The Winning Blip

Winning is good, right? Sure! But winning can also be not so good.

Clare Vanderpool’s “Moon Over Manifest” recently won the John Newbery Medal for outstanding contribution to children's literature. Of course, she was not expecting it. And neither was her publisher. The book had come out last October and the publisher was out of copies.

When a book wins a prize, there’s a small window of opportunity to sell copies. No copies, no sales. Independent bookstores took orders. Amazon listed it as shipping “in 6-10 days” and just kept saying that, day after day. Barnes and Noble said it was not in the system. Libraries could do little more than put patrons on a long waiting list.

Where was it available? In e-stores.

In case you’re wondering, it’s now available in print. If you’d like to read the article I summarized here, you’ll find it in the Los Angeles Times.

Guest Author Craig Lancaster

THE WILDEST 20 MONTHS OF MY LIFE—SO FAR

By Craig Lancaster

After I struck a deal with AmazonEncore last June to publish my new novel, “The Summer Son,” I joked on my blog that someday I would write a memoir of publishing called “Dude, WTF?”

At the beginning November 2008, I had a promising idea for a story and a long trail of barely started and never finished manuscripts that stretched nearly two decades behind me. By the end of June 2010, I’d written and placed two novels with publishers, had won some acclaim for my debut, “600 Hours of Edward,” and in between had traveled a path familiar to many writers who are just starting out in this business during a time of remarkable upheaval.

“Edward” began life as a self-published novel that I relentlessly flogged around my home state of Montana. It was eventually picked up by a wonderful regional publisher, Riverbend Publishing, which gave it a whole new life, one that has included a designation as a 2009 Montana Honor Book and a 2010 High Plains Book Award winner. Even more satisfying is the response of readers who have gravitated to the main character, Edward Stanton, a middle-aged man with Asperger syndrome who tries to navigate an extraordinary 25-day stretch of his life.

While “Edward” was doing its thing, I spent the better part of nine months working on “The Summer Son,” a novel about a fractured relationship between a father and a son. It’s a story that goes into our deepest, darkest places, where we assign blame (perhaps mistakenly), internalize our injuries and inflict them on the people around us. It’s a tale of violence, of love, of hope, of reckoning. Where “Edward” was a breeze and a joy to write, “The Summer Son” made me sidle up to my own emotions and motivations, which can be a harrowing thing.

The success of “Edward” indirectly put me into contact with AmazonEncore, and I was delighted that the folks there loved “The Summer Son” as much as I did. They’ve done wonderful work on this book, and I’m excited that it’s out there now.

Once I found my stride as a novelist, things started happening quickly. Occasionally, I’ve stopped to consider the journey and reflect on why it all clicked after so many aborted attempts. I’m not sure I can pinpoint a reason. I reached a point in my life where I had something to say, and I’ve been able to find the characters and settings through which to say it. I hope you’ll take a chance on my work and see if it resonates with you. The words on the page (or the pixels on the screen) matter only if there’s someone on the other end to receive them.

 “The Summer Son,” recently released by AmazonEncore, is Craig Lancaster’s second novel. His first, “600 Hours of Edward,” was a 2009 Montana Honor Book and the 2010 High Plains Book Award winner for best first book. His website is CraigLancaster.net. Leave a comment below, along with your email address, for a chance to win a signed copy of “The Summer Son.” If your name is drawn, you’ll be contacted to get your mailing address.

Book Review: The Summer Son

 The Summer Son by Craig Lancaster, is about a man, Mitch Quillen, who decides he must settle things from his past in order to save his future. To do that, he’ll have to go back to confront his father and, if not make peace, then at least understand and accept the man that he ran away from.

Here is the back cover blurb:

When Mitch Quillen’s life begins to unravel, he fears there is no escape. His marriage and his career are both failing, and his relationship with his father has been a disaster for decades. Approaching forty, Mitch doesn’t want to become a middle-aged statistic. When his estranged father, Jim, suddenly calls, Mitch’s wife urges him to respond. Ready for a change, Mitch heads to Montana and a showdown that will alter the course of his life. Amid a backdrop of rugged peaks, and valleys, the story unfolds: a violent episode that triggered the rift, thirty years of miscommunication, and the possibility of misplaced blame.

The Summer Son is one of those books you might describe as an “onion.” It has many layers and bit by bit, the layers are peeled away down to the heart of the story.

