Juno Books

Banned Books Week started Saturday (September 27–October 4, 2008) Banned Books Week 2008 is the 27th annual celebration of the freedom to read. This freedom, not only to choose what we read, but also to select from a full array of possibilities. Sponsors include the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, and the National Association of College Stores. Banned Books Week is also endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.

“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”
—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (Who will watch the watchers?)—Juvenal

I was super busy at Context 21, but it was a good con. Great to see Matt Cook again and have Linda Robertson as a traveling companion. Meet some good new folks, too, including Tanya Huff and Elizabeth Vaughn. And, of course, I talked. A lot.

The cats are still somewhat disgruntled (TWO weekends away? Where ARE my priorities? They never listen when you try to explain about earning their kibble…) The email (only around 2500 messages) tamed. A few nagging emails to Sean…hey, he had none for three days!

I note in the news that DC Comics is shutting down Minx, a line of graphic novels targeting teen girls, a little more than a year after the first book in the line went on sale. Minx will cease publication in January 2009. Minx was launched with tremendous publicity anda marketing budget of $125,000 to expose the books to teen girls. There’s lots of speculation about the failure gathered at PW’s Comics Blog by Heidi MacDonald, including her own early question about a lack of female creators for the line. (Which I mentioned, too, at the time.)

FRI 6 PM Opening Ceremonies Toledo 1 & 2
Welcome to Context 21! A brief introduction to what is going on for Context this year.

FRI 7 PM Writing Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance Dayton
Not SciFi, not Fantasy, what is it when you deal with telepaths, kinetics, precogs, and so on? And how do you WRITE it?

FRI 10 PM The Rise of the Medium Press Cleveland
Advances in Publishing have provided mid ground publishing access, between the huge houses and the University presses. Our visiting publishers and editors discuss this new market.

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One-on-One Meetings/Workshop

10:00am
10:20am
10:40am: BREAK
11:00am
11:20am
11:40am
12:00pm: BREAK
12:20pm
12:40pm
1:00-2:25: LUNCH

SAT 2:30 PM Ask The Editor Toledo II
An interview and opportunity to ask your burning questions on why one piece is published, another is not…

4:00-4:20: BREAK
One-on-One Meetings/Workshop
4:20
4:40

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SUN 10 AM Strong Women Characters Toledo 2
Women are no longer damsels in distress - writers are creating much more powerful female characters - what is the evolution here?

SUN 1 PM Are Awards Necessary? Toledo 1
Do authors need self-actualization? Or do the publishing houses need them?

SUN 3:30 PM Closing Ceremonies Toledo I

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CONTEXT 21

You might want to read the full review on this. I’ve never seen this review source, but this review reflects a great deal of what I, personally, felt about this novel:

I love romance, mystery and a little touch of the paranormal in my fiction. Lillian Stewart Carl delivers just enough of each in her 367 page novel, Blackness Tower. She also adds something a little extra, a relentless knowledge of myth and history that lend the book a feel of reality.

Some paranormal books feel light, almost silly because absolutely everything is made up. Like those novels are made from fog and the reader can see right through it. Blackness Tower feels like the solid stones of Scottish buildings; big, mysterious and awe-inspiring….People who like folklore and want strong characters with separate personalities to surprise and mystify you will want to pick up this novel. I didn’t know where the plot was going until the very end when it was revealed in gasp-worthy fashion. I would definitely read more of Lillian Stewart Carl’s work. If you need a book to curl up with for the coming Autumn, I would highly recommend Blackness Tower

WRITER’S COMFY CORNER

Well, though not really MY fault, I’ve once again missed noting TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY on the 19th. I do hope the rest of you celebrated.

I’ve made it home, do have power and cable and have started downloading a week’s worth of email. I’ll also have to tackle a refrigerator and freezer of spoiled food.

I arrived home after midnight last night after a 12 hour drive to find city crews finally clearing trees from my street. Not my yard, but the street is passable after a week.

Although I received a phone call telling me my power was restored Friday evening, I am no longer in Akron. I am out of town attending a wedding as previously scheduled. I no longer have a laptop and, since I wasn’t expecting to lose power for over five days, I made no preparations to get access to material stored on my main computer at home.

I had no chance to contact key folks on many matters to even let them know I was (a) without power and (b) leaving town. So I am sure some chaos is ensuing. Use of my cell phone was limited last week as — right — without power I had to recharge the battery when and where I could.

