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KC wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Since I've been such a good girl, surviving yet another school year and all that, I've rewarded myself by ordering some... print books!

Now I'm practically hopping from foot to foo..."

Thank you for the tip, KC! I haven't read Josephine Tey before, but your conversation about those books was more than a recommendation. ;-) I'll be sure to read them in that order too then! :-)

This week I read City Mouse, Under The Sun, and The Naughty Boy (you'd need to read The Good Boy first), and am currently reading Julie Bozza's The Apothecary's Garden.

I just started Written in the Stars by Alix Bekins. She always manages something offbeat.

Susinok wrote: "I just started Written in the Stars by Alix Bekins. She always manages something offbeat."

I enjoyed that book, lots of smiles, and some giggling out loud.

Aleksandr wrote: "The idea is, I think, to boost sales of other books (frontlist or backlist) of the same author. Freebies can lead to a sales spike of the other books from the same author."

It can work if you've got a good sized backlist -- and you're giving away quality work for a limited time. But I see people with no real backlist giving away amateur-hour work for free forever.

That's not going to pay off.

Becky wrote: "I've definitely read freebies, or books borrowed from the library or Kindle lending program, and then bought further books from the author. But I think it would work much better for them as a stra..."

Sad but true.

Ije the TweetAway Queen wrote: "Becky wrote: "I've definitely read freebies, or books borrowed from the library or Kindle lending program, and then bought further books from the author. But I think it would work much better for ..."

Blurbs are probably the first and foremost thing that captures my attention. I am more and more leery of authors I don't know though. And reviews do nothing for me unless they are overwhelmingly positive or negative -- A LOT of readers have chimed in.

K.Z. wrote: "Well, yikes, this has been a depressing discussion all around. I don't know if DSP is planning a "Tweetaway" for Mongrel when its sequel is released this summer, but I'm starting to think I should ..."

You have a solid reputation and a good sized backlist. You're an author who can gain traction from a smart giveaway.

I'm not saying all giveaways are bad. I'm just saying they don't work like they used to, and that too many authors are slapping a zero value price tag on their work and then posting pitiful earnings at Jessewave's. Is it possible there's a correlation there? I think so.

K.Z. wrote: "You know, it's not as if I'm married to that house. I've had another one in my sights for a while, and Loose Id, too, remains one of my preferred publishers. And it's not as if I think any publishe..."

I wouldn't say they had shady business practices. I think they are very well organized when it comes to social media, including their reader reviews -- but careful calculation isn't by definition a flaw. And joining big lists to promote their own books and authors isn't exactly unheard of in the world of publishing.

As far as their authors and books. They have some of the best and worst authors in the genre.

The one unqualified criticism I have is their editing is universally awful. The books that are well-edited are due to the authors, and that's very clear from listening to the authors. If an author is good at self-editing, Dreamspinner could be a great publishing partner.

Marge wrote: "I buy the extra books because I want them, but also to reward the entity giving the sale. For example, whenever Josh has announced a sale on his books somewhere, I always try to buy one or two more at the same time. Again, because I want them (Dear Santa, I want them ALL!), but also to let him know it works. ;-)..."

I like to give books away. I like to "treat" readers. But I want it to be a treat, I want it to be special. I mean, if you have ice cream for breakfast every day, you start taking ice cream for granted. ;-D

Johanna wrote: "Thank you for mentioning this. I adored Jace. I didn't like Something Like Winter, but I'm going to have to give Jace's story a chance.
"

I finished Something Like Autumn yesterday and just adored it! Though I did have to go back to SLS and double check a couple of the scenes to see how they played out from Ben's POV (and re-read the end after sobbing like a crazy person). But frankly, I think it's my favorite one of the series. I think Jay Bell is getting better and better as a writer, so it's interesting to see the original story getting more well rounded. I hope some of the additional information from Winter & Autumn are included when they make the movie.

I'll sign it!

In need of a comfort read right now, only I don't know what to pick. Sigh. Will have to think on it a bit before heading to bed. Should get back to my belated regularly scheduled reading tomorrow.

I have the oddest comfort reads ever. I'm sure I must. Reading Kari's Spoils of War. Needed something shortish and this fit the bill.

