RIASS stuff:
A'giveaway of ten (yes, ten) book packs consisting of a copy of'Catch Up with the Sun'and a Book Seat!'(Aussies only, please)
Excerpt: Backfire by Catherine Coulter, Thrillerfest VII attendee
A review of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend'by Matthew Green (Rating: 
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A'review of'Shelter'by Harlan Coben'(Rating: 
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A'guest post and excerpt from Peter Lefcourt
Are you a nerdy type? My husband is looking for a top-notch web developer to join his company.'Details here.
Other bookish stuff:
An interview with Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into The Darkest Corner'I think I am both more critical and more forgiving than I used to be. Before publication I read books purely for entertainment without really engaging with them beyond thinking whether I enjoyed them or not. Now I find myself considering things like structure and character development, and I notice errors much more than I used to. I also recognise however what an immense process it is to prepare a novel for publication and I do really admire authors that manage to do it well (most of them certainly much better than I do).
Famous Novels: Was the symbolism intentional?'(in sum, no, it wasnt.)
Going to the Very Edge of the Known Writing Universe:''I'm worried about the manipulation of us all through technology and I worry that we're handing over power to companies that don't necessarily have writers and readers at their heart. It's about code and format, not about why we might readWar and Peace'or'Mort d'Arthur. Yes, there are many changes in technology, but I don't believe the human heart changes. The idea that we all have to engage in the same way now is erroneous, says author Kate Mosse.
John Birmingham on the changing Australian media landscape'The web is not a newsagent. In media terms its a cross between a jungle and a free-fire zone. While it is possible to make a profit selling media online ''The New Yorkers iPad app, for instance, has delivered tens of thousands of new, digital-only subscribers to the magazine ' it remains true that people will not pay for any old crap they can get anywhere else for free.
The next time you complain about editing or rewriting, think about the guy who spent three years designing a soy sauce dispenser.
or think of James Thurber: For me it's mostly a question of rewriting. It's part of a constant attempt on my part to make the finished version smooth, to make it seem effortless. A story I've been working on ''The Train on Track Six,' it's called'was rewritten fifteen complete times. There must have been close to 240,000 words in all the manuscripts put together, and I must have spent two thousand hours working at it. Yet the finished version can't be more than twenty- thousand words.
A reality check from author Lauren DeStefano: And so, in 2009, when my agent called me to say that Simon & Schuster had made an offer for my debut, I had NO idea what the next year of my life would be. That night, full of Rice-A-Roni and newly-realized dreams, I had the best sleep of my life. I wasn't stressingI also made the common mistake of assuming that all of my problems in life would now be solved. I was going to be published. I had been validated. How could I ever have doubts again? I could go skydiving if I wanted to. I could carry myself with swagger. My hair would now be voluminous and glossy, because I WAS GETTING PUBLISHED and the world was now mine.
A successful indie author shows some Amazon love: Because of Amazon and other sites, I'm making enough money that I can continue writing. I'm averaging sales of 3,500 books a month, not including the month that Amazon featured'Flat-Out Love'in a list of books for $3.99 and under. That month I sold 45,000 Kindle copies, and sold over 10,000 the next month. Those numbers are insane to me. Absolutely insane. The fact that I continue to sell well a year after the book's release is humbling. Yes, I wrote a book that has earned me excellent reviews, so I take credit for that, and I worked myself to death finding bloggers to review my book (God bless my loyal bloggers who took a chance on me!), but I have to credit Amazon with giving me such a strong platform with such overwhelming visibility.
Have you ever wondered why publishing folk dont like rhetorical questions?
NPR books wants you to vote for your favourite YA titles.
Mmmm, beautiful book design
Congrats to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest winners!'
Cartoonist turns lawsuit threat into $100K charity fundraiser
Library & Information Science Ranked Worst Master's Degree for Jobs
Another adaptation of Stephen Kings It'in the works
Free (yes, and legal) speculative fiction downloads
Book trailer for Erebos by Ursula Poznanski:
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