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

Harlequin Horizons: Shortsighted or Farseeing?

Jane — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:08:32 +0000

I couldn’t resist the wordplay for the title. In any event, it appears that authors really are unhappy with the announcement of Harlequin Horizons. I’ve heard that some published authors are asking for the RWA board to examine whether Harlequin should be a recognized publisher.

Essentially it appears that Harlequin is lending its name to a self publishing venture that will be sourced by AuthorSolutions Inc. My guess is that Harlequin will use this to monitor sales and move authors who are selling well from Horizons to one of its print/digital lines. HarperCollins UK does this with Authonomy but it isn’t a profit making venture, yet.

As I see it authors have three basic complaints:

dilution of house brand
possibility of unsuspecting authors spending money on the chance of getting the notice of Harlequin.
the choice of POD partnership.

Dilution of House Brand

This one is the most understandable to me. Harlequin Horizon books are labeled with the Harlequin brand (although we don’t know what the badging will look like). If a number of works in circulation carry the Harlequin brand and the quality declines, one assumes that the Harlequin name brand also declines.

Authors also refer to this as a loss of prestige (which is not the same as brand dilution in my opinion). Essentially saying that you are published through Harlequin can become ubiquitous, thus reducing the personal cachet to an author.

Unsuspecting Authors

I have a much harder time with this argument. People who have written books and then want to pay to have their books published are somehow chum for the sharks of vanity press. I’ve seen people use the words “prey” and “predator” in reference to the vanity press. Essentially a person pays a vanity press for everything that a publisher should do for you if your work is accepted. Is business model making victims of people who want to be published but cannot get accepted by traditional or digital publishers?

Another way of asking it would be is Harlequin required to be paternalistic to non published authors? Or is there something just so offensive about the business model of vanity presses?

POD Partnership

Random House has a self publishing interest in Xlibris. It owns 49% of the company. I haven’t heard that Random House is preying on innocent writers. Amazon owns CreateSpace, a vanity press. On the digital front, Smashwords is a self publishing company in which Smashwords keeps 20% of an author’s sales. Smashwords is partnered with Barnes and Noble.

I only point out these other relationships so that I can get to the core of what is the complaint about the Harlequin Horizons endeavor. I understand the brand dilution thing. I’m not so sure I follow on how HH makes victims of authors.

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Monday Midday Links: It Looks Rosy for Romance

Jane — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:21:14 +0000

Romantic Times is blogging about Carina Press. The blogger, Nicole, says that the manufacturer limitations is what has prevented her from adopting ebooks. What Nicole is talking about, however, seems to be limitations by the publisher and not the manufacturer:

I know that one of the reasons I have resisted a Kindle or a Nook is because of the limitations put on it by the manufacturer. I want something that allows me to upload and read any document I so chose, regardless of origin. I also want to be able to manage my own electronic products, move them around if so desired.

Stephenie Meyer is burnt out on vampires and her next book is likely to be a follow up to her adult novel, The Host and maybe a fantasy book. Sounds like she doesn’t have anything written. Maybe look for Meyer in 2010 or 2011?

Publishers’ Weekly has an article entitled “Romancing the Recession” and it talks about the vibrancy of the romance genre. Paranormal leads the pack with historicals selling strong but what is surprising (but encouraging for me) is the rise of the contemporary. Long time readers will know that I love a good contemporary. Sarah Wendell and I even created a special website called SavetheContemporary.com.

St. Martin’s, says Enderlin, continues to see growth in this area, especially with humorous, contemporary romances such as Susan Donovan’s Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, about the romantic fortunes of a group of single women in a dog-walking group. SMP also recently launched a new chef-themed series by Louisa Edwards with Can’t Stand the Heat; the follow-up, On the Steamy Side, is due in March. Each title is billed as a “recipe for love novel.” As Enderlin says, “Right now there’s so much dark paranormal out there. Light, funny, contemporary can be an antidote to that.”

Author Sharon Ashwood is offering holiday greeting cards in an effort to assist dogs and cats who are injured and abandoned. These cards also serve as a promotional vehicle for her upcoming release, Scorched. Photos of GVAC pets and artwork for the greeting cards can be found at: http://www.sharonashwood.com/gvac.php.

