Thanks to everyone who has made this biennial post a favorite of the blog. Whether you are a seasoned novelist or a newbie author, I wish you good luck on your work in progress. Now on to word counts for traditionally published and indie authors.
Continue reading “2020 Do word counts count?”Blog
I’ve had the time to delve into my TBR since the world slowed down. Just started Eric Asher’s Vesik series. Been wanting to read these for a while, but with 14 books available and four more scheduled for release through July, it was a bit daunting. Days Gone Bad, the first book has been so much fun so far, so I’m glad I made the leap. Thinking this could be one of my new fave series. If you want to pick them up, look for the box sets so you can save a little $.
The interesting part is that I bought this first one as an audiobook. For me, audiobooks are entertainment for my commute, an alternative to the radio during the drive. So why am I buying an audiobook when my state’s stay-at-home order has me locked down?
It all boils down to basic mom math. When two teenage boys spend exponentially greater time in a space than they did before, that space is exponentially times messier, exponentially increasing cleaning time and decreasing reading time.
For me, an audiobook is the perfect solution; allowing me to keep up with housework while enjoying a good story hands free. This audiobook purchase was a core behavioral change. Though I listened to audiobooks regularly, for me, it was a big shift to start listening in places other than the car. And since I spend more time outside of the car than in, it would also make sense that I could potentially increase the volume of audiobooks I listen to in a year. And that epiphany led me to wonder … are preferred formats changing for other readers too?
eBooks are reportedly seeing holiday like sales. Audible is giving away free audiobooks for kids. And authors are trying to decide how to launch their new book without the traditional tour. The new normal is flipping publishing on its head.
WBUR Boston reports that libraries in their area have poured more money than ever before into ebooks after closing their doors because of the virus. In one day, Watertown Free Public Library spent $10,000 in ebooks and audiobooks. Another library recorded a 65% increase in requests for ebooks, according to the article.
According to Statista.com, worldwide people are reading/listening to books 17% more in a study that looked at media consumption since the virus. That number is 11% more looking at just the US and 7% more in the UK. By the way, the top category in the study was news, closely followed by streaming TV, which should not surprise anyone.
And while ebooks and audiobooks are getting a boost, independent bookstores who have no distribution in place for these formats are struggling. Many have laid off employees and closed their doors, unsure if they will reopen. In “The World of books braces for a newly ominous future“, the New York Times takes a look at the indie sellers as well as struggling Barnes and Noble.
So is this the final breath for print? Not so fast. According to the article, “How the coronavirus will change book publishing, now and forever” published by the LA Times in March, the virus has led to a growing demand for print books from online retailers. Yes, print. The article cites that the American Booksellers Association’s members sites saw a 250% increase in traffic, while newcomer Bookshop.org reported a 400% increase in sales.
Insiders are also curious to see how behemoth releases this year like Suzanne Collins’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Stephenie Meyers’s Midnight Sun will affect book sales with their much anticipated followings. Their raving fans will likely want that print edition in their hands and on their shelves.
Based on the numbers, all book sales are on the increase as everyone searches for entertainment in the safety of their home. Print has shifted from in-store sales to online, but still seems to be decreasing slightly; while sales of ebooks and audiobooks soar. For now, there are few reports differentiating ebooks and audiobooks. It will be interesting to see how this changes as time passes.
Photo credit: Perfecto Capucine on Unsplash
If you had told me months ago that I wouldn’t be working on any banquets or major events in May, I would have laughed in your face.
Seriously.
It would have looked something like this.
I had a scholarship banquet and corporate annual meeting on my plate (those I do every year), a product launch, PLUS my son is graduating high school. I was on the fast train to a super stressful May. But now…
Continue reading “How is the virus changing book sales?”Crazy week, right?
For those of us in Ohio, coronavirus concern exploded this week with the announcement that schools are dismissed for the next three weeks–four with spring break–and a ban on events of 100 persons or more. This news was followed by today’s restriction of restaurants to carry-out/delivery only and a warning that daycare facilities would be closed soon.
