Year: 2010

  • E-readers and whatnot …

    18 Comments

    It seems like everyone is talking about e-books and e-readers these days. Which e-reader to buy, which formats it supports, who has the best e-book prices, and whatnot.

    I have a confession to make — I don’t have an e-reader, and I don’t plan on getting one anytime soon.

    Why not? Well, mainly because I like paper books so much. I like the way they look and feel. I like being able to pick them up and browse through them in the store. Heck, I even like the way they smell. That musty tang in the air in libraries and used bookstores always makes me smile because it means that I’m in a place where there are books — and lots of them.

    Price is another issue. Most of the prices for the e-readers that I’ve seen are more than $100. That seems kind of steep to me. And I’ve seen a lot of blog posts were a lot of readers have had problems with their e-books. It all kind of seems like a big hassle when I can just open up a paper book and start reading it without having to worry about if I’m even going to be able to open an e-file or not.

    Plus, I spend all day on the computer at work and then again at night doing book stuff. When I have time to read, I don’t want to do it on the computer or on any kind of electronic screen. I want to curl up on my couch, put a blanket over my feet, and have the book on my lap.

    Don’t get me wrong. I know plenty of folks who love, love, love their e-readers. One of the ladies in my book group brought her Kindle to one of our meetings and let folks play around with it. I thought it was cool, and I can certainly see the appeal of carrying thousands of books in something that’s only a little bigger than some people’s wallets — and being able to download more instantly. That’s another reason why I don’t get an e-reader — I’d spend tons and tons of money on books. Well, more so than I do now anyway. 😉

    But I just don’t think an e-reader is for me. Maybe I’ll change my mind someday — or at least when the prices drop below $100. But for now, it’s good, old-fashioned paper books for me.

    What about you guys? Have you jumped on the e-reader bandwagon? Why or why not?

  • The death of publishing …

    4 Comments

    There’s been a lot of talk lately about the death of publishing, especially with romance publisher Dorchester possibly dropping its production of mass market books and going to an e-book/print-on-demand model.

    You can read about it at Publishers Weekly, and there’s also a good post at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. Tons of other blogs like Dear Author have also weighed in on this. Do a Google search, and you’ll find plenty to read. However, also according to Publishers Weekly, there is some confusion about exactly what’s going to happen, so take this post with a grain of salt because by the time you finish reading this, something else may have happened or changed.

    First of all, let me say that I really feel for all the Dorchester authors out there. To be told that your book will be printed one way and then have this major change thrust upon you, well, it sucks. It just sucks. I would be screaming and pulling my hair out if something like this happened to me.

    So how will this affect publishing overall? I don’ t know, but I think it’s the beginning of the end for Dorchester. Ink and paper are big, big expenses, and if Dorchester does in fact drop production of their mass market books, then it will save them some money in those areas.

    But by dropping the mass market books, they’re also cutting off an important source of revenue. E-books are growing in sales, but I don’t think those sales will be enough to make up for the lack of mass market sales. What about impulse buys by folks browsing in bookstores? Or at Wal-Mart or even the grocery store? No mass market books means no sales that way. Plus, I just don’t see readers paying $12-$15 for trade books, which is what the Dorchester POD books might be priced at, according to one of the PW articles.

    Personally, I don’t mind spending $8 for a mass market paperback. But when the price goes above $12, even if it’s a trade paperback or hardcover, then I think twice about buying it. If it’s something I really, really want, then I shop around. Usually, I end up buying the book at Amazon, just because it seems like they have the best prices on trade paperbacks and hardcovers. For example, I ordered a hardcover of Catching Fire the other day at Amazon because it was less than $10 — and so was Mockingjay.

    So I don’t know what the Dorchester news will mean in the long run, but I do know this — it’s an interesting (and scary) time to be in publishing right now because no one knows what the future will bring. I’ve got my fingers crossed that everything works out okay for the Dorchester authors affected by this. I’m sending well wishes your way, folks.

  • When stuff blows up …

    4 Comments

    So Wheezley and I went to see The Expendables this weekend. This action movie has tons of stars in it — Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Stone Cold Steve Auston, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke. If you like action movies, this is pretty much your dream cast. There are even cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.

    Basically, the story is this: Sly is the head of a mercenary crew that goes around the world and does things like rescue hostages. Sly and his crew are approached by Bruce Willis to go down to the island of Vilena and take out a general who has seized power. Sly and Jason Statham go down to recon the island, and they meet Sandra, the general’s daughter who is working against her father. Before you can say action movie, Sly and Jason run afoul of the general’s troops and have to escape. But Sandra stays behind, and Sly can’t stop thinking that he should go back and try to help her. So he and the boys saddle up and head back down to Vilena to take on Eric Roberts, who’s made the general his little puppet.

    What happens from there? Stuff blows up. Seriously. I don’t know how big the sets were for this movie, but if there’s anything left of them besides charred, matchstick-size pieces, then I’d be shocked.

    This movie was a lot of fun. I think it’s really, really cool that Sly got so many action stars together in one movie. I wish they made more movies like this where it’s all a big collaboration, and everyone gets a moment or two to shine.

    Let me just say, though, that the years have not been kind to some of these guys. Willis still looks good, but Sly, Arnold, and Mickey aren’t looking so hot. But you know what? The lines on their faces and their world-weary attitudes worked well for this movie.

    This movie is all about the action. Sly has his guns, Jason and Mickey have their knives, Jet has his quick fists, and Terry Crews has a very loud automatic shotgun, among other things. There are several cool action sequences in this one, leading up to an explosive finale — literally. I cannot stress enough how much stuff blows up at the end of this movie. The good guys are quirky and heroic, and the bad guys are totally eeevil.

    My only little quibble is that I would have liked the action scenes to be shot a little wider so I could actually see the guys fight, instead of just their fists slamming into each others’ faces.

    Overall, this one was just bloody, violent, action-packed fun. I hope they make a sequel because I’d love to see all these guys together again.

    My grade: B.

    Quotable lines: There are several. I especially liked Jet Li’s riff on how he needed more money because he was smaller than the other guys.

    Would I watch this movie again: Sure. I’d catch it again on cable, and I’d go to the theater to watch a sequel.

  • ·

    Second printings …

    12 Comments

    I have some more cool news to announce — both Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies have gone into small second printings. Huzzah!

    So what does this mean? Well, basically that sales of both titles have been steady enough for my publisher to print more copies of the book beyond the initial print runs. In other words, there have been enough sales/interest that my publisher printed additional books in hopes of selling even more of them.

    Admittedly, my initial print runs weren’t very large — certainly nowhere near the hundreds of thousands or even millions of books that are printed for the big-name authors like Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling. Still, this is the first time that any of my books have gone into second printings, which is really cool.

    I just want to say thanks to all the readers out there for making this possible. I write the books, but you guys buy them, and I appreciate everyone’s interest in the Elemental Assassin series and all the positive e-mails and comments that I’ve gotten from readers. I hope you guys enjoy Venom when it comes out on Sept. 28 even more than the first two books.

    For those of who you didn’t like the books, I appreciate you giving them a chance in the first place. I know my books aren’t for everyone, and that’s cool too. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

    Anyway, I’m doing the happy dance. 😉

  • Whoops …

    5 Comments

    I accidentally sent out my September e-newsletter last night before it was ready. I hit send when I should have hit save. Just ignore it if you get the newsletter. I’ll send the real, final, corrected one out around the first of September like usual.