Author News - July 2009

Author Stafford L. Battle (AfroCyberspace) has won 2nd prize for his story 'The Legend of Shango' in the First Annual Sword and Soul Short Story Competition on BlackScienceFictionSociety.com and his story 'The Lynching' is published this month in issue nine of the online speculative fiction magazine: Expanded Horizons.

What Sells in Today's Children's Book Market?

The saga of Percy Jackson in ex-teacher Rick Riordan's Last Olympian - that's what sells. It is the fifth in the series published by Disney Hyperion aimed at the 9 to 12 years of age market.

While others say it may be derivative, children love this modern day view of old myths. Like the Harry Potter series, it empowers the youngsters with the abilities to save their world. Mr. Riordan remembered just how enamored children are of the Mount Olympus myths and gods, and has created a series that is sure to hit the big screen.

So how does this affect you as a writer? It seems everyone wants to write a book for children because they think it's an easy ride. This could not be further from the truth. Many parents know that it takes more than bright colors and an idea to keep a child's attention.

Simply put - write what children want to read. You may have a particular story to tell, however if you are interested in selling a lot of books you have got to write for your audience's preferences. Find what they like and make the story or lesson fit into that creative suit. Mr. Riordan has done a fantastic job of this idea.

Don't hate, emulate.

Click here to read a book excerpt of The Last Olympian in the Wall Street Journal.

Time Experiments with RSS Feed Personalized Magazines

mine's experimental run is free, with a 36-page print edition available to the first 31,000 respondents and an online version available to 200,000 others.

On Our Way to the BEA!

This will be the first year we are exhibiting. Booth 2142 - somebody play that number! It's been hectic, but I think we will get through. We will be introducing our initial catalog for 2009 - four books.

We will be blogging, twittering (!?), and video interviewing all weekend. Check us out daily for fresh news.

Here's hoping this weekend in New York is fun and productive.

Federal City View

Federal City View
Ralph Spencer
978-0-9818262-3-3
$27.95
June 2009
Color Photographs
Paperback
Photography of the Nations's Capital.A photo essay of Washington, D.C. from a different point of view.


Before "Chocolate City" there was "Federal City" — destination of
freedman, aid station for Union soldiers, and mecca for dreamers.
Article One of the United States Constitution provides for a federal
district, distinct from the states, to serve as the permanent national capital.

The centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United
States are located in the District, as are many of the nation’s monuments
and museums. The United States Congress has supreme authority over
Washington, D.C.; residents of the city therefore have less self-governance
than residents of the states.

The District has a non-voting at-large Congressional
delegate, but no senators. D.C. residents could not vote in presidential
elections until 1961. D.C. has always had a significant African American
population and this is reflected in the architecture and scenery of the city.

2008 Shows Extraordinary Growth in "On Demand" Publishing

Bowker released their 2008 U.S. book publishing statistics today and it showed that short run printing and "On Demand" or POD have increased while traditional book publishing has declined.

On Demand books showed a 132% increase over last year's numbers, while traditional publishing decreased by 3.2%.

"Our statistics for 2008 benchmark an historic development in the U.S. book publishing industry as we crossed a point last year in which On Demand and short-run books exceeded the number of traditional books entering the marketplace,"

said Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publisher services for New Providence, N.J.-based Bowker.

According to Gallagher, the Bowker data reveals the top five categories for U.S. book production in 2008 were:

1. Fiction (47,541 new titles)
2. Juveniles (29,438)
3. Sociology/Economics (24,423)
4. Religion (16,847)
5. Science (13,555)

Read the full story on the What They Think website.

Quick Book Ideas - Let Your Fans Do It

David Pogue, New York Times columnist and publisher of the Missing Manual series is creating his next book by compiling the responses to his Twitter entries by his 200,000+ followers.

The World According to Twitter will contain the best responses to questions that he poses over a period of several weeks. His website calls it

". . .a charming, irresistible, extremely hilarious little book, a book that couldn’t be written in any other way."

Here's the real kicker - if he publishs one of your tweets, he will send the tweeter a free, personally inscribed copy of the book. He will also credit responses in the book, using the tweeter's Twitter name.