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  • Tag: news

    • DOJ Case Settled

      Posted at 8:03 pm by Laura, on February 8, 2013

      At least, that certainly seems to be the case.

      Department of Justice appears to have settled with publishers in the ebook pricing case. What does this mean for the future of ebooks?

      Apple has also said in court papers that the government’s suit “sides with monopoly, rather than competition,” by shoring up Amazon’s early advantage in electronic books.

      A civil trial for Apple is scheduled to begin in June.

      Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc has sided with Apple, telling the federal court that it, too, is concerned about a monopoly by Amazon.

      This is another issue with ebook pricing. Amazon is already an egotistical monopoly in the book world. Rather than going to a local or independent bookstore, customers rush to Amazon because it’s “cheaper.” Then those same customers complain about bookstores closing. How does one fix this? Utilize the local bookstore!

      Writers are worried about not making enough money on their books because of this monopoly. They know customers want small prices, and ordering through Amazon completely cuts out the royalties for authors and all their hard work. So now authors have turned to self-publishing ebooks, as they can still make money off ebooks.

      BUT NOW Amazon is trying to sell “used” ebooks, which is not actually a thing AND it cuts out royalties for authors once again!

      Obviously this post veered off-topic, but as a reader, who do you support? Do you want to support the writers and editors who work so hard to make good quality books for you to learn from and enjoy? Or do you want to feed a monopoly that is actually killing the industry?

      Some food for thought. Back to the DOJ deal…

      Posted in books, Link, publishing, technology | 0 Comments | Tagged books, ebooks, legal issues, news, publishing
    • Awards, Bestsellers, and E-books, Oh My!

      Posted at 7:34 pm by Laura, on January 16, 2013

      Apologies for the lack of posts. I’ve since taken a trip to NYC and adopted a kitty from a shelter.

      On to some book news!

      1. NBCC Finalists Announced — 2012 National Book Critics Circle finalists were announced Monday. There are 30 finalists across 6 categories, including Adam Johnson’s The Orphan Master’s Son, Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Tom Reiss’s The Black Count, and Allan Peterson’s Fragile Acts.
      2. Wanna know which titles dominated in 2012? I’m sure you can guess quite a few of them. Big Names Dominated Bestsellers in 2012 contains all the sales information as well as the lists of the Top 10 Books within 10 categories.
      3. Prepare to be launched into a literary Italy with Dan Brown’s Inferno on May 14! Make all the jokes you want — I’m really looking forward to this one. Lost Symbol was ehhh for me, but the other Robert Langdon books were intriguing. Probably because it was set in Europe. And now we’re looking into Dante’s Inferno? Yes, please!
      4. Scholastic Report Finds More E-book Reading Among Children — This is to be expected, as the current generation is growing up with easy-access technology. However, the stats are incredibly fascinating. More boys are reading, and more teenagers are making the switch from print to digital.
      5. 2013 Edgar Nominations Announced — Check out the selections from the Mystery Writers of America, with Best Book, Best First, Best Fact Crime, and many more!
      Posted in books, Link, publishing, technology | 0 Comments | Tagged awards, books, ebooks, ereaders, news, publishing
    • New Adult — Needless or Necessary?

      Posted at 7:23 pm by Laura, on December 18, 2012

      With the rise of young adult (YA) fiction popularity, and the wide audience ranging from preteen to late twenties / early thirties (thank you, Hunger Games), publishers and marketers are thinking of creating a new sub-genre called new adult (NA for the purpose of this post).

      New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Sub-genre? — Publishers Weekly — Rachel Deahl & Judith Rosen

      While marketing directors say there is a need for NA, with an audience geared toward 18- to 23-year-olds, some wonder if it’s even necessary.

      “Even though the term is a relatively new one, the content has always been there in literature and movies,” explained Gina Wachtel, v-p and associate publisher at Random House. Wachtel, who is overseeing a slate of new digital imprints at Random House, among them a new adult one called Flirt, said these books feature characters who are at “the stage of figuring out who you really are—and all that goes with it.”

