Industry News

Heartbreakers to newsmakers and everything in between.

The holidays have definitely slowed things down, but not completely:

A few weeks ago, the European Union started an antitrust probe on over Agency Pricing and just about everyone expected the US to follow suit. They wait is over. The Wall Street reports that the Justice Department has now officially stated that it has opened its own inquiry into e-book pricing.

If you're keeping score: it's the EU, the Justice Department, and several civil lawsuits that the Big Six (and Apple) are now facing in regards to the legality of Agency Pricing.

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On the completely fun side of news:

Romantic Times has posted their December issue of Caught on the Cover. If you are unfamiliar with this fun feature, RT lists the celebrities 'caught' on the cover of newly released books.

Finally, a terrific video by author Maya Rodale

Industry News

Heartbreakers to newsmakers and everything in between.

After a relatively quite last week, happenings are abound this week:

All new tablets and ereaders have now been released and reviews are fairly positive all around for the Kindle Fire, Kobo Vox, and Nook Tablet. The winner? Depends on your needs. (Bet you never saw that answer coming, right?) If you are looking for a cheaper version of the iPad, none of these new tablets are going to satisfy. However, if you are already a Prime Amazon customer or a voracious consumer of video and music, the Kindle Fire is a great extension to that buying power. The shortcomings of the Nook Tablet are evident in the limited choice of media which can be purchased. As for the Vox, well, it falls somewhere in the middle, but it is a great alternative if you are looking a higher-end reader that does more than just display books.

If you are in the market, be sure to check out Black Friday deals from Walmart, Target and Radio Shack (to name a few). Several stores are selling the readers at retail but including gift cards ranging from $10-25.

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On November 21, Overdrive (who distributes digital material to libraries) announced that Penguin was "reviewing terms for library lending of their eBooks" and in the interim, it had to disable “Get for Kindle” functionality for all Penguin eBooks. Well it turns out that Penguin has changed its mind because the original decision had nothing to do with Amazon's own Lending Library for Prime Members. Nothing at all. There is a great write up by Sarah over at SBTB

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It is with a heavy heart that I pass along the news that legendary fantasy novelist, Anne McCaffrey, died at the age of 85. McCaffrey was known for writing strong female characters in the fantasy/science fiction genre which usually dismissed women as eye-candy, after thoughts. Her words and worlds have been and will continue to be cherished by countless readers for generations. I personally attribute McCaffrey for nurturing my love for dragons and science fiction and for showing that girls, too, could have epic adventures. Thank you, Ms. McCaffrey. You will be missed.

Industry News

Heartbreakers to newsmakers and everything in between.

Big news (and more competition) on the e-reader front:
- Barnes and Noble announced Monday their new tablet and pricing structure for the Nook. The pricing structures are more competitive with the Kindle and Vox even though the actual 'tablet' is priced $50 higher. One 'big' difference right now is that the Nook Tablet is much more limited in content than either the Kindle or Vox.

-The Vox has had shipping/fulfillment issues as of late. Many customers have complained about lack of communication with Kobo in regards to their orders.

Which leads to this eye opener... Rakuten, a Japanese based company has acquired the Canadian-based Kobo for $315 million. Many are looking favorably on this acquisition as Rakuten brings with it much deeper pockets than Kobo previously had. The hope is that not only will customer service improve, but the competition will heat up even further.

-Amazon is not sitting on its heels. It has announced a new book lending plan for Kindle customers who are also Prime Members. There are over 5,ooo books currently available in this lending program. It will be interesting to see if Amazon tweaks its pricing structure before the holidays as the Nook has matched Kindle prices and without the adverts.

Whew! So are you ready to buy an e-reader if you don't already have one?

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Hard feelings abound as M/M author, A. J. Llewellyn, has been 'outed' for being a woman. Female authors writing in the M/M genre is not uncommon but the outrage is stemming from the fact that Llewellyn, a pseudonym, posted regularly on his blog and others, as a gay man sharing his advice and experiences. Llewellyn has apologized on his blog.

