Friday, February 18, 2011

Market News for the Week

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you guys had a great week. Thank God it's Friday! I've been buried under a pile of never ending pages to write and revisions to do both for school and for agents/editors. Slowly, I'm managing to dig myself out.

As a result, I've not been keeping up on the reviews I promised. I apologize for this. During the winter break, when I created the review schedule, I overestimated my abilities to juggle reading for the blog on top of school reading as well as all my writing and homework. Since I've been unable to keep my promises, I'm going to change the format a bit. I will continue to post reviews, however, they won't be once every Friday. In the left hand sidebar that currently lists the upcoming reviews, I will only post a review date if I'm absolutely certain I will be finished with the book by then. I won't review a book unless I've finished reading it, so the reviews will be less frequent, but still there.

That aside, I have some market news for the week! Here's some tidbits about what's currently happening in the publishing industry.

First off, we've got a large trend in ebook availability at public libraries. However, while this is good news for most who have ereaders and would like to borrow from the library, Kindle users have been set back. The Kindle format makes it incompatible with the library systems ebook loans. Therefore, if you have a Kindle, you're missing out on borrowing ebooks from the library. Only those who have other ereaders such as the Nook, Sony, and Kobo will be able to use these databases. You can check out the Ebook Library Trend by clicking the link.

In more ebook news, 2011 has shown a sharp increase in sales of ereaders and ebooks to the younger generations. We're talking kids around ten or eleven years old were asking for ereaders for Christmas. Most of these wishes must have been granted given the sharp increase. This is also good news for young adult authors looking to break into ebooks. The young readers are causing an increase in the sales of ebook YA. You can check out the Younger Generation's Interest in Ereaders by clicking the link.

In shorter news, debates are being sparked about the standard of royalties for ebooks. In an Author's Guild article, they claim that publishing houses are making the most off the ebook revolution, and author's are receiving less royalties and are also less likely to make that sales quota for their royalty increase, etc. For more information on the Author Guild's Take on E-Royalties, click the link.

In further news, i-Pad users and others who have enjoyed the Apple i-bookstore have seen a major setback. While Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google all allow their ebooks to be read on virtually any device (computer, cell phone, etc), Apples products are limited to only Apple brand electronics. No offense to you Apple lovers, but this is yet again another reason why I personally don't buy Apple products. You can find info on Apple's Limited App Store by following the link.

And last and well...no offense...but somewhat least, is Borders. As I'm sure most of you have heard, they've dug themselves a hole they can't get out of, and at this point, bankruptcy is inevitable. You can check out the Business End of Border's Bankruptcy through the link.

That's all for this week folks. Don't forget to enter the Pleasures Untold Giveaway! I only have one entry so far and I'm giving away TWO SETS of both Eve of Samhain and Pleasures Untold by Lisa Sanchez. That means two people will each win two books. But yet only one entry? Hurry up and get to it, people! For more info on the giveaway, click HERE.

Also, don't forget our regular blog hops. Have a great weekend! ;-)


This week's question for the blog hop is: what is your favorite sci-fi novel?

My favorite sci-fi series hands down is The Hunger Games. Now, none of you give me crap and say that it's not sci-fi, because it is. Also, I don't want to hear anyone calling it post-apocalyptic. Post apocalypse implies that the apocalypse, as described in the bible, has occurred. The Hunger Games has no religion involved whatsoever; it is not post-apocalyptic. The Hunger Games is dystopian. Okay, I've gotten on and off my little soap box now. Saying a book is a different genre than what it actually is, is a BIG pet peeve of mine lol, and I've seen a lot of people doing this to HG lately. Have a good weekend!

18 comments:

  1. Just hopping by...I've never been interested in Sci-Fi, but I'm open to anything :) Maybe I'll take a look at The Hunger Games . I just got back into the world of reading, and now I'm totally hooked on Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy. Trying to expand my horizon a bit, so I'm reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett right now - so far so good :)

    Hop by my blog - Embrace Your Oddities Happy Reading!

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  2. Mandy Lum--Thanks for stopping by! I'm not normally a huge sci-fi reader either, but The Hunger Games definitely appeals to be sci-fi and non-sci-fi readers. It's very good. I love urban fantasy and paranormal romance as well--as you can tell from the blog lol. Neil Gaiman is a great author to read. Have a great weekend! ;-)

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  3. Just my two cents, I don't think post-apocalypse has ANYTHING to do with religion. The apocalypse can happen from anything, whether it is religious, virus, zombies, technology, nuclear, etc.
    So when I say post-apocalyptic, I mean the end of the world as we know it.