My access to hundreds of emails is not complete at this point. Some accounts I am getting to from Web access; others I am not. So, I’m not going to try to reply to anything until I am home and, I hope, have full access.

I hope to enjoy the wedding and, I suppose, work, etc. will still be there when I get to it.

Paula been without power since Sunday. Could be days before she has power. Sorry! Who knew hurricanes hit Ohio?

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JUNO BOOKS NEWS
09.11.08
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Still in School
Book News
EBook News
Thither and Yon
Submissions
Freebies
Sneak…uh…Cocktail?
Quotation

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STILL IN SCHOOL

It’s back to school time and I don’t know about you, but I never got my summer reading list finished. At least I don’t have to write any essays on them.

We’ve been doing mass market paperbacks for an entire year now and Juno Books has been in full swing for two years. MATTERS OF THE BLOOD is our twelfth book in twelve months. And, although we have no written exams, everyone involved with Juno has learned a great deal in the last two years. Not that we don’t have constant tests…we are just not always sure whether we are passing them or not.

If you are new to Juno Books or been with us from the beginning, thanks for your interest and support. We hope we are making the grade with you.

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BOOK NEWS

NIGHTS OF SIN should be reaching stores any day now, but if you just can’t wait, we do have copies for sale directly from the publisher. (http://www.wildsidepress.com/Nights-of-Sin-by-Matthew-Cook-MM-PB_p_31-186.html) You can also read an excerpt and find out more from the new NIGHTS OF SIN Web page. (http://juno-books.com/nights-of-sin.html.

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The MATTERS OF THE BLOOD mass market paperback is printed, but it will be close to the end of the month before it hits store shelves. Again, you can order directly from us if you just can’t wait another moment. (http://www.wildsidepress.com/Matters-of-the-Blood-by-Maria-Lima-mm-pb_p_54-109.html) There’s an updated Web page for it, too! (http://juno-books.com/matters.html)

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I can’t keep up with all the SEABORN-related material Chris Howard is involved in! But HE can — see EVERYTHING SEABORN (http://www.saltwaterwitch.com) for, well, everything SEABORN from skateboards to fonts to reviews!

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STACIA KANE has been brave enough to post some unedited “outtakes” that didn’t make the final version of PERSONAL DEMONS: http://www.staciakane.com/Deleted_Scenes.html.

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EBOOK NEWS

The e-book version of NIGHTS OF SIN should be up on Fictionwise next Monday (September 15). The e-book of MATTERS OF THE BLOOD has been revised and it, too, should be available then. (Juno Books on Fictionwise: http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/junobookseBooks.htm)

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THITHER AND YON

Although I haven’t been anywhere lately, Juno Books was represented one way or another in the last few months at Readercon, ComicCon, Romance Writers of America Con, and Dragon*Con. I’ll be the Editor GoH at Context 21 in Columbus, Ohio Sept 26-28. Author MATTHEW COOK and new Juno author LINDA ROBERTSON will be there, too. Online Registration is open until September 22. (http://www.contextsf.org/).

No WORLD FANTASY CON for me this year (in the last 13 years I’ve only missed one WFC, London 1997), but publisher SEAN WALLACE and author MARIA LIMA will be there. (http://www.worldfantasy.org/)

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SUBMISSIONS

Although we remain closed to submissions, anyone who submitted up until June 15 should have some sort of reply by now. If you submitted between January and June 15 of this year and never got a reply, you might check to see if I ever got it. Unless I’ve communicated with you directly (you know who you are!) anything submitted after June 15 was deleted and not read.

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FREEBIES

We now have PDF versions of our 2008 “samplers” available to download:

– Blood Bargain Sampler (first five chapters): http://juno-books.com/bloodbargain-sampler.pdf

– Brimstone Kiss Sampler (first six chapters): http://juno-books.com/brimstonekiss-sampler.pdf

– Seaborn Sample (first seven chapters): http://juno-books.com/seaborn-sampler2.pdf

The EXTRAS page (audio, video, downloads, etc.) has been updated, so you might check it out and see if you’ve missed any fun free stuff (http://juno-books.com/downloads.html).

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SNEAK…uh…COCKTAIL?