I finished Bozza's The Apothecary's Garden and Marshall Thorton's Boystown 5: Murder Book � amazing, not-easy-reading books. Very different from each other, but both driven by strong narrative voices. Murder Book has Nick's first-person, gritty, tough-guy-bleeding voice. The Apothecary's Garden is third-person, but clearly from the gentle, refined, cautious POV of Hilary. Emotional reads, one gut-punching, the other sweetly bittersweet.

I just finished Still by Mary Calmes. It was about a couple drifting apart after 17 years, separation, and re-connecting.

One of those, you don't know what you have until it's gone stories.

It just underlines the fact that a lasting relationship is work and requires effort. A happily ever after doesn't just happen, you have to keep working at it.

Susinok wrote: "I just finished Still by Mary Calmes. It was about a couple drifting apart after 17 years, separation, and re-connecting.

One of those, you don't know what you have until it's gone stories.

It ju..."

That's on my wishlist for if we ever recover from buying a fridge... I love stories like that, where an established relationship has to deal with change and comes out from it stronger...Somehow, it's even more *hopeful* to me than a new/first love story. There's something about the acknowledgement that HEA is really, at best, only HFN in real life. Jobs change. Homes change. Kids come and go. Friends and family die, move, get sick, get old; sometimes a relationship crumbles under the pressure. I like thinking that, even if DH & I are completely different people now than we were 10 years ago, and we'll be even MORE different in another 10-ish when all the kids are finally through high school... somehow, we may still be able to revive the seeds of what brought us together and plant a new garden.

Susinok wrote: "I just finished Still by Mary Calmes. It was about a couple drifting apart after 17 years, separation, and re-connecting.

One of those, you don't know what you have until it's gone stories.

It ju..."

I read that a week ago and really liked it. I'm a sucker for a Mary Calmes book lol.

I'm reading Still now. Enjoying it.

I need to read more of Thornton's books. I read the first one for our BOM and got to listen/watch as he read a portion of that book two months ago, but haven't read beyond that one yet.

I've also never read Calms. But the description of that book does sound good. Existing relationships can be just as romantic as fresh ones, but are rarely explored in romance novels. I remember reading Regularly Scheduled Life and really enjoying it.

I got tired of waiting on my slow library to order the rest of Kizuna and bought it myself the other day. I also bought the rest of After School Nightmare even though I haven't even read the first three volumes I bought. As they're out of print, I figured I'd better not wait until they're hard to find. Also, it takes no time at all to read manga, so better to be prepared now with the whole set than have to wait until later!

Susinok wrote: "I just finished Still by Mary Calmes. It was about a couple drifting apart after 17 years, separation, and re-connecting.

One of those, you don't know what you have until it's gone stories.

It ju..."


That's a theme I really enjoy in stories.

Jordan wrote: "I got tired of waiting on my slow library to order the rest of Kizuna and bought it myself the other day. I also bought the rest of After School Nightmare even though I haven't even read the first ..."

How are you liking Kizuna?

Jordan wrote: "I'm not planning to go nuts with this. It'll be one scene without direct quotes or anything. But the guys will likely drop a few character names or minor plot points from the first chapter only.

..."

Not legal advice or anything, but this should be well within fair use.

K.Z. wrote: "But damn, continually reading about how every DSP author sucks (except, of course, the popular ones), and the company routinely engages in shady and/or sloppy practices, and anybody who's still with them must be a clueless piece of shit really does wear on me. "

I have noticed that Dreamspinner books get reviewed on Jessewave pretty much like every other publisher's (similar star ratings and so on). I don't know that their rep is all that bad except among insiders, especially authors. I doubt most readers even notice who published what book.

They also sell well: six of the top gay romance books at Amazon are Dreamspinner, considerably more than any other publisher:



My feeling is that people should change publishers if they want something different (especially different editing). But the rest of this is inside baseball.

Charming wrote: "K.Z. wrote: "But damn, continually reading about how every DSP author sucks (except, of course, the popular ones), and the company routinely engages in shady and/or sloppy practices, and anybody wh..."


I think as far as literary quality, Dreamspinner has one of the widest ranges. Meaning usually a publisher who publishes stuff as bad as some of theirs doesn't also publish stuff as good as some of theirs. If you see what I mean?

I assume there has to be some criteria for publication and there must be some attempt at editing too. They pay for lovely covers and they know how to market. They're clearly successful at what they do.

