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The romance world is buzzing over biggie Courtney Milan turning down a contract from Harlequin for her next 2 and self-publishing them.  Why?  She gets better terms on the deal.

There was also recent news about Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath signing deals with the new publisher on the block - Amazon. Previously, both had turned their backs on traditional deals with Barry having most recently walked away from a big un.  Why the change?  Better terms from Amazon that will help promote the titles they are self-pubbing. 

A little while back you'll recall that indie phenom Amanda Hocking inked a multi million dollar deal with a big publishing house for 4 books.  Why? She was raking in the money as an indie.  Well, because the terms were better for her.

All of 'em say they'll continue to self-publish as well and Courtney says she may publish with a big house or publisher again. And you know what? Joe and Barry say their deal will help promote and publicize all their books - and that's very true for them and for Amanda and Courtney.

The blogosphere has been buzzing.  Lots of indies are portraying all of 'em as traitors. I've been a big time fan of indies, but you know what?  I cheer for Courtney, Joe, Barry and Amanda.  Because I see this as meaning that finally - at long last- authors are holding the power.  The deal they'll make is the one that is best for them. It may be a big publishing company, the Rebel new powerhouse (Amazon) or going it solo.  Whatever it is, it's long past time that the people producing the work have the power to control how they'll make money with it.

I know that despite all my cheering for indies, I'd look at an offer from Amazon or a big publisher. What I did would be decided by what's best for me and my family.  Despite all the rampant shouting, I think any writer would make the choice the same way - which is just what Joe, Barry, Courtney  and Amanda did.  Which is as it should be.

So the newest wrinkle in the indie revolution is that POWER HAS SHIFTED.  Writers now have "hand."  Joe and Barry's piece phrased this best: "If you're selling eggs, don't piss off your chickens."  

Publishers have long sold the eggs without respecting the chickens.  Now the tide has turned and that's the best possible result of the indie revolution.

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Romance Novels Can Be as Addictive As Pornography?

The piece cites that romance sells more than inspirational/self help, notes that women prefer romantic stories to porn and points out that some women who read romance leave their hubbys - so it's an addiction.

Absurd.  Completely nuts. And that's the Duck Lady sayin' that!

If you're addicted to romance - DON'T TREAT IT, FEED IT - BUY MORE BOOKS & MAKE SURE A LOT OF 'EM ARE OURS!!

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This post is just a quickie.  AOFM may post a better one later today - or maybe not. It's a holiday weekend at Casa de Graham too. 

It's finally happened. E-readers are starting to be priced within even the greatly reduced budgets most of us have today! Buy.com is selling the Aluratek Libra eBook Reader Pro for only $49.99 after a $20.00 rebate. 

I don't own this one but it looks like a great deal.  The E-Reader handles Epub - which is the industry standard in most places. You can buy Epub books at B&N, Sony, KOBO, Smashwords, eHarlequin, Google, All Romance Ebooks and just about everywhere else.  But the unique aspect of this device is that it will handle non-drm mobi files.  Mobi is the Kindle language peeps.  That means that you can also buy from Amazon - but only the ebooks without drm.  A bunch of 'em at Amazon have drm, but not all - so this reader gives access to some of the vast Kindle ebooks. 

It comes pre-loaded with 100 free ebooks and has the epaper technology and supports BMP, JPG, and GIF.

Check it out. If your budget hasn't allowed an E-Reader purchase before, this one might be one of the best bargains around for what you get - universal Epub access and even some limited Kindle availability.  That's big peeps.

Sounds like a lot of value for a mighty affordable price.  This deal may not last so if you're interested, you better put your boogle in high gear and race over to the link to pick one up!!

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This Grey's Finale, "Unaccompanied Minor" had a big ole' meaning that none of the fans were aware of until a day after the episode ended. When Shonda Sunshine revealed the secret, many of the fans were still in shock - a little like those relatives of the plane crash victims. While fans still reeled from the emotional trauma, Sunshine dropped the big one. This epi was written to begin the end for the original cast. Most of the Grey's originals' contracts have only 1 season to go. Some of them, like Ellen Pompeo - Meredith - have indicated that they don't plan to renew.

Sunshine says that's why this epi set next season's focus to be on the original cast members.  This is how the end begins for Grey's Greatest. If imagining Shonda's version of riding off into the sunset doesn't get your creative juices flowing then call the coroner -- you're most likely dead.

So, lets dust off the swami turban and recall where this epi left everyone and imagine how Sunshine may be setting up their exits. Before we begin individual prognostications, it's important to check out the writer's blog, Grey Matter, done by Debora Cahn, who did an ab fab job of writing this tearjerking episode. Debora says that the heartache flu that swept Seattle Grace's favorite couples was caused by something fans have adored about Cristina and Meredith from day one: their independence. If the cause is who they are, then is there a cure? Perhaps Sunshine envisions Mer and Cristina growing into old crusty ladies who can never give enough to a partner to stay in a relationship.

Are Mer and Cristina destined to spend forever alone together, growing ever older and crustier?

...continue reading "This Is How The End Begins For Grey’s Greatest"

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Boogle on over to the Marianne's Blog - All Day, All Night ... Romance Divas. 'Tis my day to blog. You know the song that says You Give Love A Bad Name? Well, I'm blogging about a book that I gave a bad name.

