Welcome to EarlyWord
Our luanch of EarlyWord YA GalleyChat on Feb. 14 was a rousing success. Join us for the second one on Tues., March 20 at 4 p.m. ET (a get-to-know-each-other social begins at 3:30). And, don't forget our adult GalleyChat, the first Tuesday of each month (info on how to join each, here).
Let us know what is happening in your library. Email me with information on books that are getting an unexpected number of holds and the titles you enjoy recommending.
Keep on reading,
NoraNora Rawlinson Co-Founder and Editor
Theo Gray’s Mad Science has zoomed from #2,834 to #80 on Amazon (must be the ad that’s been running on EarlyWord this week!).
Reviews have not appeared yet, so here is the publisher’s description,
Popular Science columnist Theo Gray demonstrates fundamental scientific principles through wacky, daredevil experiments that will have readers exclaiming, “Holy !!*$#!!”
For more on the book, click here.
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Some wonderful obituaries are coming out about Judith Krug, Director of ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, who died this week. My favorite tribute is this one:
Religious Right Censors’ Worst Nightmare: Why We’ll Miss Judith Krug
It ends with this great suggestion:
If you would like to honor her memory and annoy the Religious Right at the same time, I have the perfect suggestion: Read a banned book.
Reading the obits from the L.A. and NY Times may cause bouts of “what have I done with my life”:
NY Times, Judith Krug, Who Fought Ban on Books, Dies at 69
L.A. Times, Judith F. Krug dies at 69; advocate for librarians opposed censorship
The repeated themes are “tireless” and “force of nature,” but one thing they don’t mention is the sparkle in her eyes. I remember seeing it we both went to the Association of American Publishers annual meetings, back in the days when they were held in lovely locales. With a naughty smile, she’d make it clear she intended to get full enjoyment out of whatever setting we were in.
Fittingly, her family has asked that memorial contributions be made to The Freedom to Read Foundation, 50 East Huron, Chicago Illinois 60611.
Isabel Gillies’s divorce memoir, Happens Every Day is the next in title in the Starbucks book program (prompting USA Today to call it “an iced cup of revenge“).
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It is also available in audio from Simon and Schuster, 9780743582902 / 074358290X
The Wall Street Journal identified the trend, (Bad Parents and Proud of It), but our friends at Shelf Awareness gave it the moniker, ‘Bad Parent Lit.”
Not only are new and forthcoming books part of the trend, but also Web sites (Babble.com’s “Bad Parent” — a compilation of essays from it will be pubbed in the fall) and TV (a new ABC sitcom, “In the Motherhood“).
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download
This week, Nancy Pearl recommends (listen above) two somewhat-below-the-radar titles, each of which has been out for several months (and is releasing in paperback ina few weeks), so may actually be available on new book shelves.
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Also available in audio from Tantor Media and as a downloadable audiobook from OverDrive.
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Who but a cataloger could imagine that someday a “cataloging error” would make headlines?
That’s what Amazon is claiming as the cause of nearly 60,000 titles, many of them gay and lesbian-themed, being stripped of their sales rankings, rendering them difficult to find in searches and creating a PR nightmare.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports official responses, as well as one from a former Amazon employee saying that,
A guy from Amazon France got confused on how he was editing the site, and mixed up ‘adult,’ which is the term they use for porn, with stuff like ‘erotic’ and ‘sexuality.’ That browse node editor is universal, so by doing that there he affected ALL of Amazon.
Seattle PI business reporter Andrea James has been updating her Amazon & the Business of Online Retailing blog as the story develops.
The errors have now been fixed, but at least one author is not satisfied, feeling Amazon has not apologized sufficiently, nor have they promised to establish safeguards against this situation happening again:
Craig Seymour, “Craig’s Pop Life” blog, My Response to Amazon’s Statement
The hot book news from the weekend is that Amazon suddenly and inexplicably stripped sales rankings from ”adult” books (which includes gay-themed books, even those that wouldn’t get an R-rating, such as Ellen Degeneres’s bio). Online sites lit up in outrage, boycotts were threatened, and the tag #amazonfail became the top trending topic on Twitter.
Amazon is now saying this was a “glitch” and will be fixed shortly. We may never know the truth of what happened, but it’s another lesson in how swift the reaction can be from unhappy customers.
A new Twitter group has formed, #glitchmyass.
Salon, Why did gay books disappear from Amazon?
PC Magazine, Amazon Eliminates Sales Rankings; Twitter Erupts
Entertainment Weekly, Amazon.com under criticism for de-ranking gay-themed books
The Guardian, ‘Gay writing’ falls foul of Amazon sales ranking system
Los Angeles Times, Jacket Copy blog, Amazon responds to queries, blames a ‘glitch’
On NPR’s All Things Considered on Saturday, Candy Tan and Sarah Wendell, creators of the web site, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, spoke to romance-book skeptic Rebecca Roberts about their new book on the genre.
