Jane Litte's Blog, page 985

Dear Author's Slightly Modified New Look

More users than ever before are accessing the internet via mobile devices and frankly our mobile set up was not cutting it. We moved to a responsive theme. The idea behind this is that no matter what size your browser is, the content is generally the same and easy to read. Try it. Resize your browser and take a look at how the content reflows.

This way, you get all the features of a full size website no matter what device you use to look at Dear Author. We had to recategorize our menu so...

REVIEW: Crooked Hearts by Patricia Gaffney

Dear Ms. Gaffney,

Back when I was devouring your backlist, in my early days as a romance reader, I avoided Crooked Hearts at first. I had very rigid notions of what I liked and what I didn't like, and "Western" and "humorous" were on my "do not like" list, as far as romance went. I was pretty stubborn in those days; it took me a long time to realize that I valued good writing far, far more than setting or angst level. Anyway, as it turned out, Crooked Hearts is not exactly a Western, and...

All Romance EBooks Clarification

All Romance eBooks emailed me to ask if I had any questions regarding their new policy regarding ebook categorization. Of course I did and they responded. The entirety is posted below with permission:

1. You are creating a new area for certain types of books. How will readers access those books?

We're currently in the process of concluding a project that was initiated several months ago. What we are actually doing is splitting the current Erotica category into "Erotica" and "Erotica Romance"...

Debut Print Book Feature: Vengeance Born by Kylie Griffin

I've had some concerns by readers who are primarily print readers that the coverage at Dear Author has been too focused on ebooks. When I asked the readers what they were interested in seeing, they responded that they would like to know more about print debut authors. We developed a little questionnaire and every Wednesday at 10:00 AM CST (as long as we have content) we'll post the questionnaire answers along with links to the author's site and a buy link to her book. I hope this helps...

Dear Bitches, Smart Authors Podcast, Episode No. 20. The Mysterious Hymen

We're back! And it's podcast time – wherein we talk about what YOU think the misplaced hymen should be called.

We also decided that you should pick the winner, so make your choice from the selection below and let us know what you think is the best entry. Please note: there were some late entries (heh heh) to the contest that don't appear in the podcast but do appear in the voting.

This week's music was provided by Sassy Outwater, and this track is called "Dragons," by a Parisian group called...

REVIEW: The Scholomance by R. Lee Smith

Dear Ms. Smith,

After reading the very compelling Heat, I had to pick up another one of your books. While I mentioned that Olivia was not for me, you commented that I might enjoy The Scholomance. I purchased it and it was highly enjoyable, but not in a fuzzy, feel-good sort of way. I think this was more an admirable, fascinating book more than anything else. I'm not sure I loved it, but I enjoyed the read immensely. The Scholomance is, like your other books, a very multi-layered story. On one ...

REVIEW: Wars of the Heart by Inari Gray

Dear Ms. Gray,

When I read the blurb for Wars of the Heart, I was utterly confused. Let me explain; or better yet let me sum up the blurb, which goes something like this:

Katherine Morgan is a diplomat from Earth, she thinks that someone is out to destroy Earth's Ozone Shield, and goes to the Peace Keeping Intergalactic Council (PKIC) for both assistance and an investigation. But the PKIC can only offer up someone else's muscle. Of course, the muscle is King Ja-el Lamar, the guy whose heart...

Tuesday News: New Nook Pricing, Kindle Rumors, Reader Data, and Paypal Clarification

Sarah Wendell attended Tools of Change and has two round up post.

Post 1
Post 2.  This post had interesting information about Goodreads.  One thing that caught my eye was this: "Angela James asked during the Q&A what the minimum threshold of ratings a book needed to have in order to be added to the recommendation engine. Chandler didn't know the exact figure, but guessed it was maybe about 100 ratings."

The NYTimes obituary of John Fairfax was being sent around twitter yesterday because...

REVIEW: The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman

Dear Ms. Richman,

The saying that truth is stranger than fiction certainly applies here. If I had not read the "Author's Notes" at the end of the book, I would have finished the book thinking that you'd come up with a doozy of a plot that stretched credulity. A young man and woman who find love in 1930s Prague only to be separated by the vicissitudes of war who then, believing the other dead, remarry only to find each other decades and an ocean away? This is something I would expect from a...

Behind the Scenes Feature: From the Brief to the Book, A Writer's Perspective on Continuity Series

Yesterday we had a guest post from Lucy Gilmore, the editor of the Harlequin Presents line from Mills & Boon about how connected series, like The Notorious Wolfes, gets created. Caitlin Crews shared with us the Bible that the authors are given to create the series. Today each author shares a bit about their story and how they wrote their individual but connected books.

A NIGHT OF SCANDAL by Sarah Morgan

[image error]The first glimpse of the 'bible' always induces a mixture of awe and panic, particularly in ...