Juno Books

Okay, so I’ve been busy already.  Just a quickie for now.

Romantic Times Book Review’s monthly newsletter notes:

Paranormals are as popular as ever and in the last year or more we added urban fantasy to the section name since more and more of these non-romance paranormals were popping up. In the new issue we noticed that the number of paranormal and urban fantasy books were just about equal in size, so in the August issue each will have its own section so that you can easily find your favorite subgenre.

This could be good or bad.

The glass half-empty view: It could mean there are now too many paranormal/urbans being published. There’s always the publishing fear that you can “kill” a genre by flooding the market with too-many (especially if they are not very good) titles.

The glass half-full view: It could mean it is now well-established as a genre unto itself and continues to gain new readers and is keeping older readers with new titles and by developing further as its own turf with non-formulaic novels and new ideas from new authors.

Either way at least it is not the What glass? point of view. That’s the one where you ignore the stuff altogether and keep thinking that science fiction sells more than it really does…

…is now posted on the About page.

Of course I know that genre gets no respect…and although the “Great Cross-Genre Urban Fantasy Paranormal Whatever Manifesto” has been swirling around in my mind (yes, rather like a toilet that doesn’t flush well) for a couple of years now, I’ve never written it because (1) nobody much cares but me and (2) success is better than analysis.

But this New York Times article on Charlaine Harris irritated me twice. (Overall, I was not irritated, but we will get to that.) First, noting Point #2 above: more power to Ms. Harris, a delightful lady who deserves all the moolah and glory now coming her way. Second, my protests:

• “Or, as she put it more succinctly, with a cackle that evoked a paranormal creature…” Oh puhleezzz. I know print journalism has hit hard times, but this is the NYTimes and the writer and editor couldn’t resist this cutesy play on the “cackle like a witch” cliche? For the record, I’ve only been around her a couple of times, but I’ve never heard Harris cackle — guffaw, chortle, laugh out loud, yes, but cackle?
• “…Although writers like Laurell K. Hamilton had staked a niche in the paranormal genre, it was not the booming category that Stephenie Meyer has made it today.” AAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHH! Noting, again, Point #2 above, I appreciate Ms. Meyer immensely. I appreciate Ms. Hamilton even more, however, because her success did, indeed, help pave the way for what I feel is now its own genre and what others feel is at least a substantial subgenre. Meyer is, I suppose, part of that genre — although one could argue that since her books were marketed for teens the the New York Times shouldn’t even consider the books are “real” bestsellers. After all, it was the NYTimes that decided to banish “children’s books” from the adult fiction bestseller list after J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books began taking up too much room. As for paranormal genre — is that what we’re calling it this week?

What I did like about the article is that they mentioned:”…Ace Books, a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Penguin Group USA, bought the manuscript in 2000. ‘The voice is terrific,’ said Ginjer Buchanan, editor in chief of Ace. ‘And I liked the setting. I think it’s an interesting and different milieu, and she portrays it in a way that’s fresh and understandable, but not stereotypical.’”

(Allow me to note Ms. Buchanan ALSO discovered and stuck with Hamilton.)

And at least this bit got in:

Ms. Harris wishes the literary establishment would pay more attention. “I think there is a place for what I do,” she said. “And I think it’s honorable.”
With their message of accepting diversity, Ms. Harris said she wrote the Sookie novels in part as “a metaphor for gays in America.” But, she added: “I am not a crusader. If you need a good adventure or a vacation from your problems, then I am your woman.”

Nice article on Lori Devoti and Amazon Ink –“Local tattoo parlor is home base for character in new fantasy book” in 77 Square (”the definitive arts, culture and entertainment guide for Madison, Wis., and the surrounding area”) — read it!

Dru Pagliassotti’s CLOCKWORK HEART has won the 2008 Romantic Time BookReviews award for Best Small Press Paranormal Romance/Futuristic. CLOCKWORK HEART is not a paranormal romance or a futuristic romance. We called it a “steampunk romance” and I suppose you could go back to the original definition of “urban fantasy” as it involves a fantastic city…

Escape to the fantastic and captivating three-tiered city Pagliassotti has created. The plot is intricate and has multilayered characters who perplex, entertain and gratify. This a wonderfully written book — one for the keeper shelf. (4.5 stars) — RTimes

…a fascinating, fast-paced and delightful novel in Clockwork Heart. The setting is intriguing and unique, melding the best of steampunk with the wonders of high fantasy, and is peopled with a rich blend of characters from all walks of life…Pagliasotti has brought forth a terrific novel, one that embodies a bold new direction in the fantasy genre. For those who enjoy the work of China Mieville or D.M. Cornish, here is another name to seek out on the bookshelves.”–SFRevu

Clockwork Heart is one of the most enjoyable fantasies I have read in a long time; I didn’t want the book to end. Clockwork Heart has everything you might want in a book-a strong girl hero, romance, intrigue, mystery, suspense, great humor, believable characters, strong writing, all in a fantasy setting….Clockwork Heart has just the right mix of fantasy and romance, with sprinkles of mystery and intrigue. There is so much to enjoy, here. For an entertaining, absorbing read, one you won’t want to end, pick this book up. Clockwork Heart is the best YA fantasy-the best book-I have read in a long time.–Teen Book Reviews

You can read more reviews here.

