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Ned

Nedis Jane's long suffering husband who enjoys high fantasy novels and the occasional romance that Jane disguises as a fantasy book. He is also the photographer and artist of the multimedia reviews here at Dear Author.
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Mar
26
2008
Penguin to Soon Publish First Chinese Book

Penguin will be releasing a new book “Wolf Totem” that was first written and published in China. The book sold nearly 6 million copies in China. What did Penguin pay for these rights? The rights were acquired in 2005 and the estimated cost was $100,000. Seems like a good investment. Wolf Totem was written by Jiang Rong. Jiang seems like an interesting character, he has no interest in self promotion for himself or his book. His book has already spawned a childrens story and also a potential future movie.

Via Publishers Weekly.

Feb
25
2008
Japanese Cell Phone Novels

I find this so interesting. Last year in Japan 5 of the top 10 selling books were “cell phone novels”. These novels are entirely written on cell phones using all of the abbreviations emoticons that I have so much trouble understanding.

These are very short novels but very successful.  In fact the number one best selling book last year was in fact a cell phone novel entitled “Love Sky” written by Mika.  The author explained her success due to difficulty most of her fans have in reading actual books and understanding their long difficult sentences.

That statement seems so hilarious, but I think these “books” are obviously interesting enough for the publishing houses in Japan since most of them are turning these cell phone novels into real books.

I wonder when this trend will hit our shore?

Via Collegian Online

Feb
25
2008
The Other Boleyn Girl Movie Adaptation to Hit Screens February 29.

Those of you who loved the novel can now enjoy the upcoming movie The Other Boleyn Girl on February 29th. The book was originally reviewed by Jayne and received high marks. I believe three or four of the Oscars this year were adaptations of books. Lets hope this movie is as good.

And who doesn’t love movies good or bad. It’s a chance to gorge yourself on a large tub of buttered popcorn while chasing it with a 48 oz drink. By the time the trailers are finished you feel sick. At least its my modus operandi.

Feb
22
2008
Harlequin Features New Podcast

If you have ever wanted to get in the mind of an editor the new podcast from Harlequin may be your ticket.  Harlequin plans on producing 20-minute “Meet the Editor” podcasts.  The first podcast is  with Melissa Jeglinski  who is the senior editor for Silhouette Desire, and Diana Ventimiglia,  associate editor for Silhouette Desire and Silhouette  Romantic Suspense.    A new podcast will  be released every two weeks.

You can access the podcast through Harlequin, Itunes or other podcasters.

Via Fox Business

Feb
22
2008
Honey, your book habit is ruining us financially!

Do some of us buy too many books? Do you find yourself having books in your personal library that you have never read? Are you running out of space for all of your books? MSN Money listed 10 ways to save money when buying books. Here are a few of my favorites:

Avoid New Releases – Do you really need it now?

Share – Just like it says, share your books with your friends!

Frequent your Public Library

Explore Used Bookstores

You can see the entire list here.

Via MSN Money

Feb
22
2008
Illustrated Romances

Medallion press is coming out with a fully illustrated romance in November. It is titled Passion’s Blood and has an expected print run of 10,000.

I have not seen an illustrated romance book before but I do know I like my fantasy “picture books” when done properly. Any opinions on Medallion’s other illustrated romance book Ellie and the Elven King?

Via Publishers Weekly

Feb
20
2008
Paid Product Placement for Young Reader Book Series

I think this is an interesting concept but have not decided yet why it’s needed (except maybe for greed?). Some authors and publishers will be mimicking what Hollywood has been doing concerning product placement in their television shows and movies. That is getting paid to mention their products in their books.

Enter first time author Tina Wells. She is CEO of Buzz Marketing Group, which advises clients on the intricacies of product placement. She is a guru when it comes to marketing to teens and preteens. She is extremely talented and only 24 years old. She is also the new author for an upcoming series from Harper Collins titled “Mackenzie Blue”. In her book, the central character loves Converse. She said this is central to her character. She has no idea whether Converse wants to sponsor the book though. But when asked if Nike requested product placement she said she would possibly look at another character for the placement.

Tina said she was inspired to write the series because she felt it was important for girls to have positive books to read and to encourage them to make good choices.

So did …

Click to read more...

Feb
20
2008
Another Breast Cancer Scare

When I first read this article from the Washington Post, I thought oh no, not another cancer scare. It seemed ridiculous at first. The study showed that those women who live in areas that are brightly lit at night have a higher rate of breast cancer.

At this point I was thinking, come on please, why are you trying to scare us. But they took night time satellite images to determine which geographical areas are most lit, and then found out the cancer rates of those individuals living there. Well the women that lived in these brightly lit night areas had a higher breast cancer rate.

This report also aligned with other studies in rats. Rats that slept at night with lights on also had a higher rate of cancer. It’s not proven but scientist link this higher rate of cancer to low levels of melatonin, which is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. The more melatonin the less chance you have of getting cancer. Supposedly, if you …

Click to read more...

Feb
18
2008
Gay Penguins = Dangerous Book

Many of you may have heard of this book “And Tango Makes Three”.  It is a children’s book based on a real story about two penguins in the Central Park Zoo in New York.  I guess what happened in real life was that two penguins were observed trying to “hatch” a rock.  When the zoo keepers understood what was happening they took an extra egg from another penguin and allowed these two male penguins to hatch the egg.

The book was written to show young readers that non-traditional families exist and that they are acceptable.  The book has won numerous awards.  School officials in Loudoun County, Virginia did not find it award winning material though.  They banned it from the library.

Via  Fox News

Feb
18
2008
Barnes & Noble Struggles

Back in November, 2007, B&N was in their 3rd quarter and predicting little if no growth in same store sales for their upcoming 4th quarter.  Now in their 4th quarter, JP Morgan is predicting negative same store sales.  They downgraded B&N stock to neutral from overweight.  B&N states that poor music sales is the culprit.

Via Publishers Weekly



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