By popular request, I will use the alliterative title, but I make no promises about the regularity of this feature!
- Amazon announced the 6 finalists (3 general fiction, 3 Young Adult fiction) for their 2009-2010 Breakthrough Novel Awards. Go check out the excerpts (which you can download free in PDF format) and vote! Support writers! Enjoy stories!
- In squee!-worthy news, HarperTeen posted an excerpt of Kiersten White‘s forthcoming debut (Sept 2010) Paranormalcy:“Just as he reached for my neck, I tased him. I was there to bag and tag, not to kill. Besides, if I had to carry separate weapons for every paranormal I took out, I’d be dragging around a full luggage set. Tasers are a one size-fits-all paranormal butt-kicking option. Mine’s pink with rhinestones. Tasey and I have had a lot of good times together.”
Full excerpt here!
- Editorial assistant JJ blogged about why e-books are not the cannibals that many in the publishing industry fear they are.
- And last but definitely not least, Mark from Café Lopez pointed me to this great article: “Top 5 secrets to landing a book deal.” The “secrets” have been very helpful for me to consider while working on my Twenty-Somewhere proposal.
Filed under: 
Tagged with: 
I wasn’t too worried about ebooks being the devil; instead I thought of them as a way to keep books “in print” forever. But I did at last have the insight that if books are available in electronic format, people will figure out how to get copies without paying for them, like they do with music and movies. That would suck, considering that the publishing world already isn’t super profitable.
.-= • Recent post by Sonja: Dear Kristi: I have lost weight =-.
I read the Paranormalcy excerpt earlier and loved it! I can’t wait to get my hands on that book!! Happy Wednesday!!
Sonja-
I don’t think e-books are evil, but I do understand some of the concerns. However, like JJ, I don’t think they cannibalize near as much as the publishing industry fears. Just like mp3s didn’t kill CDs. And just like mp3s didn’t prevent artists from making a living, I don’t think e-books will prevent authors from making a living either. I mean, not big picture.
Kimberly-
September September September! I pre-ordered. :)
I’m on the fence on e-books, but I can easily be bought. If I had a kindle or an iPad, I would be an e-book fiend.
.-= • Recent post by Les: Random things =-.
LOL well at least you’re honest about it. I think I would be an ebook fiend too, with a Kindle or iPad.
I don’t think I could ever convert to e-books!! My heart grew up with paperbacks and I’d feel traitorish going electronic :)
.-= • Recent post by Emily Jane: Masked! AKA “The One Wherein I Lose Any Street Cred I Ever Had” =-.
But think how similar iPads are to Starfleet PADDs! Gene Roddenberry totally predicted this!
Really liked the 5 tips on getting a book deal. Number 5 sort of confused me though. Why do you need to self-market? The point to getting a book deal for me would be for the publisher to bring it to a mass audience. That’s how it used to work, at least.
If there’s no marketing incentive, then why not self-publish and hit up the same websites/forums that this person recommends?
.-= • Recent post by Jon: The Netflix Thing =-.
Nowadays even traditionally published authors are expected to help market their own work. For a lot of reasons, publishers don’t give as much money to authors for that as they used to. They do still have marketing and publicity people to help guide authors (put together press releases and such), but the days of big book tours and ads in every paper/radio station are over. Unless you do it yourself, of course. Nora Roberts (celebrated romance author) recommends all authors set aside 10% of their advance to spend on marketing efforts.