Saturday, May 30, 2009

Romance Novel Sales Continue to Rise

Check out this article on Msn.com about why romance novels are good therapy in today's economy. A bright spot indeed. (The lady they interview is from Festus, MO).

Thursday, May 28, 2009

St. Charles County Book Fair Starts Tomorrow

My writer friend Tricia Sanders reminded me that tomorrow starts the book bonanza known as the St. Charles Friends of the Library Book Fair. It costs $5 for admission on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday are free. Bring a bag to fill on Sunday because books are $5 per bag the last day.

Non-profits and schools can get free books the last day: ***Non Profits and Schools are invited to come in at 2:00pm on Sunday and get as many books that they can handle for FREE!! Contact Lynn Reichmuth at 636-441-2300 ext 1596 for more information

Event Sponsor:
St. Charles County Library District

When:
Fri, May 29, 2009
Sat, May 30, 2009
Sun, May 31, 2009

Mark your calendars for the 2009 Friends Book Fair! It will be held at the St. Charles Convention Center - One Convention Center Plaza in St. Charles. Over 250,000 books, records, sets & magazines are available for purchase. Admission for Friday only - $5 or get in Free with a Friends membership (paid by May 27) - Children under 12 free. For more information, call (636) 441-2300.

(Most items offered at these prices.)
Paperbacks-50 cents -- Oversize paperbacks-$1.00 -- Hardbacks-$2.00 -- Magazines-10 cents
Children's & Teen books -- 25 cents
250,000+ books, records, sets & magazines including sets of National Geographic to sell!
Customers may pay using Mastercard or Visa (minumum charge amount $10.00), checks or cash.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Saturday Writers Meeting May 30

The deadline for submissions has passed, but I learn a tremendous amount by listening to the critques and hearing the work read aloud.

From the Website:

When: May 30, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Saturday Writers presents, "The First 300." Ladies and Gentlemen, start up your writing engines!!!!!

According to most editors and agents, a writer has to capture their attention right away-in the first paragraph or the first page-but for sure by the first 300 words. Members of Saturday Writers submitted their fiction, non-fiction, or essays, up to 300 words (double spaced) which will be read during the May meeting and critiqued by a panel of editors. And, you don't have to submit anything to attend the meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend!!!

Where: St. Peters Community and Arts Center
1035 St. Peters Howell Road (just off of Mid Rivers Mall Drive), St. Peters, MO. Phone 636-397-6903 for directions.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Coffee and Critique June Schedule 2009

From Donna: Here's the schedule for this month for Coffee and Critique:

Jun 2 and 16 - 10:00 a.m. till noon
June 9 and 23 - 6:30 p.m. till 8:30 p.m.

June 30 - Fifth Tuesday--we will talk about if we will meet

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Ebook Readers and The Evolution of Ebooks

Check out the great video over at AbsoluteWrite that's a panel discussion on ebooks from O'Reilly 2009 Tools of Change for Publishing featuring Harlequin ebook rep Malle Vallik, Samhain editor Angela James, Booksquare's Kassia Krozser and Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell.

It discusses ebook devices, ebook consumers (ladies, that's us), and what they want from an ebook in the future. They whip out more ebook electronics than a 21st century O.K. Corral, so if you've kicked around buying an ebook reader, this is a nice way to get opinions from some avid readers on which ones work best.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Industry Trends Blog from Writer's Digest Editor Jane Friedman

There Are No Rules, Jane Friedman's blog, has a nice wrap up of the Penwriters Conference that includes a section on industry trends in fiction (scroll down to see it). Agents are saying "Yes" to romance, dark stories, and the inspirational. "Noish" to mysteries and young adult.

She also has an insightful article on "Writers and Recession" that discusses not only how the economic downturn is affecting writers, but how the publishing industry itself is changing - and there's no going back to the days of print only, newspapers and hard copies. Good scouts should get prepared, boys and girls.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Is Your Blog Kindle-Worthy? Amazon Thinks So.

Publisher's Weekly is reporting that now anyone can sell their blog through Amazon's Kindle just by signing up. Amazon will keep 70% of any revenue from subscribers, and the rest goes to you. It says most blog subscriptions run about $.99 to $1.99 per month, with the price determined by Amazon. So your blog is sent wirelessly to the Kindle of anyone who subscribes.

Read the Washington Post article for more details.

The article also mentions a Instapaper, which let's you save web pages for later reading. It looks kinda cool, so you may want to check it out if you're like me and always forget where you left that great article you were meaning to read, or the piece of research you want to examine in-depth later.

Sorry about the no pictures. My computer doesn't seem to be recognizing jpeg files at the moment. Sigh. *Shakes clueless nontechy head*

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Upcoming Contest Deadlines From Poets and Writers

Check out some of the upcoming writing contest deadlines at Poets and Writers website, including Boulevard and River Styx's poetry contests.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Friday Fun: Editing Letter

Found this link on Editorial Ass's blog. Thanks, moonrat. It's a nice flashback to the 80s along with writer humor.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Workshop: Ozark Writers and Illustrators for Children

Ozark Writers and Illustrators for Children is hosting a one day workshop on July 11, 2009. You can print the brochure and send it in to register. It's only $40 if you sign up early, and it includes lunch.

The workshop will be held at the Lebanon-Laclede County library in Lebanon, MO. Speakers include J.B. Cheaney, Vicki Grove, and Louise Jackson.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Samhain Publishing Seeks Space Opera Romance Novellas

The Fifth Element
The Galaxy Express reports that Samhain Publishing is calling for Space Opera Romance stories to be published in 2010.

The novellas should be 25,000 - 30,000 words and submissions are due by August 10, 2009.

I say its time to pop in The Fifth Element, Serenity, and Star Wars and then let them stew for 24 hours until a story develops. Yeah. It could be one messed up Space Opera by then. Fun!