Jim, the father in the story, is at times so closed off, so hurtful and angry, that I often wished Mitch would just leave. And yet, Mitch is no saint either. He knows how to push his father’s buttons. Over the course of the book, many secrets are revealed. The truth as Mitch knew it changes. And Mitch changes as he comes to understand not only his father, but the child Mitch used to be.

The Summer Son
Published by AmazonEncore
Release Date: January 2011
ISBN-13: 9781935597247
ISBN-10: 1935597248

I give The Summer Son by Craig Lancaster a Hel-Yeah! 
(Come back tomorrow when Craig will be here on Straight From Hel to talk about writing two books in twenty months. And...he's giving away a copy of his book to a lucky commenter.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: The Summer Son was sent to me by Sarah Tomashek, Senior Marketing Manager, at AmazonEncore. This in no way influenced my review of the book. As I read the book, I wondered how many of us had such idyllic childhoods that there is nothing we would want to go back and talk to our parents about. And how many of us would be brave enough or tortured enough to do so, given the chance. If we did, would the experience be cathartic or would it only rip open old wounds to the point they could not heal over? This is not an easy book to read, especially if you have unresolved issues with your parents. It is however a reminder that a mother or a father was not born to that role. They were children at one time. They have had a life full of ups and downs, love and sadness, pain and joy. And whether you like it or not, they will always be a part of you.

Author N.R. Williams

N.R. Williams, author of The Treasures of Carmelidrium, a high fantasy, is here today to talk about the term “world driven” and how it applies to fantasy. She’s stopping by Straight From Hel on her blog tour.

 N. R. Williams lives in Colorado, U.S.A. with her husband. She’s a long time member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and has attended conferences and workshops. She said that since her formative years, she’s been inventing fantastical stories and since she could spell she’s been writing them down. While she majored in art in college, she didn’t make a living at it. Now, she uses her skills of observation to create fantastical worlds, interesting characters and stories that touch the heart. She’s certainly done that in her book, The Treasures of Carmelidrium.

Welcome Nancy!

Character-Driven versus World-Driven

Thank you Helen for having me as your guest during my blog book tour for “The Treasures of Carmelidrium.” I appreciate it.

I’m going to start this post by flipping the title. What is “World-Driven?” Is that the same as “Plot-Driven?”

World-driven is a little different from plot-driven, but not by much.

Fantasy and Science Fiction are known for their worlds. I can name many, “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” “Narnia,” “Harry Potter.” The list goes on. We traditionally think of these examples when we think about world building, or world driven. Things just wouldn’t be the same without “warp drive” in “Star Trek,” or “Darth Vador” in “Star Wars.” Excuse me a moment while I tell him to stop breathing down my neck. You naughty character you.

Another example is the one and only “Sherlock Holmes.” So you see world-driven is not just for fantasy or science fiction. A well written world will set the stage for our characters. But should it be the main focus? I don’t think so. If it is the main focus, then you have a writer caught up in, let’s say, the Elizabethan age, with endless descriptions of clothing, manners, and travel. These things are important, but not if the characters are buried in fabrics.

Character-driven. By the term, we already know, or hope, that the main characters are as three dimensional as possible. The writer has taken care not to use cookie cutter characters, each one a duplicate of earlier works. Our characters should be unique.

Let’s assume that strong willed and opinionated Elizabeth Bennett has somehow been transported onto the deck of the Enterprise. Does she belong there? Perhaps a similar character, but Capt. Prichard is not Mr. Darcy. So to build a character with Elizabeth’s strength is what the writer should study and implement. Now we have a woman who is capable of being the Captain of the Enterprise.

In my high (or epic) fantasy, “The Treasures of Carmelidrium,” Missie is a modern American. She reacts to her surroundings as a liberated woman. She can’t do otherwise, because she isn’t a meek person. Her counterpart, Prince Healden, (pronounced with a silent “a” like Hel-don) is well mannered, charismatic, and handsome. He is used to women falling all over him. Missie has ignored men in order to pursue her music career. She is stubborn, intelligent, beautiful, talented, and funny. Healden can’t get enough and doesn’t understand anything that motivates Missie. This is the underlying tension in my story while the main problem is defeating the villain and figuring out how to do that.

A good story will have the main plot, set in an interesting world, with additional twists and turns to help the characters develop and grow while searching for the answer to their journey. It’s up to the writer to craft the character’s struggle in a way that is thrilling and enjoyable to the reader.

Thank you Nancy!

Before you link away, leave a comment or question for Nancy. You can also leave your email to be entered in a drawing for a free e-book. She’s giving away a free e-book to three lucky commenters during her tour. You can enter multiple times by commenting here and on other blogs participating in the tour.