For every card downloaded, Ashwood, a native of Victoria, Canada, will donate 54 cents, Canadian, to the Greater Victoria Animal Crusaders (GVAC). All donations will help defray veterinary costs for one of GVAC’s injured pets. Once that animal’s expenses have been covered, all donations from Ashwood’s program will then go toward the health care costs of another dog or cat. The author says she settled on 54 cents as the donation amount because that’s the current cost for a Canadian first-class postage stamp.

Wired takes a look at adaptions of children’s books that have resulted in box office disappointment.

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Where Gene Wilder succeeded in making Willy Wonka a lovable character with a sardonic twist, Johnny Depp did quite the opposite, and director Tim Burton helped turn the character into a creepy loner with too much makeup. While the children were spot-on and the music was updated to current pop culture standards, the presence of Depp’s Wonka gave the film a disturbing vibe that was hard to shake. —Curtis Silver

Apple has filed a patent on ad technology that would require you to interact by pressing a button or tapping a screen in response to a directive from the ad itself. Egads, is this scary or what?

The technology can freeze the device until the user clicks a button or answers a test question to demonstrate that he or she has dutifully noticed the commercial message. Because this technology would be embedded in the innermost core of the device, the ads could appear on the screen at any time, no matter what one is doing.”

Can DNA matching serve you better than a regular old dating site?

A couple of genetic testing companies are promising to match couples based on DNA testing, touting the benefits of biological compatibility. The companies claim that a better biological match will mean better sex, less cheating, longer-lasting love and perhaps even healthier children.

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Friday Midday Links: Is the Advance Model Going the Way of the DoDo Bird?

Jane — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:14:37 +0000

Over at Library Job Postings, there is a gallery of repeated images on covers. Oh, the dangers of using stock photography. Via SmartBitches.

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Gawker mocks Newscorp in its fight against Google. Murdoch plans to stick it to Google by selling his content to Bing, the Microsoft search engine. It reminds me of publishers. They don’t want to have Amazon in control of their pricing, but they seem more than happy to get into bed with Google.

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How costly will it become for vendors and retailers to provide free wifi? Motion Picture lobbying group, the MPAA, got a town’s free wifi network shut down after discovering a possible, not yet confirmed, illegal download. Barnes and Noble, Borders, McDonald’s and the like are easy targets for piraters not wanting their illegal activities to be traced back to their home networks. Google, by the way, is giving free wifi away at airports this christmas.

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PW looks at Amazon’s Vine program. This is where Amazon sends out a monthly email with all the products vendors are offering for review. It’s not just books. (I am actually a Vine member, but I’ve never requested anything nor reviewed anything under the Vine program). Authors are apparently not fans because the Vine reviews aren’t “professional” and they aren’t “consumers”. One author argues that because Vine folks receive free books, they are employees. Really?

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Carolyn Reidy of Simon & Schuster will be in Korea next week talking about the digital market and new strategies. According to “advance script”, Reidy will argue that the digital market will comprise 25% of publishing in 7 years.

In the advance script, Reidy argued that “ebooks are still relatively small but are a rapidly growing part of our business, but could be significant (25 percent) within seven years.”

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Brenda Hiatt updates her “Show Me the Money” page. I haven’t decided whether this helps or hurts authors given that the averages are so easily skewed and there are so few reporting. One thing that jumped out at me where the deals that Ballantine had made which seemed out of line with the other publishers. (Out of line on the high end). From Publishers’ Marketplace data, it appears Ballantine has paid in excess of six figures for three or more books to authors like Lindsay Graves, Kimberly Raye, Tessa Dare (2 sets of 3 book deals), Christy Reece, Tracy Anne Warren (who is now with Avon), Cherry Adair, Mariah Stewart (7 figure deal for 4 books), Nicole Jordan (250K-400K), Allison Brennan (500K+).

Lindsay Graves never made a bestseller list. Kimberly Raye squeaked into the USA Today list for the first two books (126 and 145 for books 1 and 2) but the nothing since 2008 has placed. Christy Reece’s books were published back to back to back this summer but she never placed on the bestseller list either. This isn’t to say that Graves, Raye or Reece aren’t great writers or that their books aren’t worthy of 6 figure deals or that they won’t earn out someday. It just highlights how uncertain the advance model is. Audrey Niffenegger received a $5 million advance and sold, according to Bookscan, under 40,000 copies.