At this point, I welcome a little distraction from the world around me. So, here we go with the things I know…
The second book in the newest duology by the incomparable Casey Bond hit shelves on Friday. And before the end of the first day, The Omen of Stones, reached the #1 spot in Amazon YA Royalty Fairy Tales and Folklore category.
Quinn Loftis revealed a beautiful new cover for Luna of Mine. I have to admin, this one is my favorite of the Grey Wolves redesigns.
Chanda Hahn announced that Of Sea and Song, book 3 in her Daughters of Eville fairy tales series, will be releasing June 16. We talked about Book 1, Of Beast and Beauty on the Halloween episode of On the Same Page.
Yesterday, L.L. Hunter revealed the cover for Reign of Secrets, an epic YA fantasy romance which drops June 30.
On Wednesday, the fabulous Stacey Rourke announced finalists for this year’s Once Upon A Book Awards. It’s stiff competition for Author of the Year with Tish Thawer, Kelly Martin, Heather Hildenbrand, and Karen Lynch! More category finalists on the fan page.
What I’m fangirling over…
I’ve watched The Magicians on Syfy since the beginning, but it’s only been the last few seasons that I’ve become a real fan. Season Three’s key quest reeled me in, and I’m still hooked.
Currently in its Fifth and final season, writers have kept the surprises rolling, starting with a new foe gloriously played by Sean Maguire, who also portrayed Robin Hood on Once Upon A Time.
Season Five has already had such fun moments as a 300-year jump in Fillory, psycho Dean Fogg, Penny as dean, Eliot and Margot body switch, the crew MOVING the moon, Julia with an unexpected “development”, and Finn with knives. Oh, I so love Finn.
And this week, I was already geeking out over seeing Penny 40 again, but then the trailer for next week popped up with Ember! Ember!! I am freaking out, guys.
Last season’s goodbye episode is a permanent staple on my DVR, and I’ll be watching these last few episodes with wonder. If you watch too, send me your thoughts.
Until next time, Happy Reading and stay healthy!!
Bryna
In today’s post, I geek out a little about Sarah J. Maas, but first…
Here we go with the stuff I know…
”The hands of the clock,
They tick and they tock.”
Today, Stacey Rourke released Pursuing Madness, the Alice themed third installment in her popular Unfortunate Souls Chronicles. The YA twisted fairy tales that tell the villians’ stories are a must read.
At the end of February, Quinn Loftis released the first in her new Nature Hunters series, called Bound by Earth. As you can imagine, Furball Nation (Loftis fans) is on cloud nine over the book’s not one, but two, hot-yet-infuriating book boyfriends.
I’m still celebrating over the announcement that author Suzy Turner, who took a writing hiatus to become an Instagram style influencer, is back at the keyboard. Her new Winterbourne Witches series will be available soon. In the meantime, new subscribers to her newsletter get Willow Tree Farm, a novella from the series for free.
Don’t forget that What Rachel Did by Kelly Martin and Girl Who Cried War by Heather Hildenbrand and Bam Shepherd both debuted this week. Support these indies!
What I’m excited about in print…
Also debuting this week was perhaps the most anticipated YA book of the year, House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. The book is the first in what will be the Crescent City series, which promises suspense, mystery, and lots and lots of romance set in an original, magical world. A girl set on avenging the deaths of her friends by the hands of a demon. A fallen angel set on making those who have enslaved him pay.
This book has all the makings for an epic to rival ACOTAR. ACOTAR! Can you imagine?
Clear your calendar though. House clocks in at a whopping 816 pages for the hardcover and nearly 28 hours for the audiobook.
I’m super excited to delve in, so, I’m out for now. That’s all I know, tell me what you know in the comments.
It’s such an exciting time, my little mogdocs. My head is rushing with everything currently going on, and I want to share. So I am. I’m sharing like never before.
Expect a new post from me every week (if I forget, give me a nudge). In them, I will share tidbits about stuff I know, my work in progress, books/TV/movies that I’m currently fangirling over, and any other wonderfluff that wants to pour from my keyboard.