I’ve been out of town a few days — to Washington DC for my son Andrew’s graduation — so I have some catching up to do…in lots of ways! I’ll start catching up with some posts here.

And, ahem, as any good mother should… Andrew’s degree is from The George Washington University, a BA in International Affairs with three Minors — History, Philosophy and Political Science — Double Concentration in International Politics & Europe/Eurasia Region
Summa Cum Laude with Special Honors from the Elliott School of International Affairs final GPA 3.93) Phi Beta Kappa – Alpha of DC (as a junior and senior), Golden Key – International Honor Society, National Residence Hall Honorary- Anne E. Webster Chapter, 2008 Service Excellence – Student Staff Award, 2007 & 2008 House Staff Member of the Year 2006 – 2007, 2007 – 2008, & 2008 – 2009 Outstanding Academic Achievement Awardee
AND
perhaps most importantly, he did all this while working two jobs, and, his senior year held a third unpaid job — an internship in Senator Sherrod Brown’s office. GWU is one of the most expensive schools in the country and he paid his own way completely these last three years through scholarships and hard work.

I meant to have a photo to add to the bragging, but forgot to get one off my younger son’s laptop…maybe later.

Highlisghts from Publishers Weekly report on the International Digital Publishing Forum’s annual Digital Book conference:

• Obvious theme: the importance of both women readers and the romance genre
• Women identified as the prototypical e-book reader, while the romance genre—with hundreds of new releases each month—is just as robust in the digital publishing sector as it is print
• Digital Rights Management—and even the notion of e-book piracy—portrayed as more of a problem to the developing e-book market than e-book piracy itself
• Angela James of Samhaim Publishing outlined an e-publishing strategy that entails “quality,” no author advances (but royalties of 30% to 40%) and “no DRM, ever,” with multiple online distribution channels (including its own online bookstore), lots of online consumer feedback and pervasive marketing through social media, i.e., Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Panel on What Consumers Want: blogger Sarah Wendell of the Smart Bitches Trashy Novels blog (9 million pages views in April), a champion of romance fiction, gave a witty presentation on women (“voracious readers”), e-books and desirable e-reading devices (wireless, all formats, nice design, adjustable fonts and no DRM)
• Harlequin director of digital content Malle Vallik said Harlequin publishes more e-books (140 titles) each month than print books, though Harlequin authors demand DRM. “…whatever sells in print sells just as well in digital. Backlist is big and half our sales each month. Readers want interoperability, more titles, nicely designed devices, adjustable fonts and blurbs for fiction.”

In a stunningly unsurprising win, the Children’s Choice Book Awards Author of the Year prize was awarded to Stephenie Meyer for her novel, “Breaking Dawn.” Winners were chosen in six categories, broken down by age groups–220,000 online votes were cast by children around the country. The awards ceremony celebrated the Children’s Book Week which began May 11 and runs through May 17.

According to the news release the awards ceremony in New York CIty was hosted by National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka (a great hero in MY house, even if all my kids are grown up now) and included the presentation of an Impact Award to Whoopi Goldberg “in recognition of her vast contribution to the promotion of literacy and the love of reading among young people.” (A great heroine in my mind ’cause Whoopi is just so weird. Even Clive Barker hangs out with Whoopi…)

Other winners:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Book Group)

Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year
Spooky Cemeteries by Dinah Williams (Bearport Publishing)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year
Thirteen by Lauren Myracle (Dutton/Penguin Young Readers Group)

Teen Choice Book of the Year
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown and Company)

Illustrator of the Year
Jon J Muth, for Zen Ties (Scholastic Press)

Although I’m still gleaning the info coming out of the BISG Making Information Pay conference of May 7 — sources so far are BISG PowerPoints, Publishers Lunch, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness:

Various mentions were made of reducing trade show budgets/participation, switching from paper to electronic catalogs, use of social networks and a reduction in print advertising. and, of course, budgetary reductions in general and the effects of the recession. There was mention of being more niche-specific, but I’m not sure that was overall or nonfiction only.