Newer publishers are abandoning the advance like OR Press and Carina Press, modeling themselves after the digital press business model. If advances are eliminated (and I’m not convinced that they totally are. I think that there will be low advances and really high advances but not much in between), this will undoubtedly result in a loss of some talent who will choose not to risk copublishing or forego advances for their work. Will the resulting rise of the digital market and the broader economic opportunities lure new authors in? It’s hard to say at this point where we are going. I like to think that the market will become more diversified. Nathan Bransford argues that the publishing industry has to learn to minimize its risks and learn to leverage the internet to seek out its audience. It’s an uncertain time for those who make their money off of the written word. In the end, I want to believe that the changes will benefit the reader. What do you think?

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Angela James and her journey to Harlequin with Carina Press

Jane — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:37:44 +0000

Today Harlequin is announcing the creation of Carina Press, a digital only epress from Harlequin. On a personal front, this news is exciting because Angela James is a friend of mine and will be the Executive Editor of this new line. On a reader front, I think this move signals how important the digital space is becoming.

You can read all about Carina Press at its website: Carinapress.com. The plan is to launch in Spring/Summer 2010. Carina Press will release DRM FREE!!! ebooks on a weekly basis. The books will be available for sale at Carina Press and through other etailers. Carina will be publishing steampunk, sci fi, futuristic fantasy, multi cultural books – “if readers are blogging about a genre with passion and interest, we’ll publish it.” A whole list of genres can be seen here including thrillers, mysteries and erotica in addition to romance.

The Press will consider nearly any length of novels including short stories, genre novels between 50,000 and 100,000 and “complex narratives” of over 100,000. In short, it seems like Carina Press has few restrictions for authors in terms of genre, length or subject matter.

There are no advances and the books will be royalty based. Carina will be looking to relaunch digital editions for titles that are out of print. (Someone contact the Curtis’ stat! We need Windflower and Bad Baron’s Daughter out in eform!)

In any event, here are a few words from Angela James and her journey to Carina.

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Sometimes it’s hard to believe everything happens for a reason, when you’re the one it’s happening to. Four years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom to a one-year-old daughter. I’d left a job I loved as an occupational therapist in a psych hospital in order to stay home with Brianna. To keep myself occupied (because I’m someone who loves to work) I’d been doing some casual work for Ellora’s Cave as a proofer, something I’d started doing while I was pregnant. I actually applied for a position as an editor, but didn’t quite make the cut, and in mid-2005, they restructured how they did the editorial and I was cut loose as a proofer.

By that time, I had the editing bug, I’d made contacts with some authors and I wanted to do something to stay in the business, so I began doing freelance editing. Right around that time, several authors mentioned to me that a new publisher was going to be opening its doors, the owner was looking for editors and would that be something I’d be interested in, because I’d be good at it? Heck yeah! So I was introduced to Christina Brashear and in September of 2005, I found myself the first editor for Samhain Publishing.

I loved working for Samhain, and helping build a fantastic publisher in the digital community. I learned a lot during those first few years, and it was an unforgettable experience. In the past year, I’d had some soft interest from others in the industry, with potential job offers, but it wasn’t until the crew from Quartet Press came along that I started giving serious thought to leaving Samhain. After four years, I felt almost inexorably bound to Samhain, with an emotional connection that I’d certainly never had to my jobs as an occupational therapist. It was a difficult thing, contemplating leaving, giving up the easy camaraderie I had with the other editors, who I found an amazing source of information, talent and support, leaving behind all of the authors I’d worked with, many of whom I’d watched grow their careers from their debut books with me, and walking away from a company I felt entwined with.

But at the same time, I was ready to grow my career and do something that would help grow the digital publishing industry even further. So when I say the decision to leave Samhain was not made lightly, I mean the decision was made after weeks of sleepless nights, long talks with my husband, close friends and the partners at Quartet. And weeks of stress, anxiety, tears and a headache I was convinced had taken up permanent residence. Once I finalized the decision to leave, I still had to move past telling Samhain, my co-workers and authors. After that, there was a period of dealing with the public reaction to my departure, something I hadn’t anticipated. Shock, excitement, and from some, dismay and a sense of betrayal. All of it difficult since it was, without a doubt, one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made. At the time, I compared it to being similar to all of what I’d experienced when my first husband and I divorced.

