Around the Bookish World: News Week-in-Review

Filed in News , The Smutty Lover Posted on September 30, 2011 @ 2:00 pm 7 comments
This week’s news post is going to be mainly dedicated to the huge announcement by Amazon this week with their new Kindle devices and the long rumoured new tablet, although we also have new covers and book news too!

My twitter feed was alight on Wednesday during Amazon’s news conference about their new devices and tablet and I have to say that the new Kindles look really pretty and Kindle Fire tablet is a great entry to the market.
Amazon unveiled three devices –

The first one was the Kindle Basic Wifi which costs $109 without the special ads and $79 with the ads screensavers. Although it has a smaller memory compared to the Keyboard Kindle (renamed Kindle 3) and battery – it is much lighter and and smaller compared to the Keyboard Kindle. For more tech features and preordering link click here for the US and for the UK which is available for £89.
The Kindle Touch is a touch screen ereader with the latest e-screen tech and holds up to 3500 books. There is a Wifi and a 3G version, however like the Basic Kindle there is different price points. The Wifi only model has two versions with the special ads at $99 and without the ads is $139 while the 3G model with ads is $149 and without is $189. For more details on the these models click here.

The real news was the Kindle Fire, which is pretty similar to the B&N Nook. The Kindle Fire is an Android tablet although it is only open to Amazon’s App platform, however I heard you are able to side load non DRM apps to the device. The price is also pretty sweet at $199 and has an 8 gig storage and a dual processor although it is wifi only. For more details click here.
I think that new cheaper prices even with ads in the screensaver version of the Kindle is a great deal and I suspect that those who have held off buying an ereader will definitely look at the Kindle which will put more pressure on Amazon’s competitior to compete.
Note: The UK and other European countries wont have the other new Kindle devices or the new tablet yet. I suspect that Amazon needs to set up the cloud service here as well as providing online content which involves liscencing agreements which will take time. But since Amazon already has Lovefilm (a Netflix style service) I think Europe will get the other devices rolled in a few years time.

I found this is really interesting that despite falling sales in the UK – sales of print books surpassed £1 billion even though major book high street retailers are finding it difficult and the increasing popularity of ebooks. I suspect that sites like Amazon and The Book Depository are increasing their share for supplying print books as well as ebooks.

Bad news for those who were expecting Harry Potter ebooks, Pottermore has announced they will be pushing back the release dates due to teething problems with the site. It is expected the ebooks will be available around early 2012.
Fans of the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning will have more treats in store, along what I reported a few months ago about more books in the series. Karen Marie Moning has confirmed there will be a graphic novel featuring Mac and Barrons in an all new original story. It will be published by Del Rey although there is no hints on the plot.

After months of editing, designing, contracting, and formatting Musa Publishing launches on October 1, 2011. The E-publisher opens with a large catalogue including Penumbra Speculative Fiction eMag, new works by three bestselling authors, and the full backlist of Aurora Regency, featuring traditional Regency romances and historical fiction.

Penumbra eMag

Penumbra’s inaugural issue is a collection of speculative fiction stories that encompass the arts–the arts we love and revere. Some of these stories deal with the arts we’re familiar with. Some create arts we haven’t thought of and some resurrect arts buried in the depths of the past. And yet, all of these offerings celebrate the creative process, which makes them a fitting theme to launch Penumbra–an enterprise that will showcase the creative work of speculative fiction authors each month with a new collection of works within the genre.


The Martian Alliance 1: The Royal Scam by Gini Koch

Things aren’t what they seem to be when Princess Olivia of Andromeda jumps aboard a spaceship to escape a loveless marriage.

Join the crew of the Hummingbird as they take on the rich, famous and sleazy of the galaxy. They’re also on a long-term secret mission, so it’s a good thing they’re the best con artists, spacers, and roughnecks in the Milky Way, because they need all their skills to pull off this particular Royal Scam.

West with the Wind by Cindi Myers

More than gold awaits two lovers at the end of the trail.

Mariah Tate and her dog, Worthy, persuade veteran guide Campbell Jefferson to let them join his expedition headed to California. Camp can’t say no to the beautiful widow, but his need to protect her soon clashes with her need to keep secrets. Mariah left more than bad memories behind in Pennsylvania and her growing attraction to the stoic but surprisingly sensitive Camp forces her to face up to the consequences of the choices she’s made. Camp doesn’t know what Mariah’s hiding, but he’s determined not to let the only woman who ever made him want to settle down get away. He pursues her across the prairies, through stampedes, Indian raids, desert drought and mountain snows. In the gold camps of California, Camp will discover Mariah’s secret, and prove the love she wants most isn’t out of reach.

