Monday, June 16, 2014

The Battle Between Hachette and Amazon

The battle continues between Amazon and Hachette over eBook pricing. This continues to have a ripple effect across the industry, and others are getting involved.

Independent booksellers have joined the battle, along with Hachette author Stephen Colbert, with a campaign against Amazon.

From The Guardian:


“Independent booksellers in America are weighing into the dispute between Amazon and Hachette with a series of banners telling potential customers "Thanks, Amazon, the indies will take it from here", while comedian and Hachette author Stephen Colbert is urging his viewers to plaster their books with "I didn't buy it on Amazon" stickers.

“The disagreement between the retail giant and the publisher, which is believed to be over terms, has been played out in public since early last month, and has seen Amazon.com delay delivery on more than 5,000 Hachette titles, according to the publisher, including books by Malcolm Gladwell, JD Salinger and James Patterson. It has also removed the possibility of pre-ordering books by authors including JK Rowling, whose forthcoming Robert Galbraith crime novel The Silkworm is not available on the site.”

Many titles have been removed or marked unavailable, both for order or pre-orders. The delays in ordering have affected both customers and authors alike.

From The Book Seller:

 “Jeffery Deaver and James Patterson are among the authors affected by slow delivery times, and both have weighed in on their Facebook accounts.

“Patterson said: “Currently, Amazon is making it difficult to order many books from Little, Brown and Grand Central, which affects readers of authors such as Malcolm Gladwell, Nicholas Sparks, Michael Connelly, me, and hundreds of others whose living depends on book sales. What I don’t understand about this particular battle tactic is how it is in the best interest of Amazon customers. It certainly doesn’t appear to be in the best interest of authors.”

Meanwhile, there are those who stand to benefit from the fracas.

From Barron’s:

“Amazon’s standoff with suppliers is an opportunity for Barnes & Noble. Currently, Amazon.com is not accepting orders for titles from Hachette authors, including J.K. Rowling and Michael Connelly, following continued disputes on e-book pricing. In addition, they are not accepting preorders for key Warner Bros. (TWX – $68.92 – NR) titles, such as The Lego Movie, in a separate supplier dispute. The standoffs highlight Barnes & Noble’s value to publishers, as it remains the only alternative book outlet to Amazon.com, and is critical in both the sale and marketing of their books.” - Maxim’s John Tinker and Kevin Rippey

Where do you stand on the Hachette-Amazon battle?

at 54 comments:

Monday, June 09, 2014

List of Book Genre Sites for Reviews, Readers, Interviews, and More

Readers are always on the lookout for sites that cater to their favorite genre of books. These sites are also valuable to writers and authors, because this is where we want fans to find our books.

Below is a list of sites for several different genres - fan sites, reviews, interviews, author and book information, and more!

YA








Mystery








Romance







Horror





Science Fiction








I’d like to thank The Geek Twins - I won their Caption Contest last week! Humor is not my thing, so I was really surprised when my caption was voted the best.


at 41 comments:

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

The Insecure Writer's Support Group, Champion of Flight, and Secrets of Honor

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, hosted by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Don’t forget to check out the Facebook IWSG, too.

I took the past few weeks off to reassess some goals and tackle a few projects. I’m still working on those objectives, including redesigning and moving my website, but it’s coming together.

On the writing front, I’m excited about a couple projects. I taught my publish and promote seminars on Monday, and nothing is more invigorating than being around excited author hopefuls. They inspire me, and I learn from them, too.

Sometimes we need that–to get around the excitement again and remember why we started this crazy journey.

I’m excited to tackle writing again–are you?


Just released -

Champion in Flight by Tyrean Martinson

Clara won the battle for Septily, but her battle isn’t over.

Champion in Flight is the second book in The Champion Trilogy.

Find Champion in Flight at Smashwords Amazon Goodreads

More details and other new releases at The Circle of Friends blog.


