Welcome to this week’s post and it is definitely one that is jammed packed with more author meltdowns; The internet went quiet and dark for awhile (in some parts) and Apple acting pretty much asstastic again and of course the books to watch out for.

Part 83229227374748292393 of the author meltdowns saga which.is.not.going.away. (THIS is the year for full on meltdowns methinks!) and this week we had pretty much a big doozy from several YA authors again and to break the theme – an editor ragging on a reviewer for a fantasy book review. The first incident involved authors Kiera Cass and Elena Roth discussing PUBLICLY on twitter on how to skew negative reviews on Goodreads – it looks like this was inspired due to Wendy Darling’s review on the social reading site which was a DNF.

Part 8342028293044584399039393939482920204 of the meltdown trend happened at a fantasy book review of Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence which had the editor, Jane Johnson of Voyager, commenting and accusing the reviewer was unfair and that it was a personal attack because Tor lost out during the auction of this book.

And Part 8239292948595959292023034003033729949494949282929298589594 Maggie Stiefvater decided to blog about the whole YA reviewing fiasco (she got caught up on her own drama last year which she says she now regrets over a negative review). In her post she defines that the reviews should have a more academic take and that reviews which have gifs, lolcats and macros are not REAL reviews but are posts about books.

I am not going to comment on these cases – because at this point I am bored by this and the only concern I have is to those reviewers who do want to use lulzy pics or gifs or snark or *gasp* want to write a negative well written  review on a book. Don’t be intimidated by this drama – authors and even editors/agents and their grannies shouldn’t tell you on HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW. The whole point its about YOUR opinions on the book itself whether bad or good. Yes authors will be disappointed that it might be a bad one or happy if its a good one, but most of them would be very HAPPY if the book was reviewed at all. This is a crowded and competitive market and each review good and bad highlights that book and even a bad review can sell a book.

*Off my soap box*

This week also held a global protest on the upcoming potential bills (checkout the Oatmeal’s explanation which is the BEST) to combat piracy. SOPA/PIPA has been getting a huge critical backlash and with good reason because it can potentially censor the internet and to prosecute ANYONE who just links to sites that holds copyright infringement and the definition for that is REALLY broad. Leading sites like Wikipaedia and Reddit went dark for 24 hours and quite a few sites including book bloggers joined in the protest. It also must have worked because over 100 senators/congress members have dropped support for it – also it didn’t help MANY was caught with infringing copyright which ironically SOPA/PIPA would punish those who accidentally link or use copyright work.

Ironically on Thursday – the US indicted one of the biggest download hosting sites Megaupload citing they caused five hundred million dollars of loss to the entertainment industry.  Anonymous retaliated soon after by shutting down a mega list of sites including the US Gov sites, Universal and a few others. I sense a huge battle for the control of the internet in the future.

If there are any authors or wannabe writers thinking of publishing with Apple ibooks – LOOK AT THE details of the EULA very clearly because this could potentially screw your book distribution of the book especially for other sites – This ZDnet article clarifies and highlights that not only Apple has to accept the book if it fits its terms but it is not compatible with other epub formats. I think this is one of the worse terms to distributing a book and that is saying a lot.

News in Brief:

Avon books  is looking for people to complete this consumer survey about their books and service!

The studio Lionsgate has purchased Summit Entertainment and now owns the rights to the Twilight franchise. You guys there might be MOAR movies and even a tv series! One word: RENESMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Fans of Thea Harrison – MARCH IS A GOOD MONTH! Not only we get the 4th full Elder series book but Thea has signed up to do another novella which is based in the Elder races world with Samhain. It is called Natural Evil.

And finally Grand Central Publishing is entering the digital only market. They are looking for submissions from agent and non agented authors  for novellas and full books. They will also publish backlist books as well as new ones – the imprint will be called Forever Yours.

Now for the covers to watch out for!

First up  Jennifer Ashley’s The Duke’s Perfect Wife – I love this series so much!

 

Lady Eleanor Ramsay is the only one who knows the truth about Hart Mackenzie. Once his fiancee, she is the sole woman to whom he could ever pour out his heart.

Hart has it all–a dukedom, wealth, power, influence, whatever he desires. Every woman wants him–his seductive skills are legendary. But Hart has sacrificed much to keep his brothers safe, first from their brutal father, and then from the world. He’s also suffered loss–his wife, his infant son, and the woman he loved with all his heart though he realized it too late.

Now, Eleanor has reappeared on Hart’s doorstep, with scandalous nude photographs of Hart taken long ago. Intrigued by the challenge in her blue eyes–and aroused by her charming, no-nonsense determination–Hart wonders if his young love has come to ruin him . . . or save him.

Jennifer Estep’s 3rd Mythos Academy YA series – I will be reviewing the 2nd  book really soon!

 

 

I’ve seen so many freaky things since I started attending Mythos Academy last fall. I know I’m supposed to be a fearless warrior, but most of the time, I feel like I’m just waiting for the next Bad, Bad Thing to happen. Like someone trying to kill me — again.

Everyone at Mythos Academy knows me as Gwen Frost, the Gypsy girl who uses her psychometry magic to find lost objects — and who just may be dating Logan Quinn, the hottest guy in school. But I’m also the girl the Reapers of Chaos want dead in the worst way. The Reapers are the baddest of the bad, the people who murdered my mom. So why do they have it in for me? It turns out my mom hid a powerful artifact called the Helheim Dagger before she died. Now, the Reapers will do anything to get it back. They think I know where the dagger is hidden, but this is one thing I can’t use my magic to find. All I do know is that the Reapers are coming for me — and I’m in for the fight of my life.

And finally – this cover caught my eye and the premise sounds fantastic and so imaginative! One of the best covers I’ve seen this year!

Sara Beth Durst’s Vessel.

 

In a desert land where serpents made of unbreakable glass fly through the sky and wolves made of only sand hunt within storms, Liyana is destined to be a vessel, to sacrifice herself so that her clan’s goddess can inhabit her body… but her goddess never comes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to leave it as an open thread this week on any of the stuff I highlighted which consists of a lot of interesting things! Have a great weekend guys! 

About Has

Has is a bookaholic and feeds her addiction whenever she can. She usually can be found lost in a Romance or an Urban Fantasy novel. Her favourite sub genres are Paranormal, Fantasy and some Scifi. Her most treasured authors are, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Ann Aguirre, Lisa Kleypas and Tamora Pierce. She loves that discovery of finding a brand new author and falling in love with their books. Has also blogs a The Book Pushers - Book chatter and reviews

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