And the return to writing after five years for USA Today Bestselling Author

The Estrogen Posse by Sharon De Vita

“The Estrogen Posse is a hoot! I laughed, I cried, I couldn’t put it down! For every woman who needs a pick me up, this is the book for you!”

Janet Evanovich, NYT bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum mystery seriesOnce upon a time Ellie Briotti had a quiet life as a suburban housewife.Until…she confronts her wealthy husband Nicky about doing the pecker polka with another woman, and Nicky tosses Ellie out of his life like some misbehaved household pet.Until…Gram Crackers, her dotty mother begins passing out house keys to homeless bums.Until…Joey, her eleven-year old son starts on a new career path: breaking and entering.Until…Rina, her best friend, a single, successful, entrepreneur learns she’s about to become a mother.Until…Candi, Nicky’s 22-year-old mistress turns up murdered with traces of furniture polish on her bare backside!A rip-roaring ribald mystery about a woman’s journey to discover what she really wants in life. Now, if Ellie can keep her son from becoming a second-story man, while trying to hide everything from the gorgeous cop who’s started sniffing around, Ellie might be able to get a new life.That is—if she doesn’t go to jail for murder first!

Musa has acquired Aurora Regency and Aurora Regency Historicals. Within the next month over forty books in this line will be available to Regency and Historical Romance buffs to enjoy.

Stop by www.MusaPublishing.com check out the books already for sale as well as those coming soon. Over the next few weeks, Musa will offer literature geared for every reader’s tastes. Musa aims to offer well writing, interesting stories, all at a price that doesn’t bite into your check book.

More Gini Koch news: Gini has announced she has sold another two Alien Collective books for 2013, Alien in the House (book 7) is slated for April 2013 and Alien Collective in December 2013. So more adventures of Kitty and Martini to look forward to!

And now for upcoming books/covers to watch out for!

First up Karen Mahoney has posted the cover for the Australian cover for The Wood Queen and I have to say its lush!

Seanan McGuire has unveilled the cover for her upcoming new Incryptid series, the first book Discount Armageddon is slated for early 2012

Nalini Singh has posted the cover for the next Psy/Changeling book, Tangle of Need which is also out next year.

And finally I will leave you this awesome flowchart from NPR about fantasy and scif books – so fun!

So what do you think of the new devices from Amazon? If you haven’t bought an ereader would you be tempted by these new models and cheaper prices?

About Has


Has is a bookaholic and feeds her addiction whenever she can. She usually can be found lost in a Romance or an Urban Fantasy novel. Her favourite sub genres are Paranormal, Fantasy and some Scifi. Her most treasured authors are, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Ann Aguirre, Lisa Kleypas and Tamora Pierce. She loves that discovery of finding a brand new author and falling in love with their books. Has also blogs a The Book Pushers - Book chatter and reviews

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7 Comments

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  • Sullivan McPig September 30, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    so far my notebook still does the job, although i must say an e-reader would be easier to take with me when I travel.

  • Estella September 30, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    I have an original Kindle and am happy with it.

  • mell61 September 30, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    I'm using my hubbys tablet for ebooks, but would love to try the kindle (i like the outdoor read-ability they promote), but local shops have 'dummy' version, so haven't had a chance to actually use one!
    Is it that much to ask to try it out, why have a dummy one to promote selling it!
    Stupid retailers!

  • draconismoi September 30, 2011 at 8:13 pm

    I'm still waiting to buy an ereader since they restrict file types. I either want an industry standard ebook format, or a reader that can handle everything out there.

    Think about it -would the ipod have become so big if it couldn't read standard .mp3s?

  • LSUReader September 30, 2011 at 9:08 pm

    It's good to see improvements in Kindles, but I'm good with last year's model.

    Great news re Gini Koch and her Alien books–love that series! Thanks for the info.

  • JenM October 1, 2011 at 12:20 am

    I'm perfectly happy with my K2, but I have to say, I'm started to hope it will break, just so I can justify getting my hands on the Kindle Touch. My K only has 3G, which doesn't work at my house, so I'd been thinking about getting one with both 3G and WiFi anyway.

  • Alisha (MyNeedToRead) October 5, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    The real cool news for me is the launch of Musa Publishing. I just checked out their site and picked up the first issue of Penumbra eMag, and I'm really excited for what's in store for them. This sounds like my kind of e-publishing outfit.

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