This is summer?
Boy, while most of the country is sweltering, we here in Colorado have had rain and temps in the 70's... Not that I'm complaining. I'm not a fan of sweat but it IS weird, I must say...
The big news in the book world this week was Borders Group (launching) its e-bookstore yesterday, with titles provided by
Kobo , the e-book and e-reader retailer in which Borders has a stake.
The Wall Street Journal observed that for consumers, "the entrance of Borders into the e-book marketplace may mean lower prices on some titles. Although five of the six major book publishers have converted to an 'agency' pricing model, setting their own retail prices, Bertelsmann AG's Random House publishing group and many smaller publishers still employ the traditional wholesale model--meaning Borders could choose to discount some titles aggressively from these publishers in a bid to drive traffic to its website."
"Borders is late, but not too late, because this is an emerging market. As a publisher, this is one more outlet for us," said Jane Friedman, CEO of Open Road Integrated Media. "It's going to mean more choice for readers, and an opportunity for Borders to build loyalty with their customers."
Anyway, not too much on the burner this week. Getting ready for RomCon-- pals
Nicole Peeler and
Carolyn Crane are coming in and after the con festivities, we have a signing at WhoElse! Books with newcomer Lori Lapekes and NYT Bestseller Nalini Singh. That will be at 3 PM Sunday 200 S. Broadway (one block north of Alameda), in Denver; phone 303-744-BOOK (2665). Hope to see you there.
Mario made it back (evidently) and should have lots of stories to share on Monday. Whether or not they will be TRUE stories is anyone's guess. Anyway, happy belated birthday to my blog partner. I tried to send him a card on Facebook and still can't make things work right.
I'm not sure why this sprung to mind when I thought of Mario but here's this year's winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Wretched Writers Fiction Contest :
For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity's affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss--a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity's mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world's thirstiest gerbil.
The winner of the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is Molly Ringle of Seattle, Washington. The author of one published and two soon-to-be-published novels, Molly Ringle only writes bad fiction when she fails at good fiction. She'd rather not say how often this happens. She lives in Seattle with her family, and her vices include uncalled-for moments of sarcasm, excessive consumption of Nutella, and an unladylike avidity for the raunchy films of Mel Brooks
Go
here for more fun.
Couple of tidbits from Shelf Awareness this week:
James Patterson has sold 1,141,273 ebook units, Hachette Book Group reports, "making him the first novelist ever to surpass the 1-million mark." Of course that compares to total worldwide sales throughout Patterson's career of over 205 million printed books.
Stephen King promotes "six must-reads for summer" via Entertainment Weekly:
The Millennium Trilogy, by Stief Larsson
THE PASSAGE, by Justin Cronin
THE UNNAMED, by Joshua Ferris
STRIP, by Thomas Perry
STORM PREY, by John Sandford
ORDINARY THUNDERSTORMS, by William Boyd
So there you have it. No fancy graphics, no pics. Dullsville, huh? Hope next week is better. It should be with Mario spinning tales of his travels....
Have a good one.
Happy Birthday and love to JEL!!!!