Do you like to read digital shorts? The website and company Thin Reads launched today, dedicated entirely to the eBook singles marketplace.
Thin Reads will feature reviews, news, interviews, writer profiles and analysis of eBook singles. The company has created a database of over 700 singles, tracking digital books released since 2010. Thin Reads also released a few fascinating data points:
*54% of all e-book singles available in the database are listed as Original, which means they were created especially as short works of non-fiction or fiction intended to be read on an electronic platform for its original release.
*12% of all e-book singles available in the database are listed as Encore, which means they were originally published or presented previously in another format. 2% of all e-book singles in the database are listed as Encore+, which means that new or updated content was added to a story that was previously published.
* 31% of e-book singles in the database are fiction. 69% are non-fiction. Narrative non-fiction accounted for 20% of all e-book singles in the database.
continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
For your weekend reading pleasure, here are our top stories of the week, including disappearing books, a Wal-Mart library and Tom Cruise playing Lee Child‘s thriller hero, Jack Reacher (video embedded above).
Click here to sign up for GalleyCat’s daily email newsletter, getting all our publishing stories, book deal news, videos, podcasts, interviews, and writing advice in one place.
1. Tom Cruise Plays Jack Reacher in New Trailer
2. Wal-Mart Converted into a Library
3. Free Sites to Promote Your eBook
4. CJ Lyons Sweeps Self-Published Bestseller List with 99-Cent Sale
5. Twitter Cheat Sheet for Writers
6. Book That Disappears As You Read
7. The Lost History of Fifty Shades of Grey
8. 5 Ways to Promote Your Book Right Now
9. J. K. Rowling eBook Will Cost $19.99
10. Jennifer Weiner on Social Media, Blogging & Writing About Controversial Issues
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
David Guterson has won the Literary Review‘s Bad Sex in Literature Award for his novel, Ed King. The shortlist included books by Lee Child, Haruki Murakami and James Frey.
Washington Post book critic Ron Charles actually predicted the win in his review of the novel in early November.
Here’s more from Charles’ review: “I wouldn’t blame you for skipping this book entirely, but if you must, turn to page 236. What follows are three pages that might very well win the Literary Review’s annual Bad Sex Award, including my personal ‘ick’ moment: ‘Ed smelled vulnerably digestive.’”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
I was lucky enough to be part of a Skype conference call with author Lee Child a few weeks ago--I know, you're a little jealous. To tell you the truth, I didn't talk much. There were a few other debut authors who were asking these really smart questions, so I mostly listened.
The funny thing? I never thought that joining organizations like International Thriller Writers would do a whole lot, other than maybe make me look like I know what I'm doing. But ITW has this great debut authors program that gives you a boost by helping promote your book, find other newbies, and get advice.
From Lee Child. How cool is that?
Anthony J. Franze wrote up an article about what we learned; check it out here.
I’m going to go ahead and toss the illusion of journalistic objectivity out the window for a second, and put this on the table: I love ThrillerFest.
We sponsor it every year, and in 2011 I attended for the first time. I was blown away. There are craft sessions taught by bestselling writers. Lively panels. A pitch slam. Some of the most fun cocktail parties in publishing (I was reduced to a giggling teenager when I saw Margaret Atwood wandering around).
Perhaps the best part: Everyone is approachable, from the debut authors to the heavy hitters.
This year, ThrillerFest is July 11-14 in New York. Of the dozens and dozens of authors on hand, Jack Higgins, R.L. Stine, Lee Child, Catherine Coulter, John Sandford, Ann Rule, Richard North Patterson and Karin Slaughter will be there.
And here’s the scoop on how you can be part of it. Executive director Kimberley Howe is giving one WD reader a Day Pass for Friday, July 13—one of the best days of the conference. The pass includes full access to all ThrillerFest programming for the day, as well as a ticket to the Love is Murder cocktail party that celebrates the release of the International Thriller Writers’ third anthology.
Event programming runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and includes spotlight interviews with Lee Child and Catherine Coulter. Former FBI and counterterrorism expert David Major will also share his tales from his days at the White House.