      Talk to editors about new adult and the first thing you will hear is that the term is fluid. While these titles will likely feature 18-year-old to 20-something protagonists, fixating on the age of a character misses the point. Lucia Macro, a v-p and executive editor at William Morrow, said the new adult tag speaks more to voice, style, and theme. Asked if the term was necessary, Macro said it’s useful as a marketing tool. “Whether people want to admit it or not, publishing is a lot about marketing, and when you’re marketing to people it’s necessary to have [the appropriate] terminology.” She then added: “In-house it helps people wrap their brain around a book, especially when you have maybe 10 seconds to explain it to them.”

      Some people believe the NA title will help censor content too mature for teens. While at the same time, NA can be marketed towards readers that share books across generations: mothers and daughters reading the same series or kinds of books, for example.

      Personally, I do think the NA concept is a neat idea, but completely unnecessary. There are some great self-discovery books in fiction (or “adult” fiction, if we have to use this sort of terminology), as people are constantly discovering who they are no matter what stage in life. There are thousands upon thousands of books that do not even contain sex in it, if that’s the concern. The teen and children sections are there to help parents guide their offspring to various titles that is suitable for their age-group. But once that child is out of the house, in college, they are an adult — they should be able to make their own decisions on reading material. Creating an entirely new section almost seems to separate the market even more.

      Division based on age, which is honestly what this boils down to, is unnecessary. I thoroughly enjoy books about children, teens, adults, even some protagonists that are in their 70s! It’s about the story.

      Posted in books, Link, publishing | 4 Comments | Tagged books, genre: new adult, genre: young adult, news, publishing
    • 9 Things Huffington Post Predicts Will Keep Publishers Awake

      Posted at 1:52 pm by Laura, on December 14, 2012

      Huffington Post congratulates the publishing industry on a big year, and can only see even more drama in the future. They list 9 things publishers will worry about in 2013, and several of them involve Amazon’s monopoly, self-publishing, and the future of ebooks.

      Some other things to concern yourself with include library budget cuts, mergers, and termination rights. The world of books is constantly changing…

      Posted in books, library, Link, publishing, technology | 0 Comments | Tagged books, ebooks, library, news, publishing
    • AWP 2013 in Boston!

      Posted at 5:12 pm by Laura, on December 11, 2012

      The Association of Writers and Writing Programs, otherwise known as the AWP, will be in Boston, March of 2013! Check out the schedule of events and make sure you’ve registered if you plan on attending!

      The conference is scheduled for March 6th – 9th at the Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel. Get ready for some awesome reading, writing, and book events and discussions!

      Posted in books, library, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged AWP, books, conference, news
    • Random House: Seeing Green

      Posted at 1:31 pm by Laura, on December 7, 2012

      As much as the world scoffed at 50 Shades of Grey, no one is scoffing at the massive bonus Random House employees are receiving this holiday season!

      At Random House, Employees Will Enjoy 5,000 Shades of Green — New York Times — Leslie Kaufman

      This year, Random House had the good fortune to publish E. L. James’s “Fifty Shades of Grey,” about an inexperienced college student who falls in love with an older man with a taste for trying her up and whipping her, among other delights. The book has topped the New York Times paperback best-seller list for 37 weeks and counting. The sequels “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed” have been in the top five for a similar amount of time.

      The e-books have been best sellers even longer.

      Also, Random House has had other big best sellers including “Gone Girl,” a mystery by Gillian Flynn that has sold over one million copies; “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed; and John Grisham’s latest, “The Racketeer.”

      Posted in books, Link, publishing | 1 Comment | Tagged books, news, publishing
    • John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” Named Best Fiction

      Posted at 3:26 pm by Laura, on December 4, 2012

      Time Magazine named YA author John Green’s book The Fault in Our Stars the number one best work of fiction in 2012!

      If you’re wondering why sales of young-adult books are up, even with all the challenges the publishing industry is facing, it’s because of novels like this one.

      …The Fault in Our Stars is a love story, one of the most genuine and moving ones in recent American fiction, but it’s also an existential tragedy of tremendous intelligence and courage and sadness.

