The state of publishing
So, I read this morning on yet another agent blog that book sales were down 25% last year. So first - PEOPLE BUY SOME DAMN BOOKS, I CAN'T DO THE SHOPPING FOR ALL OF US!
Now that I have that off my chest, it looks like the dwindling sales are making them look more closely at what they acquire, and apparently 'commercial women's fiction' is the big thing. So for those of us that aren't card-carrying members of Oprah's Book Club, we are likely to be a bit out of luck (at least in the near future). Don't get me wrong, I have a nice list of current authors who have yet to disappoint me with a new release, but it would be nice to see more of my writing group friends get contracts and have their books on shelves (beyond that, it is always fun to discover a new author whose work I can fall in love with).
But I will get out of the house today and try to pick up Sharon Ashwood's new book - Ravenous (here's hoping the local store actually has a copy). I'm going to do my best to support those books outside OBC, since they are the ones I actually want to read.
/Rant off
In other news, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards are underway (as of this moment, you can still enter). I will update you if I (or any of my writing group friends) makes it through to the quarterfinals (my understanding is we won't hear anything before that). Please keep your fingers crossed.
Now that I have that off my chest, it looks like the dwindling sales are making them look more closely at what they acquire, and apparently 'commercial women's fiction' is the big thing. So for those of us that aren't card-carrying members of Oprah's Book Club, we are likely to be a bit out of luck (at least in the near future). Don't get me wrong, I have a nice list of current authors who have yet to disappoint me with a new release, but it would be nice to see more of my writing group friends get contracts and have their books on shelves (beyond that, it is always fun to discover a new author whose work I can fall in love with).
But I will get out of the house today and try to pick up Sharon Ashwood's new book - Ravenous (here's hoping the local store actually has a copy). I'm going to do my best to support those books outside OBC, since they are the ones I actually want to read.
/Rant off
In other news, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards are underway (as of this moment, you can still enter). I will update you if I (or any of my writing group friends) makes it through to the quarterfinals (my understanding is we won't hear anything before that). Please keep your fingers crossed.