Jane Friedman, Writer's Digest boss-blogger at There Are No Rules, shares this statistic from the BEA sessions this week:

The computer is still biggest e-reading device (37%); then Kindle (32%); iPhone (10%); iPad (3% after 3 weeks in market!).

Once people start using/buying e-books, they don't go back & tend to become more exclusive to e-books.

Are your reading habits changing? Are you happy enough with a hard drive full of books, instead of an inviting pile of books on your nightstand? Not me. I read and review plenty of ebooks, but I want the inviting titles, colors, and shapes enticing me to hold a book and read the words.

Children's books go interactive!

This is extraordinary....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gew68Qj5kxw





This is especially relevant for authors of books for children. It looks like the days of a simple picture book are gone forever! Let's hope not...

As AOL News recently reported, of the top 16 book apps for the iPad, a whopping 13 of them are children's books, a revealing statistic about the potential that multimedia e-reading devices have for the children's book genre. Many of these book apps are intended for the younger set, with activities that help children learn words and read sentences, engaging them in the plot of the story. For those too young to read, apps offer animated illustrations the reader can touch and move while a recording of the story plays, and children can record themselves reading as they progress in their ability. One app even lets parents make a recording of themselves reading the story on a web cam. Then, when the child reads the story on the iPad, the video recording appears in the corner of the screen - even when they aren't there, parents can read to their children.

These apps are not all simple illustrated storybooks. Some of them use amazing animation and allow children to interact with the story at an unprecedented level. Many book videos demonstrating the capabilities of children's book apps have been posted, including a montage of anticipated books for various age levels from Penguin and an impressive look at the Alice in Wonderland book app.


Info courtesy of bookhitch.com

How to get an agent to keep reading...

Writer's Digest had loads of free e-newsletters, and they often focus on a productive strategy to help you get ahead. Here for example are the seven reasons agents stop reading. You can see the full article here.


1. Generic beginnings
2. Slow beginnings
3. Trying too hard
4. TMI (Too Much Information)
5. Clichés
6. Loss of Focus
7. Unrealistic internal narrative

Now that you know what makes them stop reading, rework your proposal to improve your odds of success.

Self-Published book award list

Use this list of Writer's Digest Self-Published Award winners to do a little reverse engineering. Look at the winning books in your category.

1. Go to the author's web site or blog. How well do they promote the book?
2. Go to Facebook or LinkedIn and search for the author's profile. Are they highly visible? Do they have a large following?
3. What can you learn from their marketing strategy? They didn't become a Writer's Digest award winner without some effort.
4. What should you do to get your work known?

Writers Digest's 17th Annual
Self-Published Book Awards winners :

Children's Books
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_kids17/

Genre Fiction
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_genre17/

Humor Writing
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_humor17/

Inspirational Writing
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_insp17/

Middle-Grade/Young Adult
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_youngadult17/

Life Stories
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_life17/

Mainstream Fiction
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_main17/

Nonfiction
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_non17/

Poetry
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_poetry17/

Reference Books
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/self_pub_ref17/

Thanks to Rowdy at FWOI for these links.

Highlight text from web pages

Last week, I did a demo of i-lighter.com, software that highlights text on web pages.
You save the highlights on a dashboard screen, and can retrieve them, see where they came from, and sort them.

Shortly after the demo, we learned the i-lighter company is closing down, due to lack of profit. Unless someone comes along (are you listening Google?) and buys them this week, the product will cease to work.

So, not to disappoint... I found WebNotes, which does the same thing. It's more complex, but you can enjoy the basic, free features and get more complicated if you are using it for grant research or a large paper.

Women's History Month

Barnes & Noble.com has a wonderful collection of videos and interviews, celebrating Women's History Month here.

Hunting for an agent? Three good links...

I'm enjoying an agent panel this morning at the Univ. Wisconsin Milwaukee Spring Writer's Festival. Here are links to the three recommended sites for those seeking an agent:

AgentQuery
Association of Author's Representatives
AuthorAdvance.com

Giving in to blow-out card...

The fantasy: A year of Vogue magazine and an attractive bag. Not jut an ordinary tote bag, but what looked like a Vogue-ish big red textured leather bag. Big enough for my books, journal and notebook computer. How could I not.

The reality: Said bag arrived not in a handsome box via UPS but in an envelope - not even 9 x 12 - just a 6 inch envelope. Unless there's such a thing as inflatable leather, I'm about to be disappointed. The bag turns out to be vinyl [yes, I know... was I really expecting leather via blow-out card?] Yes, I was, but not $400 Vogue-leather, but maybe $40 Target or Kohl's .... And unlike the blow-out card deception, the bag is a very dorky size - like Easter purses in the 1950's.

