The News (As I See It) - pt. 3

Let's start off with some rather startling (but predictable) news; Amazon's Jeff Bezos has announced that within a year Amazon ebook sales will outsell paperback sales. This news follows quickly after their previous announcement that ebooks were already outselling their hardcovers by a substantial margin.

Many--myself included--predicted that this would be the inevitable result of the surge in digital readers and changing trends in both the publishing and reading communities, but, I must admit, even I didn't think it'd be upon us so quickly. Let's see if it holds true.  

Flavorwire has taken a jab at the most common poses struck by authors for promotional photographs. There's no educational benefit in reading this, but it's good for a lark. I assure you, you'll think twice about resting your chin on your fist, writing at a typewriter, or casually lounging against a piece of furniture after reading this article.

Agent Query has recently launched a new forum for its members. As with the rest of Agent Query, this seems as though it'll become an invaluable resource for aspiring authors. Need to beef up your query or synopsis? Then take a gander, because everything is looking streamlined and structured to promote community involvement, perfect for aspiring authors searching for like minded individuals to bounce their material off of.

For all of you Suzanne Collins fans (I've yet to read The Hunger Games trilogy--but I will, I promise!), there's a  a lovely article worth checking out in which she speaks quite candidly about the series post Mockingjay release, particularly in regards to her newfound celebrity and how her books operate as commentaries on the various aspects of war.

Writer's Digest has put out another useful list of ten. Today's subject? The Ten Commandments of Writing Fiction.

For comic book geeks, the senior managing editor of Dark Horse Comics recently sat down to share his thoughts on what it takes to write high quality comic books.

And as always, my aspiring authors, try to keep yourself from ending up on SlushPileHell.

The News (As I See It) pt. 2 - Tabloid Edition

According to tech blog GDGT, at a September 1st, 2010 press conference, Steve Jobs announced that iTunes has sold over 35 million books. Impressive--Is anyone aware of Amazon's figures? I want to know how much they trump them by.

The estate of Stephen King suffered damages that could reach approximately $100,000 after a driver crashed into his custom made black iron security fence, interwoven with intricate designs of gargoyles, spiders, and other ghoulish images. The fence adorned with fluffy white kittens, unicorns, and marshmallows came away unscathed, thank god. 

In other news, Dan Brown was given the questionable honour of being the "most unwanted author" by Europe's biggest street retailer of secondhand books, Oxfam. Is being a heavily donated author a good thing, or a bad thing? What do you think?

And I confess, the news I'm most excited to share...

Ever wonder what Sarah Palin would look like as a steampunk superhero?  Me neither, but Antarctic press certainly has. Evidently Sarah Palin's special power is her ability to fight the oil spill with steam power. Really. Don't believe me? Then fix your eyes upon this.

Mile High Comics provides us with a summary:

Energy catastrophe has struck worldwide! Massive oil spills, nuclear meltdowns and more leave us desperate for viable energy sources to rebuild global society and technology. Inspired by a little tea party, Sarah Palin hits upon the answer: steam power! She begins the 'Steam Initiative', touting geothermal energy as the cure for what ails ya. The heads of Big Oil and Nuclear Power are less than happy with this trend, and they send their agents to do in the Rogue Republican. Luckily, she comes prepared with a set of steam-powered armor! (Standard equipment, don'cha know.)

For the love of all that's good in the world, I hope that this is satire. If not, I just threw up a little. 

The News (As I See It)

As expected, Mockingjay (the conclusion to Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy) did exceedingly well in terms of sales. More specifically, Mockingjay sold more than 450,000 copies in its first week, meaning it sold over 200,000 more copies than the third Twilight book did in the same timeframe. Still think publishing is dead?

In the e-reader wars, the Kindle 3 continues to earn glowing reviews and is being hailed as the "best e-ink reader". But Sony isn't out of the game just yet; they're bringing out redesigned digital readers with brand new capabilities. My prediction? The pricetag is still too high, and Sony will never achieve a market readership like Amazon. Even as a fan of Sony, I must say, Sony, you will not win this war. When this newest ploy fails to topple the Kindle, duck out of the game and save your money. Or better yet, reinvest it into the PS4. Make me happy?

On other fronts, who doesn't enjoy a good list about the world of agenting? Well here's a collection of 5 Myths You Shouldn't Believe About Agents. Missing from the list is their ability to sustain themselves with small animal sacrifices and the bucket of tears shed by aspiring authors that they keep underneath their desk to quench their thirst. Perhaps we'll see a part two to this story? ;)

For a laugh, head on over to Stir Your Tea for the 100 step process of writing a "fiction novel". How many blunders did you make in your early days? I certainly recognize a few.

But I think my favourite read of the day is over at Writer's Digest -- 8 Basic Writing Blunders. The title pretty much sums up the content. You owe it to yourself to check this list, if only to exonerate yourself of these literary crimes.

Question for my readers: I'm debating making these news updates a recurring topic for my blog. Would you like to see more posts like this? Let me know!

Also, have anything to say about the news you've just read? Leave it in the comments below!

Toodles!