Book News Mishmash
Posted Thu, 04/19/12
A mishmash of book news et al, most of which caught my eye this week:
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Final chapter for Ellsworth Mr. Paperback (ebook library programs cited in reasons for closure).
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Nine Writers & Publicists Tell All About Readings & Book Tours.
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Orange Prize for Fiction (UK equivalent to Pulitzer).
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World Book Night (April 23rd).
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Are Self-Published Authors Happier Than Traditionally Published Authors?
And this is such a uniquely practical - and cool - place for a bookshelf:
Pictured above: The new staircase at the NDSU Bookstore at North Dakota State University, Fargo, N.D., was envisioned by a design class that used the book department as a project. Bookstore director Carol Miller said: "When it was finished, I couldn't believe how great it looked and how well they used the slant of the staircase." [Source: Shelf Awareness].
Still in the realm of books, I'm happy to report that Medieval Cuisine has ranked #12 in Amazon's "Cooking, Food & Wine" Kindle category. Since its release in July 2011, the book has consistently been the top seller in the Food Fare Culinary Collection.
On a related note, I placed Medieval Cuisine - along with six other titles from the collection - into Amazon's KDP Select Library, which in essence means I can't sell the specific books through anyone but Amazon as long as I keep them in the program. Royalties are calculated on sales and the number of books "borrowed." I enrolled seven out of thirty-three titles in the program last December just to see how it would play out, and so far have been quite pleased with my monthly share of the select "fund."
My only concern is the subsequent drop in sales of Nook editions in the 33-book Culinary Collection. Just removing seven titles in the collection from available Barnes & Noble books have nearly cut my Nook revenues in half. The Amazon royalties offset the loss, but I'm not truly comfortable with limiting access to the books, especially for those who use the Nook e-reader exclusively. I'm debating whether to remove the specific titles from the KDP Select Library next month, thus making them available in all e-reader formats once again.
The seven e-books involved include German Gourmania, Medieval Cuisine, Mexican Cantina, Polish Kuchina, Savory Spain, Scottish Vivers and Welsh Coginio.
Tags: Books & Reading; Writing