Google Buys eBook Technologies

Google Inc. has bought eBook Technologies. If you’re wondering what eBook Technologies is, here’s what Internet Retailer said about it:

 ... a company that sells technology used to operate digital reading devices, along with related publishing tools and software.

This comes 5 weeks after Google opened its ebookstore with over 3 million free books and hundreds of thousands of other titles, downloadable to many devices.

Dmitriy Molchanov, a analyst who covers e-books for Yankee Group, estimates that:

 … U.S. consumers by 2013 will buy 381 million e-books each year, four times the amount purchased in 2010. Annual e-book sales will reach $2.7 billion within the next three years, he says, even as the average price for an e-book falls to $7, down from more than $9 in 2009.

If you’d like to see the Google ebookstore, you can find it here. In the header of the home page, they list that books are downloadable to: Android, iPhone, iPad, iPod, the Web, Nook & Sony.

Anyone downloaded a book from Google’s ebookstore?

Do Books Inspire You?

We probably all have books that we love. Maybe a book from your childhood. Or a book you read over and over.

If a book inspires you, what does it inspire you to do? Give it as a present to a friend? Read it to your grand kids? Request that your library carry it?

How about…get a tattoo?

Publisher Black Ocean says if you get a tattoo inspired by one of the press’ books, you’ll get a lifetime subscription to its titles.

Sound a bit over the top? Three readers have already gotten tattoos. If you’re thinking of doing it, you can’t just take a picture of your tattoo. To insure that your tattoo isn’t drawn on with a black marker, you have to have a picture made as you’re getting the tattoo.

Think those people are a bit too inspired? They’re not alone. According to GalleyCat, the most popular literary tattoo inspirations are “Kurt Vonnegut, e.e. cummings, and Shel Silverstein.”

Any book or author that would inspire you to get a tattoo?

Heart of the Matter

I post a lot of publishing news here on Straight From Hel. That means I read a lot of news articles or posts, looking for something that would interest you. Sometimes I find great things; sometimes I have to search a long time to find something new to report.

I was doing my usual search for today’s post and found an article about e-publishing.in the Los Angeles Times called Book Publishers See Their Role as Gatekeepers Shrink.

The more I read, the more I thought, okay this is nothing new. It started out talking about Joe (JA) Konrath who plans to publish all his books in e-form as soon as he gets the rights back.

That way he'll be able to collect 70% of the sale price, compared with the 6% to 18% he receives from Hyperion.

Yeah, we’ve heard that before. The article mentioned a few more authors, Seth Godin, Greg Bear and others, who are switching. I was about to click away when I came to the last line:

Godin, 50, said he realized that he no longer needed a publisher to distribute his work or to find an audience: He had cultivated a following of millions through his blog and speaking tours.

And there you have it. The gold key to success in e-publishing (other than creating a great book). Build your readership. Build your platform. Get your name out there on the Internet. When possible, book speaking engagements and ask to sell your books at the back of the room. Get on TV and radio. Get mentioned in papers. Along with the other fifty things you have to do, work your way up the ladder so that readers know you and snatch up your books. The key, apparently, is marketing.

Speaking of marketing … Mary Kennedy came by last Thursday on her blog tour. She sent me an email to say she’d chosen the winners of a copy of her book. Congratulations to:
Nancy Williams
Ann Summerville

As a pre-published or published author, what are you doing now to make your name known?

Creating a Book

This report is written by Dani Greer, artist, writer, editor, passionate environmentalist, online blog book tour teacher, and lately Special Projects Coordinator for Little Pickle Press where her brain gets bigger, stronger, and more flexible by the day.

A Publishing Story Straight from Hell

We all know the publishing industry is changing. Big houses are scaling down to compete with an ever-burgeoning indie market, and authors find themselves with more opportunities by the day. Even the idea of self-publication has all but lost its stigma, bringing readers more and better books all the time.

As publishing dynamics change, more small companies are forging their own avenues outside the hallowed halls and beliefs of the old school paradigm. Little Pickle Press is one such pacesetter. One year and five books later, the small and innovative B Corporation has published five award-winning children’s book titles, each containing this badge of honor:

In a world of cheap off-shore printing and remaindered books, one tiny high-quality American publisher goes out on a limb, and what a long limb it turned out to be with this latest project.

How hard is it to take a strong environmental position in today’s publishing world? We asked Keith Anthony, purveyor of K2 Print Media and the man charged with finding the best papers and print fulfillment for Little Pickle Press to share his side of the story in getting the most recent book, Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak Ph.D., into the hands of readers.

