News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.
Books & Ebooks in the News:
- Amazon wants to ship stuff to you BEFORE you buy it. Yes, really. They’ve got a patent and everything.
- The Edgar nominees for 2014 have been announced; check out some of the best mysteries of 2013. The awards will be given at a banquet on May 1, 2014.
- Poet Billy Collins’ papers bought by University of Texas, according to a report in The New York Times. In the piece, Collins describes writing a poem in a bank, using bank deposit slips for paper.
- “Self-publisher WinePress Goes Out of Business” after alleged fraud, financial problems, and escalating complaints from authors. (Publishers Weekly)
- Author Donna Lapermeier announced a 25,000 teen reading contest in honor of YALSA’s Teen Reading Week (and not incidentally, to promote her Healers Trilogy.)
- OverDrive discontinuing WMA-format audiobooks in favor of more popular MP3 format. (Overdrive blog)
- Amazon Publishing launches Christian imprint Waterfall Press. (GalleyCat)
- Most authors make under $1000 per year even if they’re traditionally published, according to a survey by Digital Book World. The survey also compares the incomes of self-published, traditionally published, and hybrid authors. (DBW via GalleyCat)
Worth Reading (and thinking about):
- “Reading Books is Fundamental” Charles M. Blow reflects on the importance of reading in his childhood. (New York Times op-ed)
- Are You Really Going to Read That? The challenge of enormously-long TBR lists. (Berls @ Fantasy Is More Fun) The comments are worth reading, too.
- “The joy of literary destruction: Writers who broke all the rules” (Wendy Lesser, from her book Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books, excerpted in Salon)
- “Storyteller’s whispers” Laurie King explains her writing process (she’s a panster, meaning she doesn’t outline ahead of time) and drops a few hints about her next Mary Russell book.
For Writers & Bloggers:
- Guide to Getting Approved on Edelweiss (Anya at On Starships and Dragonwings)
- Challenges and Readathons:
- The Wicked Valentine Read-a-thon runs from Feb. 7 through 17 and is hosted by My Shelf Confessions. Join for a day, a few days, or the whole thing. You can read what you want (any genre), and you don’t have to share reviews or updates (but you can.)
Upcoming events and polls:
- International Book Giving Day is Feb. 14, 2014. “International Book Giving Day is a day dedicated to getting new, used and borrowed books in the hands of as many children as possible.” Give a book to a child this Valentine’s Day!
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The 2014 All About Romance Annual Reader Poll ends Monday, so if you read romance, head over and vote for your favorites! There are lots of categories, and you can vote in as many or as few as you choose.
Book & Movie Announcements:
- Sherlock – Season 3 Episode 1: The Empty Hearse is now available for streaming on PBS, in case you missed it on television last Sunday. It will only be up for a few weeks, though, so don’t delay.
- These Broken Stars will be adapted for TV, though it’s not yet clear which channel(s) will pick it up. (Publishers Weekly)
Free & Bargain books:
Kindle $1.99 bargains! Please check prices before you buy, as they can change. Some of these may also be on sale at B&N, Kobo, Sony, or other ebook retailers.
- The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
- Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
- The Old Fox Deceived by Martha Grimes
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- Firelight by Sophie Jordan
- The Amaranth Experiment by Julie Berry
- Geekomancy by Michael R. Underwood.
- Buzz Books 2014. Free!
Awesome lists:
- Book titles rewritten, Upworthy-style. I dare you not to laugh.
- The 10 Best Mystery Novels – or rather, mystery author Thomas H. Cook’s personal favorites. Conspicuously lacking are anything by Christie, Sayers, Conan Doyle, etc., but there are some very intriguing books on the list. (Publisher’s Weekly)
- Fifty Essential Mystery Novels Everyone Should Read is a broader and more comprehensive list – and it’s headed by Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles and Sayers’ Gaudy Night. I’ve read 8 of them – but I’ve added several more to my TBR list. (Flavorwire)
- 30 Signs You Like Books More Than You Like People (Ella Ceron, Thought Catalog)
- Songs with Literary References More of an article than a list, but there are some good songs here. Make sure you check the comments; there are lots more there. (Dave Astor, Huffington Post)
Really cool:
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| Design by Creative Home Engineering |
- Secret Doors and Passages – a lot of them are bookshelves. I’ve always wanted a secret passage! (All designed by the same company, but pretty cool anyway.)
Bookish Quotes:
That’s it for this week!
I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature. You can leave me a comment or send me an email — my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
Bea
Wow, i actually read a lot these links already! That rarely happens. 😀
I want a bookshelf that hides a secret passage, that would be so cool.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Oh, me too! And a secret room, just for hiding out and reading.
Pamela D
I am so excited that overdrive is getting rid of WMA files!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
It does seem to make sense. MP3 has pretty much taken over.
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic
Lots of great links! I’ve always wanted a secret passage, too. I will have to read the Laurie King interview. Thanks for all your work on the News and Notes each week.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Glad you enjoyed them! Have fun with the Laurie King interview.