Cover reveal -

 Secrets of Honor by Carol Kilgore 

Once upon a time, there was a jewel thief. Her name was Katia. She worked for The Government. Yes, that government. But one day, Kat took something she shouldn’t have. She really shouldn't have done that.

You can connect with Carol and her books here:
Blog Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads Amazon

at 47 comments:

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Write Club Deadline and Upcoming Release Our Beautiful Child



I’m still on hiatus, but I needed to announce two upcoming events, one with a looming deadline.


First off, I’d like to thank Diane for the opportunity to talk to you today about something near and dear to my heart…WRiTE CLUB. My modest writing contest has proven so popular that the DFW Writers Conference is now considering incorporating it into their agenda for 2015. 

For the newbies out there, let me explain what WRiTE CLUB is? It’s a modest writing competition whose inspiration was derived from the movie FIGHT CLUB. There are numerous versions of this concept around the internet, but nothing like we do it. Its essence embodies simple, good-natured competition, with lots and lots of fun sprinkled on top. 

Over the course of eight weeks I hold twice-weekly bouts in which the winners advance to the play-offs, which will ultimately lead to a single champion. Bouts between who…or what…you ask? Anonymous 500 word writing samples, submitted under a pen name by anyone who wishes to take part, that’s who. The writing can be any genre, any style (even poetry) with the word count being the only restriction. It’s a way to get your writing in front of a lot of readers, without having to suffer the agony of exposure. 

And the winners are determined by WRiTE CLUB readers!

To find out how to become part of the fun just head on over to DLHammons.com and click on the WRiTE CLUB tab. 

Submissions are open until May 31st. After that date a panel of a dozen judges will read all of the entries we received and pre-select 32 of the best writing samples to climb into the ring. Those 32 participants will then be randomly matched to compete over the next eight weeks, each of them hoping to make it into the play-off rounds and moving towards the ultimate goal – WRiTE CLUB Champion. No one (other than my wife)…not even the judges being used to pre-select the 32 contestants, will see the true identity of any sample. Unless you win, of course.

Again this year, the most exciting part is the winner of the final round will be chosen by a panel of publishing industry professionals! Judges include New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning horror and thriller author Jonathan Maberry, Agents Katie Grim of Don Congdon Associates, Margaret Bail of the Andrea Hurst Agency, Sarah Negovetich of the Corvisiero Literary Agency, Brittany Booker of The Booker Albert Literary Agency. Also included is Candace Havens, Editorial Director of Entangled Publishing Covet line, Authors Les Edgerton and Lydia Kang, and previous WRiTE CLUB winners Tiana Smith (2011), Mark Hough (2012) and Tex Thompson (2013).

Are you willing to WRiTE for what you want? Then crack those knuckles and get ready to flex that imagination. And whatever you do, tell your friends!

WRiTE CLUB – The contest where the audience gets clobbered!

 * * * * * 

Title: Our Beautiful Child
Author: Annalisa Crawford
Release date: 10th June 2014
Publisher: Battered Suitcase Press

“The Boathouse collects misfits. Strange solitary creatures that yearn for contact with the outside world, but not too much. They sit, glass in hand, either staring at the table in front of them, or at some distant point on the horizon.”
… so says the narrator of Our Beautiful Child. And he’s been around long enough to know.
People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.
Ella finds love, a moment too late; Rona discovers a beautiful ability which needs refining before she gets hurt; and Sally meets the captivating Murray, who threatens to ruin everything.
Three women. Three stories. One pub.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I live in Cornwall UK, with a good supply of beaches and moorland right on my doorstep to keep me inspired. I live with my husband, two sons, a dog and a cat.
Despite my location, I neither surf nor sail, and have never had any inclination to try. I much prefer walking along a deserted beach and listening to the waves crashing over rocks. For this reason, I really love the beach in the winter!

Links:
Website // Blog // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest // Add to Goodreads


at 39 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)