I’m sure you recall the infamous Albino Vampire cocktail invented by Carole Nelson Douglas’s character Delilah Street in DANCING WITH WEREWOLVES. (http://juno-books.com/albino_vampire_cocktail.html) Delilah’s back in BRIMSTONE KISS (October) and she’s invented a HOT new drink (and we do mean “hot”). Be the first on your block (or circle of Hell) to give it a try (and let us know if you do)! Here’s the recipe:

Brimstone Kiss Cocktail
Invented in Brimstone Kiss

“Sounds like something you’d sip on all night long and I’d knock back in couple slugs.”- Rick Blaine/Humphrey Bogart CinSim in Brimstone Kiss

2 jiggers Inferno Pepper Pot vodka
1 jigger DeKuyper “Hot Damn!” Hot Cinnamon Schnapps
2 jiggers Alize Red Passion
jalapeno pepper slice (optional)
2 ounces Champagne (for second version)

Version 1: Pour all ingredients into a martini shaker with ice. Shake gently. Pour into a martini glass garnished with jalapeño pepper slice. A hell of a drink!

Version 2: Pour all ingredients into a tall footed glass filled with ice. Stir well. Top off with two ounces of your favorite Champagne. A perfect frothy but potent brunch libation that might lead to pleasant damnation.

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QUOTATION

“This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book — it makes a very poor doorstop.” — Alfred Hitchcock, British filmmaker and producer (1899 - 1980)

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JUNO BOOKS NEWS
copyright (c) 2008, Juno Books and Paula Guran
All Rights Reserved
Written and produced by Paula Guran
editor@juno-books.com
www.juno-books.com

In a front-page article today, The Wall Street Journal detailed vehement fan protest against Warner Bros.’s decision to move the air date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to next July from this November. Fans are protesting in a variety of ways, including through an online petition, YouTube videos and a barrage of e-mails to studio staff.

“The withering attacks over a family-friendly franchise like Potter show how the nature of fan uprisings has grown increasingly hostile,” the Journal wrote. “Thanks to the Web, angry fans can arm themselves with the latest information and speedily deliver profane brain dumps straight into executive email boxes. . . . Warner Bros. is in some ways a victim of the same forces that drove its success. The five prior Potter films have grossed almost $4.5 billion in world-wide box-office revenue, making the series the biggest franchise in history. In the past, Warner Bros. has invited staffers of Potter fan Web sites to movie premieres to help whip up hysteria ahead of upcoming movie releases. With its transgression, Warner Bros. inadvertently unleashed this powerful force against itself.”

As a Lucasfilm executive said, “Sure, [Warner Bros.] have a problem on their hands, but they are also seeing the passion of their fans. The real problem comes when you have fans that don’t give a damn.”

And, as BusinessWeek and others recently reported, there has been some vociferous fan backlash over disappointment with Stephanie Meyers’ TWILIGHT, the third in a series that’s popularity was greatly fueled by Internet marketing.

Meanwhile romance-publishing giant Harlequin is now eliciting feedback from fans through a new site, TellHarlequin.com. According to a press release it is “an online advisory panel designed to enhance Harlequin’s relationship with its readers through an ongoing dialogue whose insights will help guide the evolution of the publisher’s business and allow Harlequin to publish the best in women’s fiction. Participants on the Tell Harlequin panel can make their voices heard on topics such as cover designs, new miniseries ideas, new series concepts, new promotional ideas and more. The staff at Harlequin will then consider Tell Harlequin suggestions along with the publisher’s own plans as it develops editorial for the future. Contributors to Tell Harlequin receive free Harlequin novels and sneak peeks at upcoming books, participate in entertaining online surveys and exchange opinions and ideas with other readers.”

Soliciting reader reaction and feedback is not new, of course, but, with the power of the Internet, it is becoming larger and more prevalent for many publishers. Harlequin, and the romance genre as a whole, has always been much more responsive to reader input and demand than others in publishing as a whole.

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Ultimately, the most telling response comes from the pocketbook. For publishers, though, the marketplace is already overcrowded with choices and the playing field is far from level. As an example, we’ve had tremendous positive feedback on CLOCKWORK HEART — yet one chain refused to carry it entirely (the same chain, I might mention, that insisted we change the original cover design). Juno lacks the clout (and the marketing money) to make a bigger splash. Even when we do seem to please readers, we sometimes can’t reach enough pocketbooks.

A quandary, yes?

I try to refrain from being too personal here, but I wanted to note that due to a death in the family and some unexpected mishegoss and the emotional tumult that followed pretty much laid waste to my productivity. I’m trying to get back on track now, but it is a little like swimming upstream with weights on your ankles — the effort itself seems to expend more energy than the progress is worth. Nu, I’m feeling a little verklempt, things have been meshugas, but I’ll live.

(Actually “farklemt” seems to be the correct spelling for “verklempt”. Who woulda thunk?)