In today’s post, I’m gushing over Chris Wood and geeking out about Locke and Key, but first…
Here we go with the stuff I know…
Tomorrow, author Casey Bond will release the trailer for The Omen of Stones, the follow-up to When Wishes Bleed. I got an early peek today and it gave me serious chills. Omen drops March 13th.
Misty Provencher recently dropped paranormal romance Out Cold. Reading it now and completely absorbed. It’s one of those that gets into your head, and you think about it long after you’ve set the book down. Her next book, a middle grade monster novel called, Something Exquisite, is due out March 27th.
Our gal Misty has been super busy. In addition to the above two books, she and daughter, Sydney, collaborated as author and illustrator (respectively) on When I was Weird, a children’s book that helps little ones deal with bullying. So wish I had this for my boys when they were little.
Heather Hildenbrand and Bam Shepherd delighted everyone with the cover reveal for Girl Who Cried War. This is the third book in crazy cool Girl Who Cried Werewolf series. The covers are becoming known for the clever sayings on the protagonist’s t-shirts. This cover’s “Shift Happens” had me rolling. War releases March 3rd.
Kelly Martin‘s giddy video reveal of the What Rachel Did paperback had me doing a giddy dance too. Monster Ivy published the middle grade horror novel with beautiful artwork in the interior. Pick up Rachel at bookstores starting March 3rd.
This week, I quietly released new covers for the Midnight Guardian series. Pleased as punch (yes, I’m bringing that phrase back) with the new covers that better convey that they are clean YA novels suitable for pre-teen readers.
Works in progress update…
Wrong Side of the Song will be the third Mothman Mysteries book. When Eric trips over a corpse in the woods, Bridget guilts him into following a stolen clue that leads them to a siren in the school show choir! It’s young Harry Dresden meets Pitch Perfect in a hilarious, mystery thrill ride.
The sirens in the Mothverse (did I just coin a new word?) are not aliens like Mothman, but native to Earth with powers over water and song. Look for (finally) some serious heat between Eric and Bridget as the siren’s seductive influence brings our favorite book blogger out of her shell. Song is roughly 50% complete with release anticipated later this year.
Simultaneously with Song, I’m also working on a yet-to-be-named project. Super excited about this idea, but I’m only about 4% in, so it’s not far enough along to share too many details yet. I can tell you that it is YA paranormal suspense/romance and will likely be a duology.
Dark fairy academy … changelings … closet monsters.
To quote Forrest Gump, “That is all I’ve got to say about that” for now.
What I’m excited about on screen this week…
Locke and Key. Seriously, how did I not know this existed before? LOVED the first season on Netflix and have the graphic novels by Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) on my TBR. Cause you know the book is gonna be even better.
After the murder of their father, the Locke family moves into the father’s ancestral home, Key House. The children, three of them in varying teen years, start discovering magical keys, each with a unique, single power. It isn’t long before something dark, lurking in the creepy well house on the property, plots to steal the keys and unleash very bad things.
I loved it for its creativity. And as crazy as it sounds, I also loved it for the keys. For whatever reason (OCD?), I get really into stories where I have to keep track of a set number of objects/people. With Harry Potter it was horcruxes. With Hunger Games it was tributes. With Umbrella Academy, it was siblings.
And speaking of siblings, it’s time to talk about my favorite evil twin. Since he first stepped on the screen as Kai in Vampire Diaries, I’ve become a total Chris Wood fan. What can I say? The guy knows how to play a villain.
It seems to me that it would be almost impossible to pull off that character. Think about it. You have to have perfect comedic timing in one second and deliver believable, psychopathic lines in the next. But Wood nails it every time with a perfect mix of charm and chaos.
Needless to say, I’ve been thrilled to see him reprise the role on Legacies this month. But, I was absolutely screaming and jumping up and down when he popped up on this week’s SuperGirl in a what-if episode that had him back as Mon-EL. Significant because I believe that his portrayal of this character has been some of the best performances in SG‘s run. Certainly the most dramatic, uplifting, and heart-wrenching. As much as he knows how to play the perfect villain, he has also demonstrated the skills to be the perfect hero. Never too much Chris! Welcome back to these shows. Your CW fans missed you.
That’s all I know for now. 😉 Let me know what you know in the comments.