Having used various recycled papers in the earlier books, Anthony and the team were excited to try a new tree-free paper called Terraskin, made from calcium carbonate, a plentiful low-impact limestone powder – not even virgin material, but recycled from post-industrial use. Posters had already been printed from the material and were beautiful, so a book was a logical next step. Perhaps this would even become the litmus test for other publishers!

Then the nightmare began. At the Canadian print facility, the trial run resulted in dark and muddy colors that did Sarah Ackerley’s delightful and amusing artwork no justice. It was too late to go back to the drawing board, so Anthony headed for the Canadian print facility, pulled up his shirt sleeves, and started problem-solving. First the color issues were resolved. But then the ink wouldn’t dry. When printed on the reverse side, the pages curled. Much of the paper wouldn’t feed properly and was rejected. Next the binding nightmares began and more brainstorming about gluing ensued. It was a nightmare Straight From Hell.

Finally after two weeks of round-the-clock shifts, it looked like books could be shipped. But the first round didn’t pass quality control standards in the home offices. Why? Because the books shipped weren’t the ones he’d signed off on – an error on the part of the bindery operator. After many delayed schedules and huge labor inputs, the books finally passed muster. Much to a delighted company, Your Fantastic Elastic Brain is now out-selling other titles, but what a challenging birth it was.

Will there be more Terraskin books? Probably not, at least not from Little Pickle Press, and Anthony likely will discourage other publishers from trying. After much trial and hand-holding, these books might actually be viewed as limited edition works of art and perhaps a copy should go to the Smithsonian Museum as an example of changing publishing times and standards!

But other options for environmentally-conscious printing are being developed to meet consumer demand which is quickly growing. Though the costs are still 10-50% higher than conventional printing, variables like the percentage of post-consumer paper impacts the costs, and that’s where long-time professionals like Keith Anthony can help a publisher make conscientious choices. His company, K2 Print Media LLC, is a printing and mailing agency specializing in environmentally-sustainable printing practices for publications, books, and marketing collateral. Call him at 916.995.5803 or email for more information.

Now, dear readers, let’s have some fun! Leave a comment and your email address to get in the running for a copy of Your Fantastic Elastic Brain. Or order a copy right now at 25% off using coupon code BBTHEL at check-out.

Then click over to the Little Pickle Press blog and enter a second drawing for the Grand Prize of all five 2010 releases in a special eco-bag!

Thank you Dani!

Before you click away to enter the drawing, leave a comment or question for Dani Greer or JoAnn Deak.

Author Mary Kennedy

 National best-selling author, Mary Kennedy, is dropping in today to talk about writing. Yesterday, I reviewed Stay Tuned for Murder, the third in her Talk Radio Mystery Series, but that’s not her third book. She’s sold 40 novels – all to big New York publishers. She’s also an award-winning author. The National Endowment for the Arts gave her an award for “artistic excellence in literary fiction.”

Welcome Mary Kennedy.

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW–but don’t afraid to ask for advice.

Everyone has heard the old adage, “Write what you know,” and that’s what I did in STAY TUNED FOR MURDER 

This is the third book in The Talk Radio Mysteries and I have a lot in common with my heroine, Dr. Maggie Walsh. She’s a psychologist who closes up her practice in Manhattan to move to sunny Florida. I’m still practicing as a psychologist here on the east coast, but I make regular winter escapes to Ft. Lauderdale.

Maggie hosts her own radio talk show (my dream!) and I have a background in radio. Many years ago, I worked as a copywriter for WKDA Radio in Nashville, Tenn. So I feel comfortable, describing the worlds of radio and psychology.

But when I created the character of Madame Chantel, I hit a snag.  Madame Chantel is a phony psychic who angles for Maggie’s job at the radio station.

I don’t know anything about the world of psychics, phony or otherwise, so I turned to my friends for advice. About half of them believe in psychics and half think they’re phony. So I left the door open on this issue. Readers can decide for themselves about Madame Chantel’s powers. What do you think? Have you ever consulted a psychic and did you find the advice useful? Would you ever ask a psychic to predict your future? And would you want to know the future, even if you could?

Thank you Mary!

Clearly, Mary takes her own advice. She’s created a fun series with a realistic protagonist in a quaint Florida town.

