Buzz Worthy News April 2 2012

2 April, 2012 Buzz Worthy News 30 comments

Book Releases

The Marked by Inara Scott

Released on: April 3 2012

Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Released on: April 3 2012

Immortal City by Scott Speer

Released on: April 3 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Released on: April 3 2012

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Released on: April 3 2012

Black Heart by Holly Black

Released on: April 3 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Released on: April 1 2012

Above by Leah Bobet

Released on: April 1 2012

Preloved by Shirley Marr

Released on: April 1 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Once again, a huge thank you to Stories and Sweeties for providing an excellent guide toward compiling this list.

Book World News

Cyn Balog, YA author of Touched, has called in her Swan Song.  Balog has, in the past, had a very rocky relationship with the blogging community after a series of posts ill-received by reviewers.  Balog has now decided to leave the writing business despite having a book on the precipice of release.

The post has since been deleted and replaced with an announcement that the blog will no longer be updated.  The gist, however, was such:

 

 

 

 

For fans of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, there’s some good news.  Fox News has optioned the film rights.

From Publisher’s Weekly:

After switching his representation in Hollywood, author John Green has closed a deal with Fox 2000 for his new YA novel, The Fault in Our Stars. The deal comes shortly after Green moved from William Morris Endeavor to United Talent Agency for his film representation. It also comes on the heels of the publication of his new book, which Green promoted, over the summer, by announcing he would sign every first edition in the hefty 150,000-copy initial printing from Dutton.

And, because the blaze of glory that the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy is currently having, doesn’t seem to be stopping, it’s time to report that it too has been optioned and the rights sold to Universal Pictures and Focus Features.

From Entertainment Weekly:

Universal Pictures and Focus Features announced this morning they have acquired film rