Saturday, July 12, 2014

News & Notes - 7/12/14

News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.

Books & Ebooks in the News:



Worth Reading/Listening to: 


For Writers & Bloggers:


"The 'C' in ARC Does Not Stand For 'Contract'" (Janet, on Dear Author). Janet also quotes from several other bloggers, including Anya's post on On Starships and Dragonwings entitled "'For Review' vs. 'For Review Consideration'" and Kim's "Blogging for Books versus Blogging Because of Books" over at Sophisticated Dorkiness.

Free & Bargain books:



http://www.audiobooksync.com/claudette-colvin-twice-toward-justice/http://www.audiobooksync.com/while-the-world-watched/
http://www.audiobooksync.com/the-case-of-the-cryptic-crinoline/http://www.audiobooksync.com/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes-ii/


  • Open Road is offering a slew of SF titles through Humble Bumble this week. Titles include The Healer's War (Elizabeth Ann Scarborough), The Reluctant Swordsman (Dave Duncan), Freehold (William Dietz), The Time of the Dark (Barbara Hambly), and Wingman (Mack Maloney.) Pay at least $12 and you also get Encounter with Tiber (Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes), Blackcollar (Timothy Zahn), Spellsinger (Alan Dean Foster), I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (Harlan Ellison), The Forge of God (Greg Bear), and Song of Kali (Dan Simmons) - and more books may be coming. Humble Bumble books are DRM-free and work on multiple platforms including ePub, iPad, and Kindle. You pay what you want, and you choose how to divvy the purchase price between authors, charity (the SFWA Medical Fund and FirstBook), and Humble Bumble. The deal lasts through July 23.

Awesome lists: 



Really cool:


London book bench: Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time.

Paintings by Mike Stilkey

Just for fun:  



The Epic Reads team with a tongue-in-cheek video about book hangovers.

Bookish Quotes:




That's it for this week!

I'm always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature.  You can leave me a comment or send me an email -- my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
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12 comments:

  1. BeaJuly 12, 2014 at 1:56 AM

    Those London book benches are amazing! I wish my town had some. And I love the article about falling in love with a reader. :) That popped up numerous times in my Facebook news stream. The folktale article was interesting and had some that were new to me, always a plus. :)

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    1. Lark @ The Bookwyrm's HoardJuly 13, 2014 at 12:21 PM

      The benches are awesome. Wouldn't it be fun to have some in our cities? But of course, London boasts a lot of authors over the centuries.

      Delete
  2. RudejasperJuly 12, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    I can't believe the Hatchette and Amazon dispute is still going on! It's crazy. I'm glad one of the publishers is standing up to Amazon though who knows what it will really mean in the end.

    The article about readers being the best people to fall in love with (because we are better people of course) is perhaps nice to think of but the article is a load of hooey. There's a lot of broad claims with no supporting evidence and even when a scientific study is referenced the author makes the mistake of saying "...this study proved that..." - scientific studies rarely prove anything - they suggest or give evidence towards. I know it's meant to be a puff piece but it's so earnest and okay I'll get off my curmudgeonly science soapbox now:)!

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    1. Lark @ The Bookwyrm's HoardJuly 13, 2014 at 12:27 PM

      I tend to agree with you on the article about readers being the best to fall in love with, but I thought it made people think, even if the piece itself is flawed. As for Hachette and Amazon, it's hard to say who is in the right. Hachette was one of the companies that participated in the agency-model price-fixing deal, which at the time forced Amazon to accept the publishers' terms regarding ebook prices and kept prices high. So both sides have used strong-arm tactics at some point. I believe the real losers are the consumers and the authors, and I wish both companies would get off their high horses and get back to negotiating.

      Delete
  3. Anya @ On Starships and DragonwingsJuly 12, 2014 at 5:52 PM

    Thanks so much for linking to me and the Dear Author post. I'm so interested in this issue and hadn't seen the Dear Author post :D

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    1. Lark @ The Bookwyrm's HoardJuly 13, 2014 at 12:29 PM

      Oh, I'm glad I posted it, then! I did a double-take when I realized they were quoting you. . . like, "wait, I know her!" Your article was good and deserved the exposure.

      Delete
  4. Jan @ Notes from a ReaderholicJuly 13, 2014 at 10:18 AM

    That book bench is awesome! And as usual lots of great links.

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    1. Lark @ The Bookwyrm's HoardJuly 13, 2014 at 12:30 PM

      I want a book bench for my garden. Wouldn't that be cool?

      Delete
  5. Tabitha (Pabkins)July 13, 2014 at 10:55 AM

    I loved Anya's discussion article. I definitely think I mostly go by this method anyway but I do think most people do. I am giving myself more leeway to DNF books these days. And that article about readers being the best sort to fall in love with was great!

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    1. Lark @ The Bookwyrm's HoardJuly 13, 2014 at 12:32 PM

      I've always felt really pressured to review every book I request or accept, and then guilty when I don't get to them all in time for the publication date. It's one reason I'm cutting back on requests. But I'm also trying to let myself DNF more often, and also to do things like feature a book on "Waiting on Wednesday" if I realize I'm not going to read it before the release date.

      Delete
  6. Katherine PJuly 13, 2014 at 8:22 PM

    I want the book bench!! Those are just amazing! I need to go read the fall in love with a reader article. I've seen it at least a dozen times but have yet to actually read it. Great info this week!

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    1. Lark @ The Bookwyrm's HoardJuly 14, 2014 at 9:25 AM

      I'd love one of those, too. I'm thinking one of the children's book ones, or A Brief History of Time (just because it looks so cool.)

      Delete

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