In the News The Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

This week's tidbits include an announcement of a new literary agency, stats on the best times to tweet, J.K. Rowling's Pottermore unveiled, a (possibly controversial or maybe just a little annoying) piece on writing YA, e-book price points, new words added to the OED, and a NY Times magazine feature on Amanda Hocking.


Red Fox Literary Opens for Business (PW)
This week agent Karen Grencik and editor Abigail Samoun officially launched their new venture, Red Fox Literary, an agency representing children’s book authors and illustrators and based out of Shell Beach, Calif. The agency currently represents more than 30 authors and illustrators, including Diane Browning, Adam Gustavson, Ginger Rue, Teri Sloat, and Jan Wahl.

Infographic Reveals The Best Times To Post To Twitter & Facebook (Social Times)
What is the best time to share content on social networks for maximum exposure? Should you post first thing in the morning? During lunch? At the end of the workday when people are getting ready to head home? And how do you account for the fact that you may have potential customers living in different time zones? A new infographic from KISSmetrics answers these questions and more with a new infographic called ‘The Science of Social Timing.’

Pottermore: Interesting But Not a Game Changer (PW)
When J.K. Rowling revealed Thursday that her previously announced Pottermore Web site would be a portal to get additional stories and information about the Harry Potter universe, as well as the sole place to buy heretofore unavailable e-book editions of the Potter titles, the media started churning out stories not only about Rowling’s marketing prowess but how her move might have larger ramifications for the publishing business. But many people who work in publishing think that as interesting as Pottermore is, the endeavor says less about the future of book publishing than about the singular status of a very wealthy author who has the inclination and means to build her own brand.

Ten iPad Apps Based On Classic Children’s Book (eBookNewser)
Kids are growing up reading on iPads today. In hopes that they’ll still read classic books, we’ve made a list of ten iPad books apps based on classic children’s books. This list is not comprehensive. Help us expand it by adding your favorite kids book apps in the comments.

Writing Young-Adult Fiction: It's better than going to the prom. (Slate)
Young-adult books are being sold to an audience that can't vote, yet they're being written by people commonly referred to on the Internet as "the olds." We should know. We're two of them. Both of us have made our living writing. One of us in journalism (Grady) and the other in literary fiction (Katie). But then Katie's publisher pitched her on doing a Y.A. series, mostly because she's somewhat immature and teenager-ish anyway, so why not turn that weakness into a strength?

Come Meet the Author, but Open Your Wallet (NY Times)
Independent bookstores, squeezed by competition from Internet retailers like Amazon, have long done something their online brethren cannot emulate: author events. And now many bookstores say they have no choice but to capitalize on this grand tradition. They are charging admission.

 7 eBook Price Points Defended (GalleyCat)
How much should an eBook cost? To give publishers and authors some guidance, we’ve collected spirited defenses of seven different eBook prices–choose the price that works best for your writing. According to a new and unscientific poll, Nathan Bransford found that 51 percent of his readers thought eBooks should be priced between $5 and $9.99. What is your favorite price point?

Oxford English Dictionary Adds Auto-Complete, Brain Candy & Gender Reassignment (GalleyCat)
The Oxford English Dictionary has revealed 1,840 newly revised and updated words in its online edition.In all, the famous dictionary has added 98,000 revised and new entries since building an online edition in March 2000. The update added entries for everything from crystal methamphetamine to network neutrality.

Storyseller (NYT Mag)
Amanda Hocking, the star of self-publishing, was sitting in the front seat of her Ford Escape earlier this spring when she spotted a messenger delivering flowers to her home in Austin, Minn. She watched her best friend and roommate, Eric Goldman, get the door. “They’re probably from, like, my mom,” she said as she walked up to her porch. “Or my dad. He always sends flowers.” Inside, Goldman had set the assortment of gerbera daisies and roses on the coffee table. “Who are they from?” Hocking asked. “St. Martin’s Press,” Goldman said. “That’s your new publisher.” That morning, Hocking’s deal with St. Martin’s was announced: $2 million for her next four books, a series she’s calling “Watersong.”

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing-related news I've read during the week that I found interesting or helpful (or, perhaps, fun).

Below you'll find Little, Brown in the news for both Stephenie Meyer's BREE TANNER and publishing GLEE books. The New York Times offers a good rundown of e-readers. If you choose a Kindle, you can now get a waterproof cover just in time for beach season (which sounds so much better than a duo of big Ziplock bags which Jeff Bezoz once said he used for in-the-tub reading). The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards were announced. One prominent editor moved houses and another is tragically without a home after a fire. A writer on Huffington Post reveals how the iPad can make kids smarter. And don't miss agent Nathan Bransford's piece on the rejection letter of the future (spoiler: it is not in a silver lamé envelope delivered by a mail-droid via hovercraft).

