Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Welcome to the My First Sale series. Each Monday, Dear Author posts the first sale letter of bestselling authors, debut authors, and authors in between. Larissa Ione is currently working on the bestselling Demonica series, an over the top, crazy, action filled and sexy take on paranormal romance. Her latest entry in the series, [...]

Per the message boards at Amazon:
Dear Customers:
Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.
We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of [...]

Please note:  I am not an expert in antitrust law.  I’m giving my own interpretation of the law.  There are a myriad of legal issues implicated by this situation, not the least of which is Amazon’s own publishing ambitions and possible anti competitive behavior.
Macmillan announced yesterday that it would be selling all of its ebooks [...]

You can read the full text for free here but essentially it sounds like this dispute is not one that will end happily for readers. Macmillan wanted to sell the books via an agency model wherein the publisher sets the price and the retailer gets a cut. In an open letter to Authors, Illustrators, [...]

Dear Ms. Stein:
I get several requests a day from authors seeking a review of their book. I generally read the first page of every book I receive for review. Often times the first page is insufficient to keep me reading. The story however opens with an engaging premise, a humorous tone, any promise of a [...]

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously.
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“Don’t move or I’ll kill you,”
This probably wasn’t the best start to a night Amicia ever had but she was pretty [...]

On Friday, blogs noted an exchange between Walt Mossberg and Steve Jobs about ebooks.  Steve told Walt that publishers hate Amazon and that they would be withholding their ebooks from Amazon.  Late Friday, the “buy it now” button has disappeared from books by Julia Spencer Fleming, Lisa Kleypas, Louisa Edwards, Lora Leigh, and virtually every [...]