New E-books

 

These are two covers of new e-books that have recently gone live. GITP created the covers for each, and also formatted the e-book layouts for Nook and Kindle.

I'm happy to welcome indie author Joe Pfeiler to the GITP family. Also the acclaimed author, Patricia Nell Warren and her company, Wild Cat Press International. Read a recent interview with Warren here. Visit their websites to learn more about them and their interesting titles.

The COVER page of this blog shows many of the other books GITP has had a hand in producing.

Book Review Site

The Washington Independent Review of Books has some interesting features and reviews. It's now starting a third year of online input.I wonder how Indie friendly they are?

American Author: Did You Know?

James Fenimore Cooper is one of America's first novelists. In his first series, The Littlepage Manuscripts, Corny Littlepage was the hero of the Satanstoe. Other books in the series, (written in two years) are The Chainbearer and The Redskins. All these novels deal with the anti-rent controversy (Helderberg War) of the 1840s. Cooper's strong political feelings in favor of the landed gentry progressively colored each book until the last is considered more of a diatribe than a novel.
Since he favored the "landed gentry" they obviously favored him, by publishing his books that espoused their needs with no care to the essence of a good novel.
(Even in 1840, it paid for a writer to have connections).
Cooper's best known and hallmark Leatherstocking Series wasn't named for a character. The five books tell the career of "natural man" Natty Bumppo from his youth (Deerslayer) to his death (The Prairie). The Leatherstocking series also includes The Pioneers(1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), and The Pathfinder (1840).

Publishers: Did You Know?

It's a well-known fact that most of the major publishing houses have consolidated and merged and rearranged themselves many times over. This has affected magazines as well as book publishers; many of the controlling holding companies are not in the U.S.

Simon & Schuster, is an exception. Founded in New York City in 1924, S&S is currently owned by CBS. Still headquartered in NYC, it is a bastion of fiction and nonfiction, producing more than 1000 titles a year from 35 different imprints, including Pocket Books, Scribner, Atria, Fireside, Touchstone, and Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Baen Books is a more recent stalwart of American publishing. It was founded in 1983 when a huge reorganization of Simon & Schuster was underway. S&S approached Jim Baen with an offer for him to head up the S&S science fiction line (Pocket Books division). Baen, however, had different plans. He obtained financial backing from some friends and proposed to start a new company named Baen Books. The deal was done and, at the beginning, Simon & Schuster handled the distribution.

Unfortunately, many of the book publishers we have taken for granted as being American-owned and run no longer hold that distinction.

• Houghton Mifflin Company, founded in Boston in 1832, is now HMH (Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt), with the company having purchased Harcourt (formerly Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) in 2007. Several mergers and buyouts have ensued and HMH is now owned by Education Media and Publishing Group (EMPG), an international holding company registered in the Cayman Island. HMH is a leader in the educational publications marketplace. NOTE: Although primaries in EMPG are from Ireland, one of the major investors is Guggenheim Partners, a U.S. investment corporation.
• Alfred A Knopf, Inc founded in 1915, was purchased by Random House in 1960. Random House also bought Doubleday, and now there's a KnopfDoubleday company under the RH umbrella. It's a publishing consortium of its own, with a half dozen or so imprints. Random House, Inc. has been owned since 1998 by the German mega-media company, Bertelsmann.
• The Free Press was founded in 1947, became an imprint of Simon & Schuster, was sold in 1960 and merged into the Macmillan Publishing Company. Macmillian, founded in London, opened its first U.S. offices in 1969. It is now part of the large German holding company, Georg von Holtzbrinck. MacMillan's American publishers include Farrar Straus and Giroux, Henry Holt & Company, Bedford/St. Martin’s, Picador, Roaring Brook Press, St. Martin’s Press, Tor Books, and others.

The publisher umbrellas have a wide span, with most of the imprints belonging to three or four houses. Along with S&S, Random House, Harper-Collins, and Penguin Group (USA) produce the majority of books we see on commercial bookshelves across the country. Former independent companies have become imprints: Farrar Straus, Henry Holt, Little Brown; and some have vanished (Fawcett, Carol Graf, Arbor).

But there are plenty of small and Indie publishers. Check out the Wikipedia page to see the more than 500 companies that are competing with the big guys.

Interesting

http://review-worm.com/
$100.00 per review!
Hmm

World Book Night 2013

Plans are already in the works for the 2013 World Book Night. 2012 was the first time the U.S. participated, and the 2013 events are similar to last year and the activities in the UK and Ireland. Thirty books will be given away...The titles, announced in July, have been chosen by a panel of booksellers and librarians.
Here's the list: (How many of these have you read?)

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros --also in Spanish
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho --also in Spanish
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Middle School:
The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson
Population: 485 by Michael Perry
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Favorite American Poems, large print edition (Dover)

Events for November

November 2012
Native American Heritage Month

NAHM resources




Because of Hurricane Sandy, be sure to check the websites for any changes in venue or events scheduled for the East Coast.