Click titles for links to the full articles. Happy Friday and happy reading!

Bree Tanner' Proves Lackluster for Indies (PW)
"While Stephenie Meyer’s publisher is touting strong sales figures out of the gate for her new novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, not everyone in the bookselling community is happy with how the slim title is faring. A number of independent booksellers are complaining that Meyer’s book, which pubbed on June 5, isn’t selling in their stores. This, despite Little, Brown’s news that the book sold more than 350,000 copies in its first two days."

Glee exclusive: Little, Brown to publish books (EW)
"After last night’s Glee finale, you probably thought some of the mania would die down for a bit? Not a chance. Shelf Life has learned that Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has struck a deal with Twentieth Century Fox to publish a line of official Glee-related books. (There are Glee books aplenty out there, but they are all unauthorized.) Little, Brown has multiple book projects in the works for its Glee program; the first to roll off the press will be an original novel called Glee: The Beginning. This prequel to the show, which includes a double-sided poster, will hit stores this August."

Publishing Community Unites to Help Editor After House Fire (GalleyCat)
"Yesterday Sterling Books editor Alyssa Smith lost everything in an apartment fire. To help her friend, Publishers Weekly editor Rose Fox has set up a PayPal site to collect donations from the publishing community."

Apple Unveils iPhone, iBooks Upgrades; Five Million e-Books Downloaded (PW)
"Although books are not necessarily the focus of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers conference in San Francisco—where the new iPhone 4 was unveiled today—Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced several upgrades for the iBook e-book format and several impressive book related upgrades for the new iPhone 4."

Suzanne Murphy Tapped to Head Disney Book Group (PW)
"Suzanne Murphy has been named v-p and publisher of books at Disney Publishing Worldwide. Murphy is arriving from Scholastic, where she was v-p and group publisher of Scholastic Trade; at DPW she will be overseeing all content strategies for books, as well as handling the group's imprints, Disney-Hyperion, Disney-Jump at the Sun, Disney Editions, and Disney Press. Murphy will also handle content for the company's extensive licensing program, as well as digital content strategies. Murphy is replacing Jonathan Yaged, who left DPW in late February."

How iPads Can Make Your Kids Smarter (HuffPo)
"So the verdict's in: Technology is eroding our brains. Or so the two most venerable bastions of print media would have us believe. Nick Carr's article in the Saturday Wall Street Journal, "Does the Internet Make You Dumber?" makes the case from a neurological standpoint, and a recently most-emailed New York Times article, "Your Brain on Computers," accompanied by a photo of a husband and wife absorbed in their iPads at the breakfast table, is upfront in its equation of technology with addictive drugs."

Kids' books: 7 new picture books starring Dad (Seattle Times)
"With Father's Day approaching (June 20 this year), here's a roundup of children's books about dads. The titles include 'The Fathers Are Coming Home' (by the author of 'Goodnight Moon'), 'Oh, Daddy!' and 'Stars Above Us.' This Father's Day, get Dad a present he can share with his children: a picture book. To get you started, here's a look at some new picture books in which dads play a starring role..."

The Rejection Letter of the Future Will Be Silence (And Why This is a Good Thing) (HuffPo)
"One of the more challenging aspects of being a literary agent is dealing with the incredible deluge of submissions that pour in every single day, twenty four hours a day, from all corners of the globe and for every type of project imaginable. I don't keep precise stats on the number I receive (it's hard enough just to answer them all), but in any given year I receive somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 query letters from aspiring authors. Out of those tens of thousands I reject all but a tiny handful of them and take on perhaps three to five clients a year, whose work I then shop to publishers."

Among E-Readers, Competition Heats Up (NYT)
"When Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, introduced the iPad, he bluntly took aim at the rapidly emerging e-reader market. 'Amazon has done a great job' with the Kindle, he said. 'We’re going to stand on their shoulders and go a little bit further.' The iPad’s full-color screen and its ability to browse the Web and run thousands of applications certainly make it more versatile than the Kindle, but Apple is not the only company bringing more than just black-on-white text to readers."

Take Your Kindle Swimming With Its First Waterproof Case (Gizmodo)
"Now you can float on your raft, minus the fear of getting your digital copy of Twilight waterlogged. M-Edge's Guardian case is a bloody expensive $80, but if that means protecting your $260 ereader, then it's well worth it."