Beginning work for Quartet was an amazing period of discovery and anticipation. I truly believe the industry has room for more quality digital publishers, and with the assembled team at Quartet, I believed we were in a fantastic position to create that press. I had an immense respect for my teammates and was flattered that they felt similarly about me, enough to woo me from my position at Samhain. So imagine my complete and utter shock when just a few weeks after I’d begun, I got an email stating the press was closing its doors. I had little information as to why or what occurred to cause the decision, and suddenly, there I was, playing my (urn)employment drama out in public again while trying to deal with they myriad of not-so-positive emotions I experienced.

This is where I realized how lucky I was because the outpouring of support was immense. I got blog comments, personal emails, messages on Twitter, Facebook, message boards and elsewhere offering sympathy, suggestions and any kind of support I needed. People I barely knew or didn’t know at all wrote. Friends and acquaintances put out the word that I was available for hire. No less than three companies emailed me that first day to soft query me about possible jobs. Sure, there were a few people who felt I’d somehow gotten what I deserved, but overall, overwhelmingly, the publishing community, from readers to authors to editors and publishers, let me know it was going to be okay, and that everything happens for a reason.

And you know what? They were right. You were all right. The day after Quartet announced it was closing its doors, I got a phone call from someone I admire tremendously. Some might call it a phone call offering the opportunity of a lifetime. Malle Vallik of Harlequin called to say, “I heard what happened, I’m really sorry but…this might be really good for us and we might have an interesting proposition for you.” Okay, hello! The Harlequin digital team wanted me to consult? And help with this new digital-only press they were building. And they thought there might be a spot for me at this digital-only press. Dear God. How much emotional rollercoaster can one person handle? Devastation and fear to instant euphoria? Harlequin was (and is) my dream publisher. They’re forerunners in the digital field, I’d been reading their books since fourth grade, and they throw the best RWA Nationals party. Heck yeah!

So here I am, almost two months after becoming publicly unemployed, and keeping Carina Press a secret for that entire time, finally able to share my news, my excitement and my joy with everyone. And finally able to publicly say thank you to everyone who supported me these past months, and who believed all this time that something awesome was right around the corner for me. I think I really did get what I deserved. I’m so glad you all were right when you told me that everything happens for a reason.

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Open Thread for Authors (Author Promo) for November 2009

Jane — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:02 +0000

Welcome to the November Promotional Thread for Authors. What’s this you say? I read quite a few blogs outside the romance blogosphere and many of the big ones have a daily open thread where the commenters drive the bus.

The rules for Author Promo Night Open Thread are as follows:

The book has to be released in that month (i.e., anything released during the last week of October would be a November release)
You can post for yourself or you can have a friend post for you if the idea of posting about your book paralyzes you .
No self published authors unless you write romance. No, I am not a POD hater, I am just thinking about the manageability of the thread.
Think about the readership. I.e., does your non fiction book about psoriasis really fit?
This one is more of a guideline than a rule, but be smart about your comment because if it is just a link to your website and the title of your book, I doubt you are going to get any interest.

DA reserves the right to delete the post if it promotes objectionable content (i.e., no daddy/daughter incest recommends are going to be allowed. Sorry.)

That’s it. Post away. (Please note that our spam filter is very aggressive so wait a couple of hours before reposting).

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Weekend Links: Goodbye Romance Novel TV

Jane — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:27:20 +0000

Sydney Morning Herald has a nice article about romance in conjunction with Beyond Heaving Bosoms, a guide to romance written by SB Sarah and SD Candy.

So thank Eros for two Americans, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan, who dreamed up Mavis for their book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels. It’s an unashamed celebration of their great passion, and they make no apology for it. “There’s nothing like a beautifully executed romance novel or the afterglow upon finishing an especially good one,” they write.

