Jane Litte's Blog, page 1046

REVIEW: The Sugarless Plum by Zippora Karz

Dear Ms. Karz,

First of all, this is a great title! I didn't grow up wishing to be a ballerina. In fact I never even took dance classes of any kind when I was growing up. And since, when I'm on the dance floor, I can only dream of being as graceful as a hippo on roller skates, it's probably a good thing. I'm sure my efforts would have turned any dance teacher to serious drink. But I love to watch those who can dance do it and that goes double for ballet. You say that being a great ballerina...

What DA January is reading

As promised, I'm working my way through a bunch of Indie/Self-Published reads right now. I have a few reviews in the hopper. Those should be going up in the next few weeks. A few are things I've liked, but nothing I've fallen in love with. I picked several of the current books on my Kindle simply because of the number of positive reviews, just to see where my tastes line up with those on Amazon.

Here's what's on my Kindle this week:

Claimed by Evangeline Anderson – This one has a nice cover...

How Good Does a Book Have to Be At 99 cents?

The 99 cent book is becoming a mainstay of the publishing landscape.  Pioneered by self published authors, the 99 cent price may be reshaping customer expectations.  John Locke, the eighth author to achieve Kindle Millionaire status, once famously told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that at $.99, the other authors have to be 10 times (or more) better than he.

"When I saw that highly successful authors were charging $9.99 for an e-book, I thought that if I can make a profit at 99...

REVIEW: Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid by Maureen Driscoll

Dear Ms. Driscoll:

When you sent me your book back in June, it was one of the better pitches I had received for a book review.  When I started reading it, however, I had some real concerns.  I want to point out in the beginning of this review that I am no historian.  What I know about the regency period, I've gleaned from books, message boards, and the random interesting article to which I've been directed.  Thus, when I read a book set in the Regency period and it dings my weak history...

First Page: Historical m/m

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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Lucius Sentius Camillianus, Camillianus to his friends, Lucius to his family, armed with urgent news, marched across the city with the determination of a legionnaire. One of his father's secretaries lagged behind him, wood-bound note tablet in hand, a pen case...

DA/SBTB Bestseller List

Week ending August 17, 2011

Wild and Steamy by Carolyn Crane Jill Myles Meljean Brook Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Hearts Aflame by Johanna Lindsey Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Venetia by Georgette Heyer Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Frederica by Georgette Heyer Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Arabella by Georgette Heyer Amazon | nook | Sony | Kobo Masqueraders by...

REVIEW: Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer

Dear Readers,

For my next Heyer book, I thought I read one new to me which means pretty much all the Regencies. Or all the mysteries. Or most of the … gosh, I have a lot of Heyer catching up to do. Anyway, what attracted me to "Black Sheep" was the information that the main characters are all commoners. Yep, nary an aristo among the main characters and the titled characters got their filthy lucre in *gasp* trade. Though the well connected among the Bath set don't hold that against them.

[image error]When...

REVIEW: Intervamption by Kristin Miller

There are possibly spoilers in this review. I have done my level best to avoid them. Apologies in advance.

Dear Ms. Miller,

[image error]I decided to pick up your book because it sounded cool and slightly different from other things in the Vampire/Shifter paranormal genre and I'm a sucker for cool and different. Slade is a Therian (shapeshifter) assassin that is sent to infiltrate a local Vampire group. His mentor, Dylan, is gorgeous and he knows he should hate her on sight, but he just can't. Dylan...

Friday Midday Links: Book Scanning for $1 and Brand Loyalty

Limecello has been hosting a charity drive on her blog and it ends this Sunday.  Various authors have committed to donating money to the famine relief effort in exchange for comments.  You can read more about it here.

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Sarah and I are conducting a reader panel at RT in 2012. It's very cool because the readers are the panelists. We'll be choosing the panelists from those readers who sign up for the workshop. I'm pretty excited about this and hope it is as awesome as we have envisioned it...

Dear Bitches, Smart Authors Podcast, episode #7

Back in 2009, Sarah Wendell and I did a few podcasts about romance novels. We're BACK. And the audio is NOT AS GOOD. (We don't know what we are doing . . . yet)

But we're back, and we're talking about what we're reading, and which Harlequin Presents we both enjoy. Plus, we discuss at length a historical romance that's coming out in December that we both adored and cannot wait to share with readers.

You can subscribe to our feed at Feedburner or at iTunes or  here.

Future podcasts will involve...