Keep in mind that DSP is the preeminent publisher of m/m romance for a reason. They know, and genuinely value, their target audience. This isn't some generic erotic-romance house that treats m/m fiction as a little niche hidden behind shelves brimming with het romance. They produce gay fiction exclusively, and in every subgenre imaginable. They also reward their readers with regular sales and giveaways. So they've earned a place at the top.

In addition to their focus, what got me interested in DSP was their lack of elitism. They didn't have a "submission by invitation only" policy like MLR and Amber Allure, didn't seem as unapproachable as Lethe, didn't seem as snooty as Samhain. Nobody wants to be treated like a second-class citizen, yet some publishers and editors have a tendency to treat all but their favored authors that way. To say it's off-putting is an understatement.

Dreamspinner might not be perfect (who is?) but they have my and plenty of other writers' everlasting gratitude.

I finally read First You Fall.

I bought it in in 2009 and abandoned it after the first pages because in my eyes the MC Kevin was too funny for his own good. Now I decided to try again. This time I wasn't bothered by this, but by several other things:

- repeated contempt for a fat woman
- the idea that everybody should be young and with a perfect body
- the mystery had too many twists at the end (view spoiler)[ with every criminal confessing their crimes one nicely after the other (hide spoiler)] - and the last one was really unnecessary (view spoiler)[the bad, bad lesbian did it (hide spoiler)]
- in fact women in general don't come out well.

It's 2.5 stars and I rounded it, but now that I think of it, maybe I should make it 2 instead of 3 stars. I'll sleep on it ;-).

Anyway, another paperback for Manchester...

Antonella wrote: "I finally read First You Fall.

I bought it in in 2009 and abandoned it after the first pages because in my eyes the MC Kevin was too funny for his own good. Now I decided to try again. This time ..."

I guess you won't want to have my Third You Die, if I'll bring it to Manchester... ;-)

Johanna wrote: "I guess you won't want to have my Third You Die, if I'll bring it to Manchester... ;-) "

No! But if someone could bring the second we would offer a nice package ;-)

Antonella wrote: "I finally read First You Fall.

I bought it in in 2009 and abandoned it after the first pages because in my eyes the MC Kevin was too funny for his own good. Now I decided to try again. This time ..."

I enjoyed the Kevin Connor series. It's silly, but in a way that works for me. A bit Stephanie Plum, The Early Years. I didn't appreciate the fat-hate in book one either, but I don't remember that being an issue in books 2 or 3.

Becky wrote: "I didn't appreciate the fat-hate in book one either, but I don't remember that being an issue in books 2 or 3."

In that case I would have started a collect to pay a therapy for the author ;-)).

Josh - I read the first book and loved it! The character with the long black hair and glasses is gorgeous too, which certainly doesn't hurt! But I haven't gotten the second book yet. I have a sneaky feeling the library didn't order it yet. Since its an adult book I have no control over the ordering of it. But since I wanted to stare at the one guy who's name I've forgotten, I thought buying it would be best.

Good to know about Still. I'll keep that in mind.

As for Kevin Connor, I liked First You Fall much better than the second book where I didn't see much of a mystery for a very long time. I'm debating getting the third book, but I don't know if I will or not.

The first three books by Nava arrived today. Bought it used. Won't get to it for awhile, but it looks really good!

I'm appalled by the tiny fraction of good mystery book I've read. So many authors I've never heard of. It's rather embarrassing actually. I need to remedy this situation. Stat! Lol.

Jordan wrote: "Good to know about Still. I'll keep that in mind.

As for Kevin Connor, I liked First You Fall much better than the second book where I didn't see much of a mystery for a very long time. I'm debati..."

Adrien has some excellent recommendations for mysteries, especially in A Dangerous Thing :-)

Lol, that is very true! And it's a good excuse to reread AE to pick up all those titles. I knew I shoulda been writing those down. But I was never one for taking notes in class. The info either sunk in, or it didn't. One would think I'd have learned my lesson by now, eh? ... Guess not. ;-)

Jordan wrote: "Lol, that is very true! And it's a good excuse to reread AE to pick up all those titles. I knew I shoulda been writing those down. But I was never one for taking notes in class. The info either sun..."

I started a list on a re-read last year, and then I got distracted and just read. :P The only title I can remember off the top of my head is China House, and that's because I read it last weekend.

Liade wrote: "I'm currently re-reading (for the umpteenth time) Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers and guess what I found:

“Your mother, Bunter? I didn’t know you had one. I always imagined you were turned out..."