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Wall Street Journal op ed piece scoffs at the FTC regulations that are pointed at bloggers arguing that mainstream journalists receive so much swag that the office closets are groaning under the weight.

The specter of freebies has long haunted journalism. In the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons was famous for her swag intake. Come Christmas Eve she would “unwrap an avalanche of gifts” from Tinseltown royalty, according to screenwriter Anita Loos. “Two secretaries used to stand with notebooks to keep score so that Louella could remember the next day who had sent what.” Those notes weren’t taken to help her make proper disclosures to her readers.

Eric Felton, the author of the article, isn’t convinced by the FTC reassurances that bloggers aren’t the target.

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Romance Novel TV has decided to close its doors. It’s sad to see them go. Marisa and Maria were real fans of the genre and were some of the first to bring video to the online romance world. Video interviews with authors seem to proliferate every site, but Romance Novel TV was really the first to break out. We’ll miss them and good luck to their future endeavors.

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The Bookseller wrote a critical piece of Waterstone’s distribution center. In retaliation, Waterstone has blocked employee access to The Bookseller. Stay classy, Waterstone. Your inept attempts to make bad press stop only serves to generate more bad press.

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Barnes and Noble is purportedly in talks with publishers to allow a “lending” feature with its device and the ebooks. This would push me toward buying an ebook reader from Barnes and Noble. I have doubts as to whether BN could pull this off. After all, publishers can’t even get the pricing situation worked out what with St. Martin’s Press refusing to allow all of its books released in digital format and when they are available in digital format, SMP is charging a 100% upcharge for the digital copy. I’ve heard some noise about charging more for an ebook that comes with a lending ability. I don’t like that at all. I’m not going to pay a few extra dollars to be able to share my ebook.

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FTC Guide re Endorsement Update

Jane — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:24:16 +0000

I spoke with Richard Cleland this morning. I shared with him my concerns. I think that the enforcement of the rules are still in the developmental stage. Cleland reiterated what he told other blogs that this is the educational period. I don’t see the FTC regulations being revised, but apparently there is some room for crafting guidelines for enforcement.

I suggested a warning and opportunity to cure and Cleland liked that idea. He said that they have used it in the past in the health product field except they are called advisory letters.

I asked about the issue of the fines. Cleland stated that this is something the AP took out of context. The FTC has no ability to levy fines. A charge must be made and taken to an administrative law judge and a cease and desist is requested and provided if the FTC fulfills its burden. If the C&D is ignored, then a civil penalty can be requested for up to $11,000.00. The full explanation of enforcement and penalties for all FTC violations can be read here.

No case would be brought in federal court unless it involved a very serious fraud else the FTC would likely be frowned upon by the court for wasting judicial time.

We discussed the issue of Twitter and whether each and every positive statement about a book that had been received for review would need to carry a disclaimer. Cleland was of the opinion that it would however we did discuss the issue of the product itself. In many other industries, the review product is nearly always returned and not kept by the reviewer. In the book industry, it is common for all reviewers, regardless of whether they review for mainstream publications or whether they review for a personal blog, to keep the books that are reviewed. I also brought up the issue of e-arcs and how any blogger could prove that the product had been deleted or kept.

I’m fairly certain that Cleland is not familiar with the book industry or the book blogging industry. He certainly was open to hearing more from us. I plan to continue to discuss this issue with him.

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IASPR Announcements

Joan/SarahF — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:46:09 +0000

The new academic organization, International Association for the Study of Popular Romance, is up and running and doing some exciting things:

1. The Members’ Forum on the IASPR website is a standing messageboard where IASPR members (and non-members) can interact, sharing news of and discussions about popular romance studies. Anyone can register as a member of the board but members of IASPR will have access to a members only section of the forum.

2. IASPR has a Cafe Press store where you can buy shirts, mugs, and pins with our logo as well as fun slogans like “Romance Readers Make Better Scholars,” “Romance: Think About It,” “In UR bodice, analyzin UR literachur,” and many more.