So now I'm saddled with a year of Vogue - which, if you're not a fan of high fashion, is generally about 60 pages of full-color glossy ads before you even get to the Table of Contents. There are then about three decent articles among 200+ pages of expensive photo shoots, outrageous models, wearing "the season's all-important new braid," and eye makeup that would embarrass a Bird of Paradise.

You won't see the bag any time soon. I talked my sister into taking it to store her paintbrushes and art supplies.

Go forth and blog...

Last week, the Associated Press reported that Pope Benedict XVI urged priests to use multimedia tools, to do what we do --- have a presence where are readers are.

The Pope, though, according to the article, also “praised new ways of communicating as a "gift to humanity" when used to foster friendship and understanding."

"That doesn't mean that (every priest) must open a blog or a Web site. It means that the church and the faithful must engage in this ministry in a digital world," Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office, told reporters. "At some point, a balance will be found." Celli, 68, said that young priests would have no trouble following the pope's message, but, he joked, "those who have a certain age will struggle a bit more."

Sisters: An Anthology, radio clips

If you were unable to attend our Celebration of Sisters event at The Book Stall on Saturday, we have an upcoming Sisters: An Anthology salon scheduled with the Women's Exchange. Date will be posted as details are worked out.

For a treat, in the interim, enjoy this brief audio clip from WFCR Radio
http://www.wfcr.org/

Amazon offers royalties on Kindle book sales

This from MediaBistro...

Amazon Announces 70 Percent Royalty Option for Kindle Publishing
By Jason Boog on Jan 20, 2010 10:23 AM

This morning, eBookNewser broke the news that starting on June 30, 2010, Amazon (AMZN) will offer a new 70 percent royalty option for works published on the Kindle.

Here's the official language: "For each Kindle book sold, authors and publishers who choose the new 70 percent royalty option will receive 70 percent of list price, net of delivery costs. This new option will be in addition to and will not replace the existing DTP standard royalty option."

The new revenue split resembles a rumor about the Apple Tablet from last December. Some insiders believe that Apple (AAPL) will strike a 30/70 revenue split with publishers.

Agent's role: Or a roll of the dice?

Here are a few imiportant excerpts from a Wall St. Journal article today entitled: The Death of the Slush Pile

These excerpts point out the critical value of author marketing. That's why one-third of Release Your Writing covers the marketing strategies authors need, to keep their book alive, and why I started the Pajama Marketing blog as well. Keep visiting for ideas, and keep your marketing active. Look how critical it is today: (emphasis mine)

excerpts from The Death of The Slush Pile, WSJ

Even in the Web era, getting in the door is tougher than ever
• Don't be a barista waiting for someone to stumble upon your genius. "Our editors travel, they get around. They look at writer's conferences, at MFA programs. They look at magazine articles and at blogs. That's what editors do, they sniff things out from so many different sources." —Carol Schneider, Random House Publishing Group

• Contests! "I'm always wary to recommend to writers that they go to competitions too much because there are fees and they can end up spending a lot of money. But the ones that do get industry attention are really fantastic opportunities to network and to make important relationships." —Hannah Minghella, president of production, Sony Animation Studios, formerly in development at Miramax

A primary aim of the slush pile used to be to discover unpublished voices. But today, writing talent isn't necessarily enough. It helps to have a big-media affiliation, or be effective on TV. "We are being more selective in taking on clients because the publishers are demanding much more from the authors than ever before," says Laurence J. Kirshbaum, former CEO of Time Warner Book Group and now an agent. "From a publisher's standpoint, the marketing considerations, especially on non-fiction, now often outweigh the editorial ones."

In 2008. HarperCollins launched Authonomy.com, a Web slush pile. Writers can upload their manuscripts, readers vote for their favorites, and HarperCollins editors read the five highest-rated manuscripts each month. About 10,000 manuscripts have been loaded so far and HarperCollins has bought four.

--

A motivation boost from Writer's Digest

It's very cold in Chicago this morning. Even the little teddy bear in his pj's can't keep warm over at Pajama Marketing. So go visit him http://wp.me/pw4DH-5p and learn about the special Writer's Digest promotion. They are signing people up, just til Jan. 31, for a year of Writer's Market online edition for $29.99 - the price they used way back in 2000.

If you need motivation, need to research the markets, find ideas, read publishing industry news, that's the place to be.

Besides, Mr. Bear needs a hug over there!

Helen Gallagher

Agent reports success with eBay auction

For those following the July 5th post "Agent auctions her service on eBay..." you'll be glad to know the agent visited our blog and posted of her success with this innovative way to receive submissions.

Click here to read my original July 5th post, and Irene's comments,
and then click here to visit her web site. She is continuing to accept manuscripts through the auction method each month.

If you have a manuscript ready for critique, don't miss the opportunity for feedback. All proceeds support her fund-raising efforts for the Foundation Fighting Blindness and the Deafness Research Foundation.

A win-win-win ...

Let us know of your success.