      He was ranked ahead of JK Rowling, Junot Diaz, Zadie Smith, and the Booker Award winner Hilary Mantel! Congratulations, John Green!

      DFTBA, Nerdfighters!

      Posted in books, Link | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, awards, books, magazine, news
    • Goodreads Choice Awards Winners 2012

      Posted at 11:06 am by Laura, on December 4, 2012

      They’ve been announced!!! Congratulations!!!

      Best Fiction was JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy — no surprise there. Gillian Flynn’s best-seller Gone Girl won Best Mystery & Thriller. Of course, Fifty Shades Freed by EL James won for Romance, and Veronica Roth defended her title by winning both Goodreads Author and Best Young Adult Fantasy for Insurgent. The winners for Best Young Adult and Best Paranormal Fantasy makes my heart flutter: John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars and Deborah Harkness’s Shadow of Night!

      I have a few predictions for next year! Is it too early? Regardless, I’m sending out my opinion.

      Although not every author posts about a book they have due out in the following year, especially a first-time author, I do believe that Cassandra Clare and Lauren Oliver will have to fight for “Young Adult Fantasy” (since apparently dystopians are also called fantasy). Clare will publish her final in the Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Princess, and with the upcoming movie for her Mortal Instruments series there will be plenty of talk about her Shadowhunter world throughout 2013. Oliver is quite successful as well, and her final book in the Delirium trilogy, Requiem, is due out in March.

      And I bet, in the Children’s category, some version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will appear. It just has to. That series is through the roof with children.

      Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged awards, books, goodreads, news, publishing
    • Harper Highs and Lows

      Posted at 8:31 pm by Laura, on November 27, 2012

      Lots of news surrounding HarperCollins lately…

      1. Could HarperSchuster be next? — PaidContent
        “Just three weeks after Random House and Penguin announced that they will merge to form the world’s largest book publisher, News Corp, which owns the book publisher HarperCollins, is reportedly in talks to acquire CBS’s Simon & Schuster. The “preliminary” talks were reported by the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal, which says News Corp had “expressed interest in” buying Simon & Schuster.” What’s with all the mergers? Could someone explain this to me? If it truly has something to do with a “dying industry” I’ll be quite upset. It’s not dying. It’s changing. Does that always equate mergers? Good thing independent publishers are doing well, though.
      2. HarperCollins Imprint Aims at Lucrative YA Market — NYTimes — Leslie Kaufman
        “The young adult category is perhaps the hottest market in publishing, so it is no surprise that industry executives are looking for every possible entry point. HarperCollins’s latest effort, to be announced Monday, is a digital imprint focusing on young adult short stories and novellas. The imprint, called HarperTeen Impulse, will begin sales on Dec. 4 for short fiction in a variety of genres. Although the imprint is open to both new and established authors, it will lean heavily at first on some reliable names.” Now this is exciting! HarperTeen Impulse will answer to the cry for more YA and with more options, print and digital! This is adaptation. I like it.
      Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged genre: young adult, news, publishing
    • NY Publishing Houses Struggle to Get Back Online Post-Sandy — PW

      Posted at 8:52 am by Laura, on November 2, 2012

      New York Publishing Struggling to Get Back Online Post-Sandy — Publishers Weekly — Judith Rosen, Rachel Deahl

      Although many on the east coast are powered up once again, thousands in NYC are still managing without power and reliable transportation. Of these include several of our favorite publishing houses. Click the link to see the status report of the Big Six and others in the metropolis, not only for the function of their online presence but the condition of their warehouses as well.

      Posted in books, Link, publishing | 0 Comments | Tagged news, publishing
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    • Hello, I’m Laura!

      I'm a bookish bookworm and book hoarder. By day I'm a literary agent, and by night I'm forever rearranging my bookshelves. I could talk your ear off about Gothic literature, and in my past life people thought I'd become a professional musician. I have a fluffy black cat named Rossetti, I love to knit, tea is my drink of choice, British TV is the best, and I'm obsessed with popcorn. Welcome to Scribbles & Wanderlust! Grab your favorite hot beverage and let's chat books!
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