3. A few IASPR Officers and members will be at the annual conference of the Romance Writers of America in Washington D.C. next week at various events:

President Sarah Frantz, Vice-President Pamela Regis, and NYT best-selling author Sabrina Jeffries will be presenting “If you like the Classics; Or, How to recommend romance to Literature Snobs in your library” at the Librarians’ Day on June 15, 2009.
Sarah, Pam, and IASPR member, Jessica Lyn Van Slooten, will be presenting on “The Wit, Wisdom, and Writing Advice of Jennifer Crusie” on Friday, July 17, 3:15-4:15pm, in Washington 3. IASPR Board Member Jenny Crusie herself will be responding to the panel!
After this panel, IASPR will have a get-together from 4:30-6:30 in a room to be announced. Watch the IASPR Twitter page for announcement.
IASPR will have a table at the Moonlight Madness Bazaar on Thursday, July 16, 8-midnight. We’ll be handing out IASPR swag to members: a tote bag, a membership pin, pens, a lanyard, bookmarks, etc.

4. The first IASPR conference will take place next month in Brisbane, Australia, 13-14 August, 2009 with a truly international list of speakers. Registration is open. The conference has been generously sponsored by Samhain Publishing, the Romance Writers of America, DePaul University, the University of Queensland, Queensland Institute of Technology, and the Fryer Library.

5. The IASPR conference next year will be in Belgium, 5-7 August, 2010, on the theme of “Theorizing Romance.” The Call for Proposals has been posted.

6. We plan to have our 2011 conference in New York City, NY on the theme of “The Business of Romance,” and our 2012 conference in Los Angeles, CA, on the theme of “The Music and Movies of Romance. If you are interested in being involved in the planning and organization of either of these conferences, please email Sarah Frantz.

7. The Journal of Popular Romance Studies has posted its Call for Submissions. Our first volume will be released on February 14, 2010.

8. Finally, do you know anyone else working on popular romance studies? Don’t forget other fields: anthropology, sociology, art, film, business, marketing, computer science, philosophy, psychology, etc., even neurobiology? We’d love to hear about them or have them hear about IASPR. Post about them here, or send them the web address of IASPR so that they can discover who we are and what it is that we do.

9. As always, feel free to email any questions about IASPR. You’ll get a quick response.

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Amazon to Turn Books Into Magazines With Ads in Books

Jane — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:58:51 +0000

Amazon has filed for another patent to insert advertisements into ebooks and print on demand books. The patent is 21 pages long and has a number of descriptions about how the advertisements will be inserted including in the margins and in full pages throughout the book.

The consumer will be offered the choice of paying full price for the book or accepting ads to reduce the price of the book.

The ads will be based on both the content of the book, metadata for the book, and user profile information that is either freely given by the user or mined from the users’ past purchases.

For example, if the customer has a history of interest in travel as indicated by the associated user profile, the advertisement component may include, in the printed content, advertisements related to travel, even though such advertisement may not be directly relevant to the requested content.

Depending on the agreement with publishers, Amazon could conceivably roll out advertising for ebooks right away with POD ad supported books coming soon. Still to be resolved would be whether publishers and content creators a) have any right to control the ads (to some degree it seems that they would not) and b) whether they would be entitled to any ad revenue (off hand, again, I’m thinking that content creators would not be entitled to ad revenue so long as Amazon met its payment obligations such as remitting 30%-40% of the retail cost of the product to the publisher no matter for what price Amazon sells the product).

The danger to consumers is that books will begin to be priced in such a way as to force readers to buy the ad supported books else incur a premium cost.

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In Re the Changing Face of Business of Publishing

Jane — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:43:17 +0000

There are a few very interesting (and some long) pieces on the current publishing business model and the way that it will need to adapt and change in order to survive.

Michael Nielson’s long post on how publishing is failing and how smart parts of publishing can reinvent itself. It’s definitely worth reading but it’s not an article that can be read and absorbed in one sitting.
John Green talks about advances versus royalty rates. Like many a good blog post, the topic inspires many good comments.
The Espresso Book Machine is becoming a favorite of patrons in an independent bookstore in Vermont but it’s used mostly to publish self published works.
Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell are arguing on the issue of free. Seth Godin weighs in.

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

Harlequin Horizons: Shortsighted or Farseeing?

Related Posts:

Monday Midday Links: It Looks Rosy for Romance

Related Posts:

Friday Midday Links: Is the Advance Model Going the Way of the DoDo Bird?

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