This Week in Book News is a weekly collection of news links about books from around the web with an accompanying commentary by me, which may or may not be completely sarcastic.
This week, it’s ebook mania! The sale of ebooks is becoming a major source of revenue for publishing companies. Publishers looking to cash in on some of the success of self-published authors like EL James are buying up companies which cater to self-publishing authors. and Christian ebooks: are ebooks helping Christian fiction like they helped erotica?
Plus: A comparison of Harry Potter characters in the books and in the movies, and a picture that brings some of our happiest literary dreams to life.
While I love the feel, and the smell, and just the general coolness of having an actual book you can hold in your hands, I do think the increasing popularity of ebooks can be a good thing.
Let me tell you something: It is possible to find good, self-published ebooks. But it’s freaking HARD. Unless you are really in to crappy erotica, or crappy Christian fiction, you are probably not going to find a self-published author you enjoy as much as the guys from the big-name publishers. There’s something to be said for the natural filter of publishing houses.
I’m probably going to avoid a self-published author unless there is a way for me to see a good example of their work, whether it’s through their blog, or an extensive excerpt available on their website. Otherwise, my time and money is too valuable to me to gamble on something that, when I consider the ratio of good books to bad books that I find in self-published works, I probably will not like.
Speaking of crappy erotica and Christian fiction, it seems your Jesus fetish is about as socially acceptable as orgies. Which is: quite acceptable, so long as it’s behind closed doors and you don’t mind taking part in something that makes the rest of us scratch our heads and say “do people still do that?”
Basically: Character in the movie = A hot (by Hollywood standards) and less awkward version of the character in the book.
Is this what Heaven looks like?