1 - 4 November, World Fantasy Convention, Toronto, Ontario Canada

3 November, Children's Festival of the Book
9am - 5pm Bozeman Public Library, Bozeman, Montana

8 - 11 November, Sanibel Island Writers Conference
Sanibel Island, Florida

9 - 10 November, Georgia Literary Festival
Jekyll Island Convention Center, Jekyll Island, Georgia

8 - 10 November, Hillerman Writers Conference
Hotel Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico

9 - 11 November, Philcon 2012
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Philcon is hosted by The Philadelphia Science Fiction Society.





PLAN NOW: Ohio State University Press (OSUP) announces submission information for its 2013 short fiction prize. Open to all writers in English. The manuscripts must be postmarked during the month of January, 2013. Details at OSUP.

Pubit! Author Services

At an all-time low.
Barnes & Noble Pubit!, which has never been good at communicating with their authors, has sunk to a new low. Books uploaded to the site in September are still "processing" with no information about  a remedy for problem forthcoming from BN.

But then, BN doesn't have a support department for the Pubit! system. GITP has written them several times about an apparent glitch in the processing, only to be told Pubit! doesn't have a tech staff and, basically, "get over it.".

Today the squawk line in the Community forum--the only meager contact with Pubit!--is really buzzing, with a few "how do I remove my books?" questions.  The crux of it all lies in the never-ending "processing" procedure, that has no explanation and doesn't seem to be ending soon.

And Pubit! really expects to compete with KDP and KOBO? Even Apple responds better than this.

The Big Get Bigger

Maybe.
A merger of Penguin and Random House is in the works. If successful, the new corporation could control nearly 25% of the book sales in the UK and U.S. 

Good?
Bad?

Hmm.

Events in October

October is a really busy month. Too bad teleportation isn't a reality. So many interesting things to do, and spread out across the county.

October 2012
National Cyber-Security Awareness Month

• 29 September-6 October, Banned Books Week
• 4 - 6 October, 13th Annual Humanities Montana Festival of the Book, Missoula, Montana
• 4 - 7 October, 52nd Annual Western History Association Convention, Denver, Colorado
• 4 - 7 October, Boucheron 2012, Cleveland, Ohio
  includes Sisters in Crime events
• 11 - 12 October, Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Fall Trade Show, South San Francisco, California
• 12 October, Sisters in Crime 2012 Retreat to the Woods Workshop, Confluence, Pennsylvania
• 12 -14 October, 24th Annual Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, Tennessee
• 12 - 14 October, Capclave, Gaithersburg, Maryland; This literary convention has a program that usually focuses on the short fiction.
• 13 - 15 October, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fall Trade Show, Tacoma, Washington
• 19 - 20, October, High Plains Bookfest at various locations in downtown Billings, Montana
• 19 - 21 October, 44th Annual MileHiCon, Denver, Colorado
• 20 October, Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Author Feast and Trade Show, a cruise aboard the Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
• 19 - 21 October, 18th Annual Women Writing the West Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• 19 - 21 October, 22nd Annual South Carolina Annual Writers Conference, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• 19 - 21 October, 11th Annual Florida Writers Association Conference, Orlando, Florida
• 27 - 28 October, Texas Book Festival , State Capitol, Austin, Texas
• 1 - 4 November, World Fantasy Convention, Toronto, Ontario Canada

Events in September

• 13-15 September, 2012 Florida Heritage Book Festival and Writers Conference, St. Augustine, Florida
• 23-25 September, Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. Denver-Marriott Tech Center, Denver, Colorado
• 20-23 September, Southern Women Writers' Conference, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia
• 21-22 September, Central Coast Writers' Conference, Mission Plaza, San Louis Obispo, California
• 23-23 September, The 2012 National Book Festival. National Mall between 3rd and 7th streets; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Washigton D.C.
• 21-22 September, Kentucky Women Writers' Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
• 21-23September, Southern CA Writers' Conference, Los Angeles, California. Location TBA
• 21-23 September; LitFuse: A Poet's Workshop, Tieton, Washington
• 23 September, Brooklyn Book Festival, Brooklyn Borrough Hall & Plaza, Brooklyn, New York
• 26-30 September ; Fall for the Book, Throughout Northern Virginia and DC, and Maryland. Check the link for the full schedule.
• 28-30 September South Dakota Festival of Books with activities in various locations throughout Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• 28-30 September, Baltimore Book Festival, Baltimore, Maryland
• 29 September-6 October, Banned Books Week

August Events for Readers and Writers

Some interesting and informative events around the country. Take part

11 - 12 August, Montana Wild West Fest with reenactments, cowboy poetry, dance hall, vendors and other events. Check site for schedule of events.