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  4. Also, I'll enter the Pleasures Untold Giveaway ;D
    Britt, brittanymarczak@gmail.com
    :D weee!

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  5. Britt--Thanks for entering the giveaway!

    That is the problem with how people currently define post-apocalyptic as a genre of fiction, movies, etc. Just because the world as we know it ends, doesn't mean the apocalypse occurred. The apocalypse is a term that's derived directly from the Christian bible, even though other religions have similar concepts of how the world will end. The apocalypse has only begun after the Second Coming of Jesus. But obviously, this doesn't happen in most fiction or movies that claim to be post-apocalyptic. True post-apocalyptic fiction is something like The Left Behind Series or what you've read of HOA, where the apocalypse, as outlined in the bible, either has occurred or is occurring--or Constantine, if you're going for movies.

    If post-apocalyptic was characterized as 'the end of the world as we know it' than that would make ANY fiction about the future post-apocalyptic, which obviously isn't true. Society changes every day, so society as we currently know it, could be completely different within ten years, but that doesn't mean the apocalypse has occurred. Example, we're living in a totally different society than we did in the 1800's, but the apocalypse hasn't occurred.

    I understand that's how the term is used, but just because most people use it that way doesn't make it any less inaccurate. On a different note, even if I used your definition of post-apocalyptic, The Hunger Games still wouldn't be in that genre. It's dystopian, because dystopian fiction takes elements of current society and focuses on the function of a future civilization and uses it as a warning against some modern trend or regime.

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  6. Hey Kaitlyn, just stopping by on follow.
    I really enjoy Sci-fi, come see my fave book.
    Have a terrific weekend!!!
    See ya!
    Dana
    Readaholics Anonymous

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  7. Dana--Thanks for stopping by! I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but I'm becoming more fond of it lately. Thanks again for following! Have a great weekend!

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  8. here's mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-book-blog-follow-friday_18.html

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  9. Tribute Books Mama--Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

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  10. Just stopping by to share some Friday blog love! My favourite Sci-fi books are The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Don't forget to join in the current Read My Review which has a Love/Romance theme (see the link at the top of my blog). Hope you have a great weekend!
    Tasha @ A Trillian Books xxx

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  11. Tasha--Thanks for stopping by! I've never read Hitchhiker's Guide, but I've heard it's very good. Have a great weekend!

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  12. Hi happy weekend! I haven't read too many Sci Fi books but watched several movies'Star Wars

    My FF and Blog Hops

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  13. I can't say i've read any Sci-Fi books although I do have Across the Universe staring at me waiting to be read and I do have The Hunger Games on my TBR

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  14. Book Flame--I haven't read the book for Across the Universe, but I've seen the movie; you mean the one about the 60's and the Beatles, right? You should definitely bump The Hunger Games to the top of your TBR list. They're amazing. You can find reviews on them under the Previous Review page or by clicking the link titled Dystopian on the side bar. Have a great weekend!

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  15. Newest follower here via the Friday hop. I am also a new contemporary romance writer and reader of almost everything.(except SCI FI. Sorry) Hope you stop by and check out my blog. Happy hopping!

    PS You do know the Kindle app can be downloaded to any computer and the Ipad, right? When I switched from Kindle to Ipad, my entire library came with me.

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  16. Hopping through. I hope that the downfall of Border's will be good for independent booksellers, but generally I think any bookstore closing is bad for the book business. If few people have access to books, fewer people will be published - and then fewer people will have access to books. A vicious circle.
    My Hop

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  17. BLHMistress--Thanks for stopping by! I've seen the Star Wars movies and while they were entertaining, they were never one of my favorites. Have a great weekend!

    EKelley--Thanks for stopping by and thank you for following! I do know that the Kindle App can be put onto i-Pad and other Apple devices. However, as a result of this, Apple is looking to take part of Amazon's sales commission, which would be very bad for Amazon. So unless some sort of deal is made, Apple will make it to where only i-Books can be read on their devices. Have a great weekend!

    Alison--Thanks for stopping by! I definitely understand where you're coming from. I'm also all for supporting independent bookstores and I hope they receive business. Unfortunately, I think it's more likely that Borders buyers will switch over to other large chains, like Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, or Amazon. Independent bookstores just can't compete with the larger stores' low prices. =(

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  18. Paranormal Opinion--Thanks for following! =D

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