Jim King, senior v-p and general manager of Nielsen BookScan had, among other, points:
* Over the past five years, sales of adult nonfiction were up overall 11.1% but declined in 2008
* Sales of adult fiction were up 8.9% during the past five years: general fiction was up 23.3%, graphic novels rose 52.7%, mystery and detective titles were down 12.7%, literary fiction rose 86.1%, historical fiction was up 24.1% and political fiction was up 157.7%.
* Fiction has been “pretty much flat” during the first quarter. General fiction was down 3.4%, romance has risen 1.5%, mystery/detective was down 19.8%.
* “Stephenie Meyer is still driving children’s [book sales].” Children’s fiction was up 10.4%, and children’s nonfiction was up 2.5; children’s book sales were up almost 9% in the quarter.

Kelly Gallagher, v-p of publishing services at R.R. Bowker noted, among other things:
* The average book reader last year was 45 years old. Some 65% of buyers are women, who tend to buy in higher volumes than women.
* Of all Americans 13 or older, 50% bought a book last year. The average age of the most frequent book buyer is in the 50s.
* 31% of all books purchased last year were impulse purchases, and 28% of purchases involved readers planning to buy a book but not knowing
what they wanted. Thus more than 50% of book buys are impulse purchases.
* 41% of all books purchased are bought by people earning less than $35,000, and most people in the U.S. earn less than $35,000.
* The average book reader now spend 15 hours a week online, more than for TV, providing “opportunities to provide information to them online.”
* In the trade, digital book sales grew 125% last year and represent 1.5% of the trade. Seniors are “leading the way” in the purchase of
e-books. Digital book purchases by those 64 and over rose 183% last year. Seniors are also the largest users of Kindles.
* 48% of e-books are still being read on computers. Kindles have a 22% market share; the iPhone has 20% of the market “with less than a year of
having a good e-book app.”
* Last year for the first time online became the “No. 1 selling channel,” and accounted for 21% of sales.
* The fiction market is predominantly female. The one area of fiction in which men predominate is science fiction, where 55% of buyers are male.
* Stephen King’s audience is “middle market.” Sue Grafton appeals to an older, low income audience. Stephenie Meyer appeals mostly to younger, higher-income readers.
* 67% of book buyers who were influenced by book reviews read them online, and 32% did so in print. Overall online ads were the “first
level” of book awareness in 2008–54.1% of buyers of a book became aware of the book through online ads, including banner ads, Google ads and
publishers’ websites.

Dave Thompson, v-p and director of sales analysis at Random House, mentioned these trends in the market:

* Direct mail catalogues continue to be very important for Harlequin in introducing readers to books, and the publisher has done an excellent
job converting book club members and subscribers from catalogues to the web.
* Readers first hear about books most often from “store displays” (44.4%). The second-biggest “awareness driver” already is online (including online ads and e-mails from retailers).
* Kroger’s book of the month program has been very successful.
* Target has a far higher number of female buyers than Barnes & Noble.
* Some 60% of mass market books are bought by people who earn less than $50,000 a year.
* At Costco, some 33% of buyers of adult books earn less than $50,000 a year.
* In grocery stores, 75% of book buyers are women and 83% of the purchases are impulse purchases and 83% of books sold are fiction–all the same demographics for mass market books.

Leigh Watson Healy, chief analyst at Outsell was noted as saying publishers would like to generate revenue of $215,000 per employee and see 13% of revenue come from new products and that price increases are expected be 5% of less over the next two years.

My car didn’t start, but I lived. But I’m not blogging anymore today. I might bring down the entire Internet.

Other than the Cavs winning last night, I’m having a bad day. I decided to write about a good book here. Even out the balance of the universe, so to speak. So, naturally, I just lost the whole freaking post.

I’m going to the grocery store. If you never hear from me again, you’ll know the day got really bad…

According to Publishers Weeky, the five largest American trade publishers generated revenue of $4.60 billion in 2008. (Three of the five are actually owned by foreign companies.)

The largest, Random House, saw a drop in American sales, but gains in other countries. The US represented 50.8% of Random House’s total sales in 2008, down from 53% in 2007. The U.S. division of Penguin Group is estimated to represent about 65% of worldwide Penguin revenue and had strong gains in 2008, helping to drive worldwide revenue up by 6.7%. HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, both US-owned,had “soft” years. Harper had a particularly bad revenue fell nearly 16% in the July through December period, but was down only 3.7% for the year. S&S dropped 3.2% in 2008. International markets are now represents about 15% of sales for S&S up from approximately 13% two years ago.

French-owned Hachette Book Group’s U.S. and Canadian market represents a relatively small part of Hachette’s total worldwide sales, accounting for 22% of overall revenue. HBG posted a 26% increase in revenue in 2008.

While worldwide sales were down at three of the five houses, all publishers remained profitable in 2008. Two were above 10%: Hachette posted a 10.5% margin and Penguin 10.3%.