3 - 4 August ; Mississippi Writers' Guild Conference, Meridan Community College, Meridan, MS

3 - 5 August, Willamette Writers' Conference, Portland Oregon Sheraton Hotel, West Linn, OR

5 - 10 August; Cape Cod Writers' Center Conference, Resort and Conference Center of Hyannis, Cape Cod, MA

11 - 12 August, Santa Barbara Summer Writer's Poetry Workshop, Presidio State Historic Park's Pico Adobe, Santa Barbara, CA

17 - 20 August ; Sun Valley Writers' Conference, Sun Valley Resort, Ketchum, ID

24 - 26 August, Killer Nashville Mystery & Thriller Conference, Hutton Hotel, Nashville, TN

Catalog from GITP

Here's a free booklet that highlights some of the books Get It Together Productions (GITP) has worked on. Along with featured titles, the booklet contains a list of all the authors who have employed GITP through Summer 2012. A list of links for readers and writers is also included.
Another booklet/catalog will be issued in the Autumn, with more featured titles as well as writing tips.

A similar booklet is available free for Kindle Primers.

Enjoy!

Book Industry Info 6 July

Amazon expansion continues, particularly in their Publishing Arm, as they have made a strong bid to acquire all the titles from Dorchester Publishing.

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For the journalists--a dire prediction was reported in The Atlantic: Fifteen years from now, 90% of the news stories will be written by--algorithms. With many of the newspapers I've recently read, I think that would be an improvement, especially if the technology can edit!

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Improvements have already started in Barnes & Noble's electronic division since Microsoft invested bunches in the program. It's not just on the stock market, either. Already sales reports have increased, and there's a bit more author/BN interaction, including an affiliate program. BN also plans to expand nook stores including adding foreign markets.

 

All this seems positive, to me; how about you?

Pew Study: Library Patrons and E-Borrowing

Interesting article republished in in Shelf-Awareness: Pew Study: Library Patrons & E-Borrowing I'm a Library junkie and will borrow a book before buying. If I really like it, THEN I'll buy it. I haven't yet borrowed an e-book. Have you?

Publishing Publishers

Did you know there were two AVALONs? There’s the Avalon Publishing Group, established in 1994, which includes the imprints Avalon Travel Publishing, Carroll & Graf Publishers, Marlowe & Company, Nation Books, Seal Press, Shoemaker & Hoard, and Thunder’s Mouth Press.

And there’s Avalon Books, primarily producing romance, westerns and mysteries...Well, there was Avalon Books. This month, Amazon Publishing has acquired more than 3,000 backlist Avalon titles that will be republished under Amazon’s West Coast Imprints.

Did you know Amazon has imprints?

June Events for Readers and Writers

These are a few interesting writers conferences and conventions happening in June.
The list of U.S. Science Fiction Cons for June is quite extensive; check this link to see many of them.

5-7 June 2012
BookExpo America 2012
Jacob Javitz Center
New York City, NY

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7-8 June
Eighth Annual Clarksville Writers Conference
Clarksville, Tennessee

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8-10 June
5th Annual National Black Book Festival
Doubletree Hotel
Houston, Texas

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12-16 June
Western Writers of America Convention
Albuquerque, New Mexico

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14-17 June
Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference
Corte Madera, CA

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17–18 June
88th Australian Booksellers Association Conference and Trade Exhibition
Sidney, Australia

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18–20 June
Association of American University Presses Annual Meeting
Chicago, IL

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22-25 June
American Library Association Show 2012
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, CA

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28-30 June
2012 Jackson Hole Writers Conference
at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts
Jackson Hole, WY

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Be Productive

Another Ripoff?

Read the WRITERS BEWARE recent post about a new self-publishing venture.
The article's conclusion, although addressing PW specifically, says the basics for authors who are considering any self-pub schemes: "...As it is, authors who choose PW Select Plus are signing up--and paying--for a service based only on a very broad description, which lacks many of the specifics authors should carefully evaluate before signing up for any self-publishing option."
In other words--Get All The Facts!!

April Events For Readers and Writers

APRIL is National Poetry Month

A few other events for this month.

• April 8–14, 2012: National Library Week
   
• April 15–21, 2012: The 11th Annual Cowboy Poetry Week
   
• April 16–18, 2012: London Book Fair
   
• April 20–21, 2012: The 51st Western Heritage Awards
   
• April 20–22, 2012: The 20th annual Pike's Peak Writers Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
   
• April 21–22, 2012: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
   
• April 23, 2012: World Book and Copyright Day

Get involved

Red Adept Review Site Closed

In Mid March, the popular online site Red Adept Reviews, ceased publication. A true loss to the Indie Author. If any of your titles had been reviewed at RAR, and you didn’t grab the actual text you can still do that for a few more weeks. Just type your name, or the title in the search box. Be certain to list all the information with the review (date, reviewer, etc.) so you can use it later. Any ideas who will fill this void?