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Not in the romance genre but worthy of note, Q.R. Markham‘s debut spy novel Assassin of Secrets, which garnered positive reviews from Publisher's Weekly and has blurbs by two well known authors on its cover has now been pulled by its publishers under allegations of plagiarism.

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Ending on a lighter note...Is this the future of marketing?
What do you think of this cover?

Industry News

Heartbreakers to newsmakers and everything in between.

It's that time of the year again! NaNoWriMo has begun! If you are not familiar with the National Novel Writing Month, it is simply a challenge to write 50,000 words in one month or basically a short novel.Or as participants say, "It's madness I tell you, madness!" It is also great fun even if you don't complete the challenge.

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Speaking of writing, Harlequin will hold their second annual So You Think You Can Write (SYTYCW) online writing conference November 7-11. This is a chance for aspiring writers to get some feedback and do some writing exercises under the guidance of some Harlequin editors. (The site will go live closer to the start date.)

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News has come that HarperCollins has acquired Thomas Nelson, a publisher of inspirational novels. This move is likely to give HC over 50% of the Christian fic market which concerns many as it is likely to affect the landscape of this sector in terms of acquisitions and diversity.

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Kobo has announced its entry into the publishing arena and offering publishing services such as editing and marketing to authors. Kobo also has an entry into the ereader market, the Vox ($199), set to compete against Amazon's Kindle Fire ($199) and B&N's Color Nook (still $249). Note: B&N has sent out 'mysterious' invites to a 'very special announcement' on Nov. 7th. Speculation is that B&N will be announcing a new Color Nook with the same price point as the Fire and the Vox. (And just in time for the holiday season :)

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According to Publisher's Weekly, Harlequin released their numbers which show an improvement in sales, though the numbers are still down compared to 2010.

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NextWeb has a terrific little gem of an article which is going to add fuel to the price-fixing lawsuits currently in motion regarding Agency pricing and how Steve Jobs and Apple 'won', at least temporarily the ebook pricing wars.

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Don't forget to drop by at TRR's End of Year Splash Party for games and prizes. Good Luck!

Industry News

Heartbreakers to newsmakers and everything in between.

Disturbing news broke last week regarding questionable business practices of Aspen Mountain Press, a Colorado-based publisher. There are some serious allegations being made by former employees and contracted authors in regards to unprofessional behavior including dubious accounting practices, nonpayment of royalties, selling books without contracts, and refusal by the owner to respond to various forms of communication, all which are violation of established contracts. Several authors have posted requests for consumers to not buy their books as they are not receiving royalties. All this was occurring while AMP was still soliciting and accepting manuscripts. Absolute Write has several posts from authors and former employees dating back from August when the Senior Staff quit en masse.

Currently, the AMP web site now states that it is officially suspending operation. Some authors have posted that their rights have been released back to them but other authors are still currently in limbo.

Industry News

Heartbreakers to newsmakers and everything in between.

The biggest news this past week is the passing of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. Now that doesn't really affect romancelandia in general but it will be interesting to see if Apple can maintain the hold of Agency pricing without the charismatic personality of Jobs (especially with the pending price fixing lawsuits which also names Apple as a defendant).

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USA Today has a new romance blog called Happily Ever After being helmed by author Joyce Lamb. Is this the sign that the genre is finally getting some respect from mainstream media or is USA Today just hoping to draw in some female viewers to their site?

'Chick porn' no more?

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Romantic Times posted the US Publisher's Marketplace review of book deals. It looks like the chances of new authors getting a deal of over $500K have decreased but the chances of getting good deals are increasing as publishers have increased their overall buying. Romance seems to have 'declined' but that is questionable since it's mixed in with 'Women's Fiction', which is a very broad term for any book which has a female as the center character.

RT also did a cool article for aspiring authors on ten publishers accepting new manuscripts.

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Lastly, the new Kindle Family has been introduced with a very approachable pricing structure just in time for the upcoming holiday season. It will be interesting to see if Barnes & Noble or Sony will respond. If you're not already an e-reader convert, will the new prices make you one?