Also according to Publishers Weekly Harlequin, in the first quarter ended March 31 reported gains in both sales and earnings. Revenue rose 13.5%, to US$105.9 million (at current exchange rates) and operating income jumped 19.1%, to US$17.5 million. Results benefitted from a weaker Canadian dollar, but sales and profits were up even if that factor is excluded. Looking at the rest of 2009, parent company Torstar said it expects “Harlequin to have growth for the full year, but not at the rate posted in the first quarter. The publisher has largely avoided any negative impact from the worldwide recession, and results for the year should also gain from a weaker Canadian dollar.”

Shadowblade by Seressia Glass will be published in March 2010.

Shadowblade is the start of the thrilling Shadowchaser series featuring a multiracial heroine who serves the Universal Balance as a Shadowchaser who seeks out the Fallen as they sow discord and chaos.

Kira Solomon is unable to touch another living being—she draws off the energy of animate objects, “downloading” thoughts, emotions, memories…and, dangerously, draining the spirit. It has taken years of training to deaden her sensitivity, but at least her extrasense makes her good at Shadowchasing. An antiquities specialist by day, she catalogs and defuses ancient magical artifacts; by night, she’s a Shadowchaser-a bounty hunter in service to the Guardians of Light in their eternal struggle against the Shadow of Chaos. It is a delicate balancing act that takes all of Kira’s focus to maintain and there are times when she’s not sure she even wants to. Kira comes across an ancient sentient dagger that belongs to Khefar, a near-immortal 4000 year-old Nubian warrior who wants his weapon back. As the sexual tension between the two builds, a sinister evil sets its sights on them both.

Charlaine Harris’s Vampire Empire

..in which this Q/A is interesting:

WSJ: What is the appeal of genre fiction, is it that we take comfort in the familiar?

Ms. Harris: I think we enjoy seeing the familiar become unfamiliar. Also, it’s an escape, which people need, especially now. They need to get away from the very real troubles and confusions of everyday life and they need to escape to a place where justice triumphs.

Publishers Weekly: Week of 4/27/2009

This intriguing series from urban fantasist Devoti (Dark Crusade) marks Juno’s first outing as a Pocket imprint. A group of Amazon women in present-day America closely guard their extraordinary powers and only interact with men for breeding. Melanippe, who left the Amazons 10 years ago to raise her daughter, runs a Madison, Wis., tattoo parlor and nurses a grudge against the priestess she believes killed her infant son. When two Amazon women are slain and dumped on Mel’s doorstep, their tribe immediately suspect her of the killing. Mel soon wonders who poses the greatest threat to her adolescent daughter: the unknown murderer, the rigidly controlling Amazons or disturbingly attractive and magically skilled tattoo artist Peter Arpada. Mel can be a frustrating sleuth, jumping to conclusions and ignoring obvious clues, but Devoti’s fascinating mix of myth and reality will keep readers engaged.

:-)

Free Comic Book Day is just that. Go to a participating comic book store (you can locate them on the site and you will get at least one free comic book. Here’s a list of some of the freebies you might encounter. A lot are samplers. Many are geared (safely) to kids.

The main point is, of course, to make people aware there are still places that sell comic books and to get you out to the stores. A secondary, but important, point is to get kids reading. This year — the event’s seventh — the celebration begins the day after Hugh Jackman’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” debuts, so so you can even catch Jackman in this video telling folks about FCBD and the importance of comics in fighting illiteracy before a trailer about the film.

IndieBound.com (a project of the American Booksellers Association) has declared today Buy Indie Day: “The idea: buy one book–paperback, hardcover, audiobook, whatever you want!–at an independent bookstore near you.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love all booksellers. But:

1) IndieBound specifically promotes their member stores. Some independent booksellers have what they feel are good reasons not to be members. So just realize you may not find *your* local indie listed on their site.

2) With the exception of specialty stores—and those (like Mysterious Galaxy) are few and far between—or small chains (like Powell’sfew independent booksellers stock genre books. Many flat-out disdain genre.

3) Indie stores, although they play the “support-small-business-over the big guys”, don’t do much to support small press, especially genre small press.

What it comes down to is this: Book buyers buy a type of product they hope they will like. Those involved in producing that product—publishers—naturally want consumers to buy what they produce. Publishers feel they have a good product. Publishers would like to find any way possible to convince consumers to try their particular product. But we also know that not every “flavor” of our product appeals to all consumers. We understand that. But if a retailer doesn’t even offer our product, carries it in extremely limited quantities, and never recommends it…well that’s not a place to buy our flavor, is it?

Now, I like lots of different flavors of books. I like bookstores in general. According to IndieBound, there are no independent stores within 10 miles of my home. The closest, they say, is almost 11 miles away. Actually it is more than 18 miles away and it takes about 30 minutes for me to drive there. It is a great store called The Learned Owl. They can ORDER anything. But it’s not I place I’d go to browse around and find, well, something like mass market paperback urban fantasy. That’s not their thing and I’m cool with that.

All I am saying is: Hey. Read. Buy books. Somewhere. Some how. Any day.