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When challenged to come up with a reading list of current titles (no fair resorting to Jane Austen to try to win over a skeptic!) to introduce Roberts to the best of the genre, the women first recommended Lord of Scandal as a “100% excellent” historical, filled with “snappy dialog” and a heroine who is “a half-step in front of the hero at all times.”
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They told Roberts that the hottest romance category right now is paranormal, best represented by Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series; “full of Norse mythology and the women are just incredibly empowered and fascinating characters.”
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But Roberts audibly shuddered at the thought of vampires and werewolves and their ilk, so Tan and Wendell went on to recommend the following, all of which feature strong heroines and heros, excellent plots and are “utterly believable.” The titles are featured on the site ”Save the Contemporary,” created in conjunction with Dear Reader.com.
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Breaking into the top ten on Amazon over the weekend is a book with the dreaded “D” word in the title; The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide.
As of this writing, it’s at #15, making it the 8th highest-ranking nonfiction title and the top personal finance book.
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Several books we’ve been watching debuted on the NYT lists dated 4/19 (sales through 4/4).
After less than a full week on sale, A Reliable Wife is at #25 on the extended Hardcover Fiction list (see Heavy Reserve Alert: ‘A Reliable Wife’ and Rely on ‘A Reliable Wife’).
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Crazy Love hits the Nonfiction list at #14, (Heavy Reserve Alert: ‘Crazy Love’)
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Pride and Prejudice and the Zombies lands on the Trade Paperback at #3; it debuted on the USA Today list this week at #95. (Heavy Reserve Alert — Jane A and the Zombies).
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Publishers Weekly reported yesterday that Austen’s “co-author” Seth Graham-Smith has just signed on for two new books. The first will be Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (be patient; no release date yet). As has been the case with a couple of other recent high-profile books from indie publishers, the author has switched to a bigger house, going from Quirk Books to Grand Central Publishing.
An author whose titles have appeared on the extended Hardcover Fiction several times in the past, makes the leap to #10 on the main list this week with her new book.
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The NYT‘s reviewer, the one who is usually attuned to popular literature and not turned off by heavily-marketed books, Janet Maslin, took surprising umbrage with Columbine, by Dave Cullen, this week.
Other reviewers have a different take:
People, 4/20, gives it their highest rating, four of a possible four stars — “a riveting assessment… like Capote’s In Cold Blood, this tour de force gets below the who and what of a hoorrifying indicent to lay bare the devastating why.”
Entertainment Weekly, also gives it their highest rating, a solid “A,” “Dipping into this book was not something I looked forward to, and yet, from the very first page, I could not put Columbine, Dave Cullen’s searing narrative, down.”
Los Angeles Times, 4/3, David L. Ulin, Columbine, by Dave Cullen, “a book that hits you like a crime scene photo, a reminder of what journalism at its best is all about.”
The Daily Beast, 4/7, The Secrets of Columbine , “a great piece of journalism, the likes of which we rarely see anymore.”
It’s currently at #64 on Amazon. I predict NYT bestseller status as of next week’s lists (it’s already on the Denver Post Nonfiction list a #7 and the and the Indie Nonfiction list at #41).
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The press may be excited about the next Scott Turow book, but the long-lead title that is tearing it up on Amazon is the next title from Max Tucker [update: I've got the name reversed; it's actually Tucker Max], author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (on the NYT paperback bestseller list since Jan ’06 and still on reserve in many libraries). As of this writing, the upcoming title is at #25 on Amazon, even though it won’t be published until February of next year.
Originally announced for January, 2008, the book has been pushed back several times.
Like Scott Turow, Tucker has changed publishers, from Kensington’s Citadel imprint to Simon and Schuster Spotlight (well, you can’t expect loyalty from an asshole, can you?)
Assholes Finish First
Max, Tucker
It will also be available in audio (!), but apparently not in large type.
Grand Central Publishing announced that a sequel to Scoll Turow’s Presumed Innocent will be released in May, 2010.
The new book will be called, simply, Innocent.
via The Associated Press story, appearing in USA Today, among others
Separate story, Scott Turow Switches Publishers for Sequel, in The New York Times
The NYT just discovered that the romance is hot, at least in books.
We all know that, but it is amusing to read the article to see how difficult it can be to get real figures in this business.
Recession Fuels Readers’ Escapist Urges, by Motoko Rich
Consumer reviews are coming in for A Reliable Wife, backing up the early buzz and strong prepub reviews:
This now qualifies as a “heavy reserve alert” — reserves are over 10 to one in some areas, on light ordering.
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