Leave a comment telling Mary what you think of psychics. If you’ve read the book, tell us what you think of her “Frasier meets Murder She Wrote” series. And…drum roll please…if you’d like to throw your name in the pot for a free copy of Stay Tuned for Murder, leave your email with your comment or make sure it’s on your profile page. You have today and tomorrow to enter. I’ll be drawing a name Saturday morning and announcing the winner as soon as I can contact them. [I have great news - Mary has offered TWO copies of her book for the drawing. So leave a comment; your chances of winning have increased!]

[After you leave a comment for Mary, click over to The Blood-Red Pencil where I’m talking about editing your work and answering the question, What are editors for?]

Book Review: Stay Tuned for Murder

 Stay Tuned for Murder is the third in Mary Kennedy’s Talk Radio Mystery Series. I reviewed the first in the series, Dead Air. In Stay Tuned for Murder, Maggie Walsh is back as a radio talk show psychologist and determined amateur sleuth. This time she’s dealing with a pushy psychic, the opening of the town’s time capsule, and, of course, murder.

Here’s a summary of Stay Tuned for Murder:

Maggie Walsh, Florida’s newest radio talk show psychologist, thinks that being tucked away in her studio will keep her safe from all the crazies. But when she hits the airwaves, there’s no telling whom she’s reaching–and who wants to reach back.

Maggie is a natural on the radio, but she’s still learning how to play the ratings game. Her big guest star is self-proclaimed oracle Madame Chantel, whose on-air “chats” with the dead are the talk of Cypress Grove–until Chantel makes some grim predictions at a séance and one of the town’s most beloved citizens is found murdered.

Meanwhile WYME is busy promoting the opening of a fifty-year old time capsule. But the more Maggie learns about what might be unearthed, the more she suspects that the timing of the murder was no coincidence. The appearance of another body has Maggie rushing to find the killer–and wondering if there might be something to Chantel’s ghost stories.

The first thing that draws you into this series is the characters. Maggie is believable – even her urge to put herself into the middle of investigations. Her mom is so over-the-top, you’ll wish she were your mom. And Rafe, Maggie’s semi-boyfriend and local cop, in this book, isn’t on-scene much but when he is you can feel the heat between him and Maggie. As for Mary Kennedy, the author, she is a practicing clinical psychologist so she brings credibility and realism to Maggie.

In Stay Tuned for Murder, you get to meet quite a few of the townfolk. Kennedy keeps the pace moving. Maggie is either on the air or sleuthing around the town. While Chantel the psychic swoops into town and creates havoc, the people in town are like most residents of a small town – they all know each other right down to the good, the bad and the nutty.

 Stay Tuned for Murder
By Mary Kennedy
ISBN: 978-0-451-23235-9
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Nook
Borders

Even though Kennedy keeps you reading with twists and unexpected turns, for me, it’s the characters who stick in my head. I give Stay Tuned for Murder by Mary Kennedy a Hel-Yeah.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: Mary Kennedy sent me this book. That did not influence my review. As I said, I like the people living in Cypress Grove. It’s a small town where people know each other and nothing ever happens. Except murder. Because of that, I’m hoping two things. One, no one begins to notice that the murders began after Maggie arrived in town. Two, Cypress Grove doesn’t suffer the Murder, She Wrote effect and run out of live people. I’m waiting on the book where a hurricane hits. I’ve already got a plot in mind and a title. I see Maggie hunkered down at the radio station when a body flies past the window. It’ll be called Passing Wind. If you want the details, just call me, Mary. And if YOU want to hear from Mary Kennedy, come back tomorrow when she’ll be posting here on Straight From Hel.

Book Review: Open Season

Open Season by Maryann Miller is a police-procedural and a mystery. Two female police officers are paired together and the undercurrent between them is almost as charged as the case they’re working.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

Amid racial tensions and the deadly force controversy sweeping the city of Dallas, Homicide detectives Sarah Kingsly and Angel Johnson are unlikely and unwilling partners. They both see the pairing as better PR than policy.

The Dallas Review Board wants Sarah’s badge because she shot a young black boy when an undercover drug operation went bad and her partner was killed. Angel is under pressure from her family to refuse to work with “this white, Honkey bitch.”

Their first case, dubbed the Mall Murders, begins with the death of a maintenance worker at one of the Metroplex shopping malls. A security guard is then killed at another mall. The final murder victim is a young window dresser whose body is left like a mannequin behind the glass of an exclusive boutique at the Galleria Mall.

In this police procedural mystery, the women follow the trail of a killer until it comes too close to home, and they have to decide if they can handle being partners.

