the vampire Brotherhood’s battle against the evil lessers, Zsadist is also scarred, antisocial, and rumored to kill women. But in your previous book, Lover Eternal, Zsadist began to [...]

Publishers Weekly has an article up about the new faces of romance. I’ve read three of the books featured and Meljean Brook’s book, Demon Angel, is the class of the bunch. Hers is not to be missed.

Slate offered up a column on how Google Book Search can be used to combat plagiarism. Says Paul Collins “Google Book Search contains hundreds of millions of printed pages, and yet after just a few words, the likelihood of the sentence’s replication scales down dramatically.”
In related news, noted jurist Richard Posner of the Seventh [...]

Aultbea Publishing is setting new records by signing and publishing Christopher Beale’s children’s book, 1,500-word five-chapter novel called This and Last Season’s Excursions. Mr. Beale was 6 years old and 118 days when his opus was completed. He is now busy translating his book into Italian (a language in which he is fluent) [...]

Penguin announced that it will release some classics with blank, art ready covers so that the reader can sketch, paint, decoupage their own cover. I love this idea and think it would make great gifts. Ned is so handy with the stick figure art. :)

I loved Jayne’s, Janine’s and Nora’s thankful lists and thought that I needed to remind myself (because, you know it’s that time of year where I tend to forget just why it is that I work in retail!)

The whole store is my to be read pile.
ARCs (I love to read things early . . [...]

Dear Ms. McCarthy:
I thought since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I could get away with not posting today. But then I saw that everyone else in Blogland posted and I can’t be the one to drag us all down even though I ate enough food to feed a village. I hate the holidays. Or [...]

Dear Mrs. Canham,
I hope that your muse can tempt you back into writing. I keep hearing rumors but what I want is to read another new Canham book! ;) Other reviews have decried the amount of violence and sex in “The Iron Rose.” Yes, it’s violent. Yes, it has sex. But it’s a pirate [...]

Dear Ms. Garwood:
I want you to know that I open myself up to ridicule from any number of blogland sources such as my blogging partners, Jayne and Janine, Keishon, Maili, and who knows else by writing this love letter to you. Alas, I cannot let this week of thankfulness pass by without referencing at [...]

Dear Ms Jensen,
For readers who are as anal as I am about trying to read a series in order, let me spell out this one. “Vivid Notions” is the second book in this series that started with CHOICE DECEPTIONS (other books in the series are Coup De Grace, His Grace Endures, What Chloe Wants, [...]

It may surprise you, but the top visited publishing website is Spark Notes, a study guide publisher. Next up is Random House, ranked 8133 and then Harlequin (excluding non romance publishers). St. Martins is dead last and that’s because their website basically has no usable information. Nothing like failing to highlight your [...]

A UK based company called U Star Novels is offering personalized romance novels. You answer 26 questions from where you work to what your favorite perfume is and these details are then interwoven through one of three romances: “Fever in France”, “Indecent in Italy” and “Spanish Sizzle.” You can customize the [...]

Dear Ms. Everaux:
Over at Bam’s blog, a couple three people suggested Bam read this book. I’m not Bam but I am always up for a recommendation. I had to fly for business last Thursday and downloaded this book at the airport. God, I love ebooks. . Onto my handheld the book [...]

Dear Mrs. Cobb South,
I’ve been a fan of yours since “The Weaver Takes a Wife” and was delighted to hear that a new book was coming out. I can now happily say that “Of Paupers and Peers” will take its place beside my other Cobb South keepers. I just wish that 1) it was [...]

Author of A Darker Crimson Carolyn Jewel’s MAGELLAN’S WITCH, set in a world where human magic users and demons are on the brink of disastrous conflict, moving to Melanie Murray at Warner Forever, in a two-book deal, at auction, by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency (World). Hmm. I think I read her. [...]

St. Paul is home to new indie bookstore owned by Garrison Keillor. There will be no romance and John Grisham will be found on the Qualilty Trash shelf.

Dear Ms. Johnson:
Long before there was Jaid Black and Ellora’s Cave. Long before the rise of erotic romance and the publication of lines like Aphrodisia, Spice, and Avon Red, there were authors like you who wrote historically rich, emotionally deep and impossibly erotic romances. There are three of your books that I re-read [...]

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has cancelled the Simpson book. Book and TV Special both are cancelled.

Dear Ms. Abé,
Imagine a place so ripe and thick with the promise of magic that the very air breathes in plumes of pearl and gray and smoky blue; that the trees bow with the weight of their heavy branches, dipping low to the ground, dropping needles and leaves into beds of perfume. A place [...]

Borders announced that it would carry the book but that it would donate net proceed to a national organization that assists domestic violence. It will also not discount the title or promote it.
If you dislike the idea of this book, this site has all the contact information you need to protest its [...]

Dear Mrs. Kelly,
Most people know you for your excellent trad regencies but I wish more people would mention this anthology featuring stories about the 19th century frontier Army. This book is fabulous. Just fabulous. Some of the short stories and novellas are told from the hero’s POV and some from the heroine’s. Some are funny, [...]

Dear Readers, Authors, Editors, Publishers, Booksellers, and Librarians,
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are my top ten reasons for being grateful for romance:

In the pages of a good romance, I can re-experience the joy of falling in love.
I've met wonderful people through online romance discussions.
The psychology of relationships is really interesting, and romances are nothing [...]

Actor Bruce Dern’s THINGS I’VE SAID, BUT PROBABLY SHOULDN’T HAVE: An Unrepentant Memoir, written with Christopher Fryer and Robert Crane, to Eric Nelson at Wiley, for publication in spring 2007, by Henry Morrison at Henry Morrison (world English).
I find this a bit ironic in light of the Miss Snark/Anne Stuart kerfluffle. I particularly like [...]

According to a Harris Interactive study, 37% of Baby Boomers are having a difficult time finding television shows that are reflective of their lives. I wonder what publishers are doing (besides creating the slightly larger mass market book - don’t get me started) to address the needs of the Baby Boomer. I know [...]

In its November 19, 2006, column, the Post reports that paranormals are really hot these days particularly with the ladies who love bestiality.
In the hot new “paranormal romance” version, the hero may literally be a stallion.
Authors getting Post love? Keri Arthur (who doesn’t really write romance, does she?); Shana Abe, and Karen Marie Moning. [...]

Last week, I had a short list of what publishers were doing right with ebooks. This week, I have a short list of what they are generally doing wrong with short individual complaints. (I am kind of ruining the whole “being thankful” thing, aren’t I?)

Lack consistency in releasing formats: I.e, Renee Bernard My [...]

Apparently one commenter has gone completely nutso over the whole Miss Snark disses romance author shindig. Karen S has been paying attention and pulled out the comment by WitLit Today, whose own blog, while having cute pictures of dogs, is one I don’t understand at all. Apparently by disagreeing with Miss Snark, all [...]