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

Dear Ms. Summers:

I know you’ve written books for Ellora’s Cave, Kensington and Harlequin, but I was unfamiliar with your work. I was excited to read Red due, in part, to its post apocalyptic setting and I was intrigued by the idea of: “What if Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf turned out to be the same person?” However, as much as I wanted to like this book and its promising female protagonist, I just could not.

Gina Santiago, or “Red”- because of all the blood she spills-is a member of the International Police Tactical Team. IPTT is an elite law enforcement group designed to maintain order within and between the various Republics that make up this futuristic world. While on a patrol mission that goes awry, Gina literally sniffs out the dead body of a severely mauled woman. All signs point to it being a wild animal attack, but Gina has a feeling that there’s something more going on. She requests leave from the team Commander and goes to the nearest town of Nuria to begin her own independent investigation.

Morgan Hunter is the local sheriff …

One of the groundbreaker writers of urban fantasy is Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks.  After I read Laurell K Hamilton, I was jonesing for more UF reads and everywhere I turned, someone told me I had to read War for the Oaks. It might be the seminal Urban Fantasy read.  It’s set in Minneapolis and has a romance underthread with a very unlikely hero, but the strength of the story lies with the female protagonist who gets swept into a dangerous world between the Dark Court and the Light Court of the fae.  If you haven’t read it before, I strongly urge you to take advantage of this free giveaway (meaning don’t make me crawl through the internets and hold your TBR pile hostage until you download it).

Here is the entire press release from Tor:
Free Ebooks from World Fantasy Award Finalists
 
Last week we announced the return of free ebooks from Tor.com. We’re kicking things off this week with backlist titles from two of the authors who are finalists for this year’s World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. To download these and upcoming freebies, all you have to …

Tor started a promotion to advertise it’s new blog or website (or both) a few months ago by giving away a free eBook every week. In an increased effort to draw traffic, Tor has decided to put up download links for every book in its promotion which are good until Sunday.

That’s alot of free ebooks. I’m going to download Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn for Ned. Ned’s finishing up the Lois McMaster Bujold Miles Vorkosigan series and will be looking for something to read. Not that I think Sanderson is a Bujold kind of writer (or maybe he is, as I’ve not yet read him), but he has been tapped to finish off Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

For romance readers, there is a download available of CT Adams and Cathy Clamp, Touch of Evil, and Patti O’Shea’s In the Midnight Hour.

The Tor site also has some gorgeous wallpapers that you can download and use as the backdrop for your computer.

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.

Want a free ebook every week from Tor publishing? If you sign up for their newsletter, Tor will provide you the link, every week, to a free ebook that can be downloaded. The first book was Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, the winner of the 2006 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I’ve not read a Scalzi book but I love his blog, Whatever. My avid following of his blog began in earnest with his Creation Museum visit.

This week’s offering is Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold, another author I’ve not read. What I am saying here? Yes, I am giving over my email address and apparently am willing to be spammed by Tor in exchange for ebooks I might never read. What can I say? I am a total sucker for free books.

Apparently, the free ebook giveaway is a precursor of an introduction of a Tor backed ezine featuring original shorts (fiction and non fiction) and a “lightweight” social networking environment.  I wonder whether it could be a central social networking site for all science …

Robert Jordan died on September 16, 2007, before the final Wheel of Time book could be written. Yesterday, Tor Books announced Brandon Sanderson will write the final novel. Sanderson is a good guy who I poked about his blog post that we readers should buy hardcover. Sanderson, I do think that this is one book that many people will be buying in hardcover.

For those who did not attend the National convention, the publishers send their editors to give a spotlight. This presentation highlights upcoming books and what the editors are looking for to fill their future publishing slots. For the next two months, we’ll feature the Spotlight presentations from Nationals and help you readers fill out your To Be Read list. Your wallet can thank me in the comments section. First up is Heather Osborn from Tor, with whom I had the great pleasure to meet and break bread. If you ever are offered an opportunity to sit with Heather, don’t miss it. She’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

* * *

First off, I have to say it was really interesting for me, because other than one title, I hadn’t edited any of the upcoming books I was talking about for the Tor Romance line. That’s one of the big differences between e-book and print publishing, suddenly I am working a year in advance.

The books I profiled were:

July 2007, Kiss Me Deadly by …

Heather Osborn is a trailblazer. She worked for the first erotic romance publishing house, Ellora’s Cave, and acquired authors that have now become household names. Recently, Osborn took the role of acquiring editor for Tor which is primarily known for its focus on science fiction and fantasy, becoming the first epublishing editor to move into a NY publishing house. Over the past few years, Tor has made a concerted effort to reach the female reading demographic. I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth Vaughan’s Warland trilogy which came from Tor’s Paranormal Romance line. Osborn aims to broaden Tor’s presence within the women’s fiction market. Read on to find out more.

Jane: I think that you are the first epublishing editor to be hired by a NY Publisher, right? Why do you think that is?

Heather Osborn: As far as I know, I am the first e-pub romance editor to move to a New York house. …

Jenna Black is your typical romance writer which means she’s smart (BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University); she’s got a diverse background (ballroom dancer, traveler of seven continents, dog groomer); and she can tell a story. The story that you can buy is Secrets in the Shadows which is Black’s release from Tor in stores right now. Right now, though, you can read her first sale story for free.
***
After having written for sixteen years, trying the whole time to get a novel published, I had in some ways given up my hope that one day I would actually see my dreams come true. However, even if I couldn't exactly say my hopes were high anymore, I wasn't ready to quit trying. Not by a long shot. (I'm a very stubborn person!) Besides, in the last couple of years, things had been looking up. I'd even managed to sign with an agent, who was very certain that I'd eventually sell.

Still, sixteen years of having my hopes dashed made me into something of a pessimist. When my agent told …

The e-backlist has been a long time in coming. Readers, particularly romance readers, are big glommers and they often are searching for the one book their reading buddy says is a must find. Unfortunately, these books are often difficult to find and very expensive. Publishers are being more responsive by making backlist titles easily available in ebook format. Republication of hard to find books in ebook format is a win win for publishers, authors and readers. Readers have the opportunity to easily locate out of print titles and they are affordable. Publishers and authors win because ebooks are not returnable; cannot be sold; cannot be traded. The party that is left out in this scenario are the used book stores.

Sure, there is the possibility of piracy, but for an out of print title, you are capturing a sale and a royalty that would have either not have taken place but been part of the used book commerce stream.

E-Harlequin is offering an Anne Stuart bundle of out of print, hard to find category novels that were handpicked by Stuart as five of her favorites. The …