E-books

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    Black Widow, Elemental Assassin #12, up for pre-order …

    Book #12Just a reminder that Black Widow, Elemental Assassin #12, is up for pre-order. The book will be released in print, e-book, and audio editions on Nov. 25. It is up for pre-order at the following sites:

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / IndieBound / iTunes / Kobo

    The audio book will be available through Audible. The awesome Lauren Fortgang will once again be the narrator.

    Spoiler warning: Here is the back cover copy for Black Widow. Please note that this does contain some spoilers, so if you absolutely do not want to be spoiled, you may want to skip reading the next few paragraphs.

    There’s nothing worse than a cruel, cunning enemy with time to kill—and my murder to plan.

    With wicked Fire elemental Mab Monroe long gone, you’d think I could finally catch a break. But someone’s always trying to take me down, either as Gin Blanco or my assassin alter-ago. Now along comes the Spider’s new arch-nemesis, the mysteriously named M. M. Monroe, who is gleefully working overtime to trap me in a sticky web of deceit.

    The thing is, I’m not the only target. I can see through the tangled threads enough to know that every bit of bad luck my friends have been having lately is no accident—and that each unfortunate “coincidence” is just one more arrow drawing ever closer to hitting the real bulls-eye. Though new to Ashland, this M. M. Monroe is no stranger to irony, trying to get me, an assassin, framed for murder. Yet, as my enemy’s master plan is slowly revealed, I have a sinking feeling that it will take more than my powerful Ice and Stone magic to stop my whole life from going up in flames.

    In other words: This book will feature the Gin and M.M. Monroe smackdown that you guys have been waiting for. 😉

    So go forth, and pre-order, if you wish. Nov. 25 will be here before you know it.

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    For what it’s worth …

    Note: I talked about this last week over at Magical Musings and wanted to share it on my site as well.

    There’s been a lot of debate this summer over what the price of e-books should be. E-books should be $9.99 or less. E-books should be $3.99 or less. E-books should be 99 cents.

    Pfft. Whatever, dudes.

    Because you know what? In the end, the debate about e-book prices is all just noise. Because the fact is that readers will pay what a book – e-book, print, or audio – is worth to them. Not what retailers or publishers or even writers think that book is worth.

    Should a cup of coffee be $5 or more? Even for a double-shot vanilla bean salted caramel espresso latte that melts in your mouth? Probably not. But people will pay that much for it. And do you know why? Because they want it. There are lots of articles out there talking about how much money you can save – thousands of dollars a year – if you just cut out that $5 cup of coffee every day, but there’s a coffee shop on practically every corner.

    The Republic of ThievesLast year, The Republic of Thieves, the third book in Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastards series, was released. I could have saved money buying the e-book or the hardcover book online, but I went to the store and got the print book, even though it was $28. Why? Because I wanted it.

    I had been waiting on that book a long time (so had my significant other), and I was happy that it was finally out. To me, it was worth paying $28 to read more in the story/world.

    People spend money on the things they want, and I want to read good books – no matter if they are 99 cents or $28.

    What about you guys? Do you think e-books should be a certain price? Why or why not?

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    Poison Promise up for pre-order …

    Book #11 Poison Promise, Elemental Assassin #11, will be released next Tuesday, July 22, in print, e-book, and audiobook formats. Huzzah! I hope that everyone enjoys Gin’s latest adventure.

    If you’re buying a print copy, you might want to check at your local bookstore this weekend, and see if the booksellers have put the book out early. Also, most of the time, Barnes & Noble will start shipping the print copies the weekend before the Tuesday release date.

    If you’re buying a copy online, you can get Poison Promise at all your usual book retailers, including the following:

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo / IndieBound

    The audiobook will be available through Audible, and the awesome Lauren Fortgang is once again the narrator.

    And here is the cover blurb for Poison Promise. This does contain spoilers for previous books in the series:

    I specialize in making death wishes come true.

    Pop quiz. Which do you think is deadlier: Burn, the nastiest drug ever to hit the mean streets of Ashland, or me, Gin Blanco, the assassin known as the Spider? Answer: Me—because I don’t kill you slowly.

    Normally, drug dealers aren’t my department. But I’m turning up the heat on some relentless Burn-pushing thugs who won’t leave my friends alone. Pushers who have my cop sister beside herself with rage, so I’m stepping up to keep her from doing something stupid and getting herself killed. Once I’m in, I’m in, and these folks have picked their poison: the Spider’s venom. But even bad guys have their good days, and sometimes even my Ice and Stone magic isn’t enough. For behind the drug is a vicious vampire with a scientific eye for results. And behind him… trouble like I haven’t seen since I took down my legendary nemesis, Mab Monroe.

    To read the first chapter, go here, scroll down, and click on the Read Excerpt tab. Hope everyone enjoys the sneak peak at the book. Happy reading!

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    Graphic novels — to read in print or e-book?

    So a couple of months ago, the e-book for Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuña was on sale. The story sounded interesting, and I always like a bargain, so I downloaded it to read on my tablet.

    Black Widow The Name of the RoseHmm. It was an interesting experience.

    The story was good, and the art was cool. Overall, I enjoyed the graphic novel, and I’d recommend it to Black Widow fans or those who enjoy the Marvel universe and its characters.

    But reading a graphic novel isn’t quite the same as reading a print novel on an e-reader. Which was something that I had never considered before.

    For one thing, there seemed to be a set limit as to how big I could make each page. I was a little disappointed by that, as it made some of the dialogue a bit hard to read. I could tap on each individual panel and make them bigger that way, but with three or four or more panels on a page, that got a little tedious at times. I don’t have an iPad, but I imagine that if I had read the graphic novel on it, I would have had a better experience, as that screen would have been bigger than my tablet one.

    So lesson learned. In the future, I’ll probably stick with print versions of graphic novels, just so I can see everything better.

    What about you guys? Do you read graphic novels and comics on your e-reader or tablet? Why or why not?

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    Mythos Academy e-books on sale May 13-27 …

    I wanted to let everyone know that there is an e-book sale coming up for the first five books in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series.

    Book #1From May 13-27, the e-books for Touch of Frost, Kiss of Frost, Dark Frost, Crimson Frost, and Midnight Frost will be $2.99 each. The deal is being offered at iTunes and Barnes & Noble, but I imagine that the other e-book retailers will pick it up as well. So if you’ve been wanting to check out the series, now might be a good time.

    Here are some of the sites where you can get the e-books, along with the print and audio versions:

    TOUCH OF FROST — BOOK #1

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    Audible / Brilliance Audio

    KISS OF FROST — BOOK #2

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    Audible / Brilliance Audio

    DARK FROST — BOOK #3

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    Audible / Brilliance Audio

    CRIMSON FROST — BOOK #4

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    Audible / Brilliance Audio

    MIDNIGHT FROST — BOOK #5

    Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million / iTunes / Kobo

    Audible / Brilliance Audio

    Hope that everyone enjoys the e-book sale. Happy downloading!