Check out the post and HOLLA back with suggestions for a new title!!

http://alldayallnightromancedivas.blogspot.com/2011/05/title-trouble-rescuing-good-book-with.html

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Published on 2 Comments on Idol Thoughts – Why Can’t The Best Win?

Chris Daughtry. Adam Lambert. Now, James Durbin.

In a lot of folks' opinion, mine included, each was the best of the best of their season. None of them won and only Lambert made it to the finale. Why can't the best performers win American Idol?

The best of the best - those who are great, rather than merely good - well, they tend to be different. The greatest don't grow in the middle of the road. Their lives, their views, and their beliefs don't mirror Middle America. Like their personalities, their staging and performances tend to be over the top.

Since that's how I describe my writing style, I can relate to their over the top styles, even if I only wish I could relate to the performer's overall "greatness." But the bottom line is that the middle of the road is where most of America can be found.

And those folks in the middle - they want an Idol who is like them. So, invariably, that's what they get. The winner of American Idol will be a good singer, a good performer - but not a great one.

At least this year, I was hedging my bets. I voted for James each week, but I also voted for Scotty who is from "right down the road" in Garner, North Carolina. I think that Scotty has a good chance to win Idol, if the curse of my support doesn't ruin his chances. If he wins, I'll be very happy for Scotty and his family. And I'd think he deserved to win - out of the crop that was left.

But the finale won't be the same without the best competing against each other. A James Durbin/Scotty McCreery finale would have been a battle of the best. I think Scotty will be diminished by not having the chance to go against James in the finale.

There's always next year. Is it possible that America will ever recall that if the best of the best didn't win we wouldn't have electricity, the telephone, or penicillin?

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Hey there sweeties, it's the big old fat guy! Guess what? Mary Anne's FINAL INSTALLMENT of the serialized e-book The Duke of Eden is FINALLY AVAILABLE TO YOU, OUR FAITHFUL READERS!

NO MORE WAITING! CLICK HERE TO BUY IT NOW! WOOT!

Of course, I've changed the Complete List of Books page to reflect the newest addition to her growing library of offerings, so if you're a new customer you can cruise through that page to see if you want anything else to load up on your e-reader, including our first book bundle and the other 2 parts of Duke.

For all of you return customers, thank you so very much for your support. Mary Anne has been very appreciative of your continued patience and your enjoyment of her work. She's got a couple of other things she wants to do with The Duke of Eden novel itself, and then she wants to move on to some other exciting writing and bundling for you, the readers.

So stay tuned, and stay ducky!

AOFM out.

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As promised, this is a short note to advise that I've just published Part 3 of Duke, the final part - to Amazon. It should be available very soon.

I'll now take the full book and do an edit. It will be published to Amazon sometime fairly soon - within the next 4-7 days, most likely. The full may include some edits based on reader comments - so don't miss it.

I'll let you know when the full book is published. But Part 3 will be up as soon as Amazon's KDP wizards work their magic.

Let me know what you think of the ending!

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This is a quick update for the fairly large number of folks waiting for the last part of The Duke Of Eden which I've been serializing on Amazon. Last night, about 10 pm, I finally typed those precious words - THE END.

Today I'll be editing Part 3. When it's done, it'll go to Hubby The Magnificent who will wave digital chicken bones over it to get it formatted. Then we'll post Part 3 - exclusively to Amazon - and we'll update the blog to let fans know it's on the way.

After that, I'll go back to do a full edit of the entire manuscript. It'll take longer, but when it's done, we'll publish it on Amazon. Then Hubby The Magnificent gets out his heavy-duty digital Voodoo equipment to format it for Smashwords. The meatgrinder there is tough, boys and girls. After we have it formatted and it's ground into their system, it'll be available at SW and distributed to B&N, Apple, Sony and Kobo.

But good news - in the very immediate future - sometime between tomorrow and Wednesday (Good Faith Estimate) - fans will be able to pick up the last part, Part 3, of The Duke of Eden. It could go up and be available as early as late tonight, but that would be a bit of a stretch since we don't have the Professional Voodoo package to work with and yours truly is a slow editor!!!

But Part 3 of The Duke Of Eden will be appearing on Amazon VERY, VERY SOON.

Keep your eyes on this blog because when we hit publish, we'll let you know right here.

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Hey guys, the big guy here.

Think back to almost a year ago when I told you that the tablet computer (the iPad, et al) was nothing really new. It was simply a culmination of several computing and communication technologies that had finally become affordable and reliable enough to put into one marketable device.

Well, today Mary Anne found proof of this via Twitter, in the form of a fascinating video made by the Knight Ridder News company back in 1994. In it they describe what they believed the future of newspapers would look like: a tablet device called an "electronic newspaper". The device they depict has many uncanny resemblances to, you guessed it, an iPad.

This is an amazing feat of prognostication, considering that the first recognizable Windows web browser (Mosaic) had been invented only a year prior to the video's release, and there was really no such thing as Internet video or animation at that time.

...continue reading "AOFM-MWU – Flashback: 1994’s Concept of Tablet Computers"