Jane Litte's Blog, page 1005

Is there room on the internet for authorial interaction?

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For many years, we've preached that review are for readers and they are. Oftentimes, when authors react to reviews, it results in an unfortunate dustup with authors saying things they wished they hadn't and readers throwing out threats of a ban list. The comment threads to a review can be contentious whether it is here at Dear Author or at places like Goodreads and Amazon.

But there are times when authorial interaction might actually produce interesting discussion. After I reviewed "Lord of...

REVIEW: Viper's Kiss by Shannon Curtis

Dear Ms. Curtis:

This is a fun spy caper book with a great and very competent heroine. It requires a huge suspension of disbelief but if the reader can let go, it is a fun ride.

Maggie Kincaid is an information services librarian at a large university whose similarity to another woman who posed nude in a car calendar has turned Maggie into an unintentional celebrity on her college campus.

Susan leaned a hip against Maggie's desk. "So, what did your mother say about Miss April Hotrod?"

Maggie...

Monday Midday Links: Sourcebooks Gears Up a Big Sale

News

Not as awesome as the stickman, but if you type in "Let it snow" in the google search box, Google has a little easter egg for you.

 

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In searching for a wall organizer for my kitchen, I came across this online store called "see Jane work". It has an eclectic selection of work tools and I thought I would share it with my working girl friends here on DA.

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[image error]This is an incredibly romantic story that I saw linked on Reddit. A young man fell in love with an older woman in China 50 years ...

REVIEW: Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla

Dear Ms. Bonilla,

If there's one character type I love seeing, it's assassins. Especially female assassins. I could probably stand to see less redheaded assassins though. Seriously, what is it with fantasy and redheaded assassins and/or redheaded women? Still, the promise of a female assassin was enough to lure me into picking up your debut. I tried to read another debut earlier this year featuring a female assassin, but that quickly became a DNF. So I hoped for something better with your...

DA/SBTB Bestseller List

Week ending December 13, 2011

Unraveled by Courtney Milan Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Dangerous Books For Girls by Maya Rodale Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo All Seated on the Ground by Connie Willis Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo How the Marquess Was Won by Julie Anne Long Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo A Rogue By Any Other Name: The First Rule of Scoundrels by Sarah MacLean | | | The Lady's Secret by Joanna...

Digital First Publishers: High Price Points and Limited Availability

Intro

Readers dislike Agency pricing a lot complaining that the 7.99 price point for a digital book that has limited sharing options and no resale. I don't hear a lot of complaints about the digital first publishers and their high prices.  I'm not sure if it is because of the following:

Limited audience
Speciality publishing
High Prices

Digital first publishers like Loose Id and Ellora's Cave, among others, price their stories very high. Loose Id prices novellas at $4.99 and their full length b...

REVIEW: Son of the Morning by Linda Howard

Dear Ms Howard:

The re-release of one of your only time travel novel provided a perfect excuse for a re-read. Son of the Morning was first published in 1997. It's an unusual romance in that for much of the story, Grace and Niall, the two main protagonists are separated by the dimension of time. While I remembering enjoying Son of the Morning when it first came out, I think I appreciated the richness of the development more this time around, likely because I knew what awaited me. This book is t...

First Page: Historical Romance, Titled Haunted

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously.

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Essex, England 1789

Elsie picked another flower. Her fist was full of them already, but she didn't want to return home. She squinted up at the sky. Already it was darkening, and that meant her brother would be home soon.

Mother had the illness again. It would be loud ...

REVIEW: Angel of Darkness by Cynthia Eden

Dear Ms. Eden:

The opening scene of the book is intriguing because it doomed a character to a horrible fate, or so he believes.  Keenan is an angel of death and he has been dispatched to harvest the soul of Nicole St. James.  He finds her suffering a horrific attack at the hands of a vampire and Keenan not only hesitates but transfers his death touch to the vampire thus violating his two thousand year charge.  One mistake plummets Keenan into the ranks of the Fallen, his wings stripped and...

Shopping, Reading, and Renaming the Podcast: 16 December 2011

It's a new podcast! WITH a WHOLE NEW NAME! YAY!

Seriously. Sorry for the delay. Blame iTunes. We had to change the name of the podcast because iTunes didn't like the word "Bitches." I cannot imagine why!

If you subscribe via iTunes, please UPDATE your LINKS: The New iTunes link is live here.

Yes, the episodes are all out of order – I have NO idea why – but if you note we've numbered the episodes while I try to figure out what the hell iTunes wants now to make them display in order.

This week I...