Publishing Newsauctions / book discussion / digital publishing / Ebooks / genre criticism / History / Libraries / online resources / rare books / Self-publishing / World War IComments Off on Thursday News: The Bookseller’s “digital census;” Maurice Sendak estate sued; discussing A Wrinkle in Time; and online World War I resources
Digital Census: 10 key findings – This “census” was apparently the result of surveying 1000 people. Which people and where? The article does not say. Apparently, though, if you’re a FutureBook delegate, you’ll get a copy of the original 25-page report. Sooooo, take these “findings” with a boulder of salt. ... more >
Letters of Opiniondiversity / genre criticism / labels / Romance102 Comments
Last week, in the comments to Kris’s wonderful post about abelist language and the stigmatization of mental health issues, several commenters raised questions about what words can and cannot be used ‘safely,’ and noted the complexity of words that have different meanings and different contexts. A word like “irrational,” for ... more >
Letters of Opinionbelief system / Contemporary romance / faith / genre criticism / historical romance / inspirational romance / philosophy / religion80 Comments
In response to last week’s guest post by Zoe Brouthers on feminine sacrifice in Romance, author Moriah Jovan wrote a very thoughtful comment on the role that faith plays in so many people’s lives, despite its marginalization in mainstream Romance not tagged as inspirational. What especially caught my attention was this ... more >
Letters of Opinioncanon / classic fiction / classic Romance / genre criticism41 Comments
Specifically, what makes a Romance novel endure? Think about the hundreds of Romance novels published each month – in a multitude of subgenres and formats – and the thousands that adds up to each year. Where do all these books go, and what makes one book remain in our collective ... more >
Letters of Opinionfandom / Fantasy / gender / genre criticism / patriarchy / sexism / sexual harassment / vloggers17 Comments
We all know that the teens represent one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – consumer markets. Teen girls, especially, are the unremitting focus of advertising, in part, perhaps, because of their vulnerability to social messaging. The massive fandoms around franchises like Twilight and The Hunger ... more >
Letters of Opinioncatharsis / comfort reading / genre criticism27 Comments
After my post on the HEA and HFN, I got to thinking about “comfort reading.” We talk a lot about comfort reading in Romance, even though I suspect we don’t share a universal definition for the term. For example, a recent blog post by Alison Flood in The Guardian, suggested ... more >