… So how do you win the pass? Easy enough.
In the comments section below, just tell us who your favorite thriller writer is by 2 p.m. next Friday. We’ll put all the names of the commenters into a hat and randomly draw one winner. We’ll announce the winner Monday, July 19.
Good luck! Hope to see you there.
For more on ThrillerFest, visit thrillerfest.com.
Now, back to being objective and such.
Zachary Petit is an award-winning journalist, the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, and the co-author of A Year of Writing Prompts: 366 Story Ideas for Honing Your Craft and Eliminating Writer’s Block.
Like what you read from WD online? Don’t miss an issue in print!
For your weekend reading pleasure, here are our top stories of the week, including disappearing books, a Wal-Mart library and Tom Cruise playing Lee Child‘s thriller hero, Jack Reacher (video embedded above).
Click here to sign up for GalleyCat’s daily email newsletter, getting all our publishing stories, book deal news, videos, podcasts, interviews, and writing advice in one place.
1. Tom Cruise Plays Jack Reacher in New Trailer
2. Wal-Mart Converted into a Library
3. Free Sites to Promote Your eBook
4. CJ Lyons Sweeps Self-Published Bestseller List with 99-Cent Sale
5. Twitter Cheat Sheet for Writers
6. Book That Disappears As You Read
7. The Lost History of Fifty Shades of Grey
8. 5 Ways to Promote Your Book Right Now
9. J. K. Rowling eBook Will Cost $19.99
10. Jennifer Weiner on Social Media, Blogging & Writing About Controversial Issues
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
BEA Panels
There is so much to do, see, and find at BEA that I wasn't able to attend all the talks and panels that I would have liked. One of the highlights of my BEA 2010 was the Thrillers panel with Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher novels, Karen Slaughter, author of Broken
, and Justin Cronin, author of The Passage
, on Thursday.
I attended the Thrillers panel to hear
Lee Child speak. I'd attended his talk about writing series characters during
Thrillerfest 2009. He was funny, insightful, and made curious about his character Jack Reacher. I quickly read my first Jack Reacher novel, and then proceeded to read the other 12 in the order that I could get them! The book signing of Lee Child's 14th novel,
61 Hours: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher Novels)
was another highpoint for me!
I'll write more about
61 Hours, but I thought this is the perfect time to introduce Jack Reacher. A self-described "military brat," Reacher's father was a U.S. Marine and his mother was French. Reacher was born in Berlin and grew up on military bases all over the world (including in a base outside of Manila in the Philippines). Although people called his brother "Joe", everyone always called him "Reacher." Even his mother calls him by his last name.
Lee Child was careful not to give too much details, so each person paints his own picture of Jack Reacher. We do know him from the reactions that other people have, as well as from some basic details. The first impression people have of Jack Reacher is his size: hands as big as chickens....
Reacher's vitals:
1 Comments on The Thriller Panel at BEA 2010: Lee Child, Karin Slaughter & Justin Cronin, last added: 6/5/2010
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Do blurbs matter when you buy a book?
Authors Janet Evanovich and Kathryn Stockett have each sold more than a million Kindle books, joining what Amazon has termed the “Kindle Million Club.”
I have thought about joining Sister in Crime but there is no local chapter-or at least one close enough to participate in anything.
I'm a member of SinC, but I'm also without a local chapter. That makes it a lot less useful...
To be fair, I didn't join ITW, MWA, and SCBWI until I had the book deal. It felt wrong to be an associate member (or whatever they call it), plus the fees are steep for some.
I've been told that the SinC online group, The Guppies, is quite active and a good place for people without a local chapter. Which is now the case in Colorado. There is a $12 a year membership fee in addition to the SinC $40 annual fee.
I haven't taken the plunge either. Or, I should say, DB hasn't. ;-)
Actually, the online chapter of SinC has folded (or at least the loop has)... I don't know how useful belonging to them is for others. I think I'll let my membership lapse, sorry to say.