There’s such tension between Sarah and Angel that it’s a stretch to call them “partners.” Sarah is dealing with the loss of her previous partner as well as the killing of the boy. Angel doesn’t like being partnered with Sarah since it seems to be a ploy by the upper brass, plus her family is against the arrangement. Will the animosity get in the way of solving the murders?

Both women will have to fight their personal demons. Racing against time and a murderer adept at hiding and killing, they have to put aside their differences and work together to solve the case, as each killing becomes more brazen.

Open Season is character driven. There’s also action and mystery, but it is the two main characters who move the story. Miller does a good job of personalizing each woman and bringing each to life on the page. She doesn’t take sides, but lets the reader see inside the mind and heart of each woman. Miller also doesn’t shy away from the controversial undercurrent in the book.

Open Season by Maryann Miller
ISBN-13: 978-1-59414-915-3
Five Star Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

I give Open Season by Maryann Miller a rating of Hel-Yeah because the book is a good read with fully developed characters, an elusive killer and a highly charged social aspect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: The ARC was sent to me by the author, Maryann Miller, but this did not influence my review. What did influence my review was the realism in the book. The characters were real, yes, and the turbulence between them was real, yes, but the realism I’m talking about is the mall murders. I really hate malls or shopping in general so I can certainly believe that a berserker killed people in the mall. I mean, come on, you’re walking in the mall, you turn a corner, and there’s a gaggle of teens coming toward you and they have no intention of moving an iota so you can get past and you left your Taser at home in your other purse … never mind, my personal story is not relevant since this killer does his work after hours. Just check out Open Season. It’s a good mystery.

Dual Success

Can you be successful at being both a writer and a publisher? According to Richard Curtis in e-reads, probably not. The article starts with this paragraph:

Do authors make good publishers? The answer is No. But it’s fascinating to watch them try.

He uses three authors to explain his reasoning: Cory Doctorow, Seth Godin, and J.A. Konrath. Of those three, Konrath has had the most success, mainly because his name is so well-known by the reading public.

You can read the full article, then draw your own opinions. Curtis does quote from Konrath’s blog (the most successful of those big authors going to self-publishing):

Right now, the best way to begin a writing career is to find a good literary agent and sell the book to a well-respected print publisher. In other words, don’t do it on your own unless you completely understand what you’re doing.

I know a lot of you are self-publishing. Do you think you’re successful? Are you making money yet (above what it cost you to publish)? Would you rather publish on your own or would you rather have a “house” take you on?

More 2011 Predictions

Last Thursday, I posted some of literary agent Richard Curtis’ predictions for 2011. Today, here’s some from Publishers Weekly.

 … with new digital sales channels, devices, self-publishing solutions, and competition from nimble, born-digital businesses … publishers in 2011 will recognize the need to retool their organizations to compete in the next generation…. The peculiar combination of returns, high discounts, rotten inventory, and separation from your customers is just so... pre-electronic. [Andrew Albanese]

It's impossible to have a conversation about book publishing without hearing the term "social media," ,,, Look for much more in 2011 as the industry continues to redirect its marketing efforts away from business-to-business to business-to-consumer. [Calvin Reid]

Will 2011 be the year of the e-book for children's divisions? Some but not all publishers think so. [Diane Roback]

While there is little question that bestselling authors with clout will be able to demand more than 25% of net on e-books, for other authors it may be more watching and waiting. But as e-books continue to account for more sales, publishers can bet that authors and agents will grow more and more antsy about this issue. [Rachel Deahl]

The looming question is whether publishers and agents can designate open market rights in the digital world the way they do in print. [Rachel Deahl]

Print on demand and short-run digital printing will continue their methodical growth in 2011, a tribute to the technology's utility to publishers looking to keep backlist titles in print or quickly replenish out-of-stock frontlist titles. [Calvin Reid]

Link over to read the full article, which also includes what they expect to be the big books of 2011. While I’m not so sure about the growth of POD, I do think ebooks and marketing through social media will continue to grow this year. What about you?

Happy New Year

I don’t read celebrity books. I have in the past, two or three at most, but now I don’t. I think most celebrities rarely write their own books and, frankly, I don’t think they have much to say that I can relate with.

But clearly no one gives a patootie what I think ‘cause the celebrity books keep coming. This past year we had books from Jay-Z, Tony Blair, Justin Bieber, Nicole Richie, the Kardashians, The Situation, George W. Bush, and many more.

As we look to the new year, what celebrities would you want to write a book on their life or views or advice?

No matter what you read, though, have a New Year full of books, friends, love and good health.