I adore this story- one of my very favorites

And I like that mystery series SJ Rozan writes with Lydia Chin and Bill Smith- she does alternating POVs in alternate books, and I find myself arguing if I like Lydia's or Bill's books better--(I think Lydia's)

Antonella wrote: "I finally read First You Fall.

I bought it in in 2009 and abandoned it after the first pages because in my eyes the MC Kevin was too funny for his own good. Now I decided to try again. This time..."

It's ages since I read it, but I enjoyed it. I have to admit that I don't remember the points which concerned you - maybe they were intended to make the point that the main character was very young and self-absorbed?

I just remember that it was amusing and that I was pleased when the sequel came out. I do remember that I didn't like the third book as much, mainly because I found his mother irritating.

Jordan wrote: "I'm appalled by the tiny fraction of good mystery book I've read. So many authors I've never heard of. It's rather embarrassing actually. I need to remedy this situation. Stat! Lol. ..."

Jordan - this is a mystery which I enjoyed very much:
Brushback by Jamie Scofield. It was also published in 2009, and although it's described as no 1 in a series I've never been able to find a sequel. I keep looking!

Hj wrote: "Antonella wrote: "I finally read First You Fall.

I bought it in in 2009 and abandoned it after the first pages because in my eyes the MC Kevin was too funny for his own good. Now I decided to try..."

I admit to reading and enjoying all three books, but they should probably not be taken too seriously, I guess. :)

Anne wrote: "I admit to reading and enjoying all three books, but they should probably not be taken too seriously, I guess. :) "

I don't know. Try substituting a gay man to the fat woman: I bet not many will find it funny...

Jordan wrote: "Lol, that is very true! And it's a good excuse to reread AE to pick up all those titles. I knew I shoulda been writing those down. But I was never one for taking notes in class. The info either sun..."

Well, it took me three reads to jot everything down, and finally managed with the print version, most are nicely bundled towards the end of chapter 3.
:-)

Antonella wrote: "Anne wrote: "I admit to reading and enjoying all three books, but they should probably not be taken too seriously, I guess. :) "

I don't know. Try substituting a gay man to the fat woman: I bet no..."

I don't remember much about the book, but you are probably right, it seems that some things are easier to get away with as targets for jokes than other, fat women and middle aged women in particular, perhaps. We are the last frontier for jokes.. ;)

ETA: I probably (surely) was a little too flippant in my response. There is no doubt that there are some kind of people it is easier to get away with targeting than others, and if you are a woman and does not fall within the narrow perimeters accepted by Hollywood and other trend setters for what is acceptable (which means young, thin and rich) you are easy prey. And generally, at least here, there is a tendency to be very body conscious, people are obsessed with calories and exercising and being thin, and if you fall outside this narrow view of "normalcy" it is probably your own fault, you have no self-control and deserve to be despised.

And after a certain age, you become invisible.

I enjoyed First You Fall. The two were OK. Odd, I didn't process the fat woman thing.

Next two

Carlita wrote: "I enjoyed First You Fall. The two were OK. Odd, I didn't process the fat woman thing."

My thoughts exactly.

Anne wrote: "Hj wrote: "Antonella wrote: "I finally read First You Fall.

I bought it in in 2009 and abandoned it after the first pages because in my eyes the MC Kevin was too funny for his own good. Now I dec..."

I also loved the three books. They were tongue in cheek and campy and not to be taken seriously.

I also read Brushback and it was a good mystery. I don't think the author is writing anymore, so even if it says series, it's not going to continue. Not sure where I heard that.

I am reading Raining Men by Rick R. Reed. This one is a really good about the character's personal journey out of sex addiction and low self esteem to be able to have a relationship. So far no romance, but lots of not sexy meaningless sex. I am not sure if it's HEA or if it ends at the point where he can HAVE an HEA, but so far it's very good. I like inner struggle books. To me they are always more poignant than external conflict.

Susinok wrote: "I also read Brushback and it was a good mystery. I don't think the author is writing anymore, so even if it says series, it's not going to continue. Not sure where I heard that...."

I was rather dreading that was the case, given that it's been four years. It's a shame, because I thought it was very good, good enough that I made a particular note to look out for more.

I read Like Pizza and Beer, A Casual Weekend Thing, and Half a Million Dead Cannibals. I started Guardian today. Yep, I'm all over the place with my TBR list. : )