Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Apparently, this is the Year of Acheron and YouTube has the video to prove it. Sherrilyn Kenyon’s video book trailer is kind of scary. If the book delivers this kind of chills, it would be pretty awesome.

Simon at Bloggasm sent me an email about his interview with a few Tor authors who had participated in the Tor eBook giveaway. One author, Tobias Buckell, saw an increase in paper sales of his book that was given away and of its sequel, which was not given away. John Scalzi saw an increase of 20 percent of his book that was given away.It’s not scientific proof, but more anecdotal evidence that ebook giveaways seem to work to increase paper book sales. At least, I can’t remember anyone saying that the ebook giveaway worked to reduce sales. As I was contemplating this article last night, I thought about what books would be great vehicles for a free ebook giveaway. The one the struck me was the anthology entry by Kresley Cole which kicked off her Immortal After Dark series. The anthology is one of my favorite stories featuring Nikolai and Mysty the Vampire Layer as her sister Valkyries mockingly refer to her. It would give readers a taste of what the Immortal After Dark series feels like and could generate a spree of backlist spending.Via Bloggasm….

more cat

I’ve heard some lamenting by readers of late that they wished authors would take more time crafting their works. I’ve actually heard the same lament from some industry folks as well. I’m not sure who first started the two books a year release schedule. I think in the 80s a reader waited a year in between releases. While anxious for more from our favorite authors, we didn’t begin to expect more production until the more recently.

Authors like Nora Roberts and Suzanne Brockmann were actually the only authors I can recall who had more than one book released a year and it seemed to me that didn’t start until sometime in late 90s, early 2000. Authors like Jane Feather, Julie Garwood, Judith McNaught had one year between releases. Some authors, like McNaught, had trouble keeping up with that schedule.

There was an article in the Boston Globe (thanks Jill F and Rebecca for the link) in which big name writers felt the pressure of producing even one book a year. Authors like Dennis Lehane and Brad Meltzer refused to do so because …

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. I thought we would test out an open thread here at Dear Author.

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 April would be a May 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 …

Thinking of the past month and wondering if you should have bought a June title? All of the June titles at Books on Board are 25% off. Here’s some titles you might have missed from our June recommends.

Tor started giving away a free ebook version of one of its print publications every week. This week’s book is Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp. (Direct link).  This is one of the books in Tor’s paranormal romance line.

You have to sign up for their newsletter to get the email. In the email will be a direct link to a PDF, HTML or Mobi version of the book. It is DRM free so you can read it on any device without restrictions.

Avon and The Sak has teemed up to give away a handbag and books each month. This month’s giveaway is the Silverlake Canvas Convertible Satchel($99 retail value) filled with two Meg Cabot books, 1 Rachel Gibson book and 1 Marion Keyes book. The giveaway is for 15 sets of the books + bag combo. It’s amazing what I’ll give up my email address for.

A free magazine called Bit-O-Lit will be available to DC Commuters every other Monday.  The magazine will feature excerpts of books from YA to thrillers to non fiction.  The excerpts will be on a pay basis, meaning the publishers will have to pay for the excerpts that are included.  The initial print run is 20,000 copies.

Via PublishersWeekly.

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. I thought we would test out an open thread here at Dear Author. We are going to start with two a month. On the first Sunday of every month, there will be an Author Promo Night Open Thread. On the first Monday of the month, there will be a Reader Open Thread. Both threads will be linked to on the front of the site.

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 February would be a March 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. 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 …

There is a fascinating article available for free on the Wall Street Journal (it was pay yesterday) about changes at Borders’ stores. Borders believes it can sell more books if they are face out on the shelves than spined and therefore is cutting back on stock. It will have fewer books in store, but give more visible placement to those in stock.

I don’t know quite what to think of it. On the one hand, I think that there are too many books getting published and would love to see fewer books with greater quality however, who decides what books aren’t getting sold? The bookstores? The publishers? The sales dept?

I have heard that the reduction of stock by the second largest retail chain in the US (Borders, of course) is going to adversely affect some authors because newer and midlist authors who don’t get the face out opportunity will have less and less shelf time and therefore less time to make a name for themselves.

With the rising sales of Amazon, though, perhaps midlist and newcomers will find salvation online.

Thanks to emails from Jill F and Tina.