So, I’m reading this newsletter on plain language and the decline in newspaper readership.  Don’t ask.  Anyway…the point wandered from circulation issues to a change in how readers get their news to how stupid readers are.  The bottom line can be summed up in this sentence: 
The truth is, many newspapers have become too difficult [...]

Basic question:  how much promotion is too much.
Janet Evanovich may be the only member of her family writing but the rest of the clan is involved in what has become The Janet Evanovich Publishing Machine.  According to this article, Evanovich enlists the assistance of her daughter, son and husband to help with all aspects of [...]

My general concern about Harlequin is that it’s trying to be too many things to too many people.  The expansion into women’s fiction, fantasy, older romance, and now epic romance, while shutting down its old standards - well, let’s just say the choices made about how and where resources are expended don’t always make sense.  [...]

I conducted my weekly skim  of the New York Times Book Review on Sunday. Since a new issue of Entertainment Weekly didn’t land at my house on Saturday thanks to last week’s double issue, I had to focus on something else.  One of the reviews was for It’s All Right Now by Charles Chadwick.  The [...]

A few months back a heavy promotional push started for Kyra Davis and her new book Sex, Murder and a Double Latte.  The book is displayed prominently in bookstores and has been featured in a few magazines.  Each time I see her name - and that happens pretty often - I think: gee, I have [...]

Tracy Sprayberry’s blog follows her road to publication, complete with all the doubt, frustration and, yeah, envy that goes along with it.  Her post from Thursday is a bit of a rant but she manages to express what most of us have felt from time to time in the writing business.  In fact, I had [...]

A friend pointed me in the direction of this article from Zug.com about writing romance… then ducked for cover.  It’s called, How To Write A Trashy Romance Novel: Part the First.  And, yes, there is a Part The Second and so on. Now, let’s all keep our sense of humor.  This is meant to be [...]

I’m all for getting feisty about an issue.  For fighting society’s ills and all that. But, since the villain of the moment in this instance appears to be chick lit, I’ll pass.  Now, I admit to hating the name.  Chick lit.  Annoying, yes.  But, some articles and a good deal of internet chatter go another [...]

Lori Foster has a feature on her message board where folks can write in and ask questions of Kate Duffy of Kensington Publishing.  Even better, Kate stops by and actually answers the questions.  Who knew.  Two recent inquiries related to Kensington and ebooks.  Ebook publishing is one of those subjects about which I have almost [...]

This week’s review of Entertainment Weekly - yes, I know, it’s as disturbing to me as it is to you - was a bit more interesting than usual.  The main theme, to the extent EW has a theme, is best summed up by the article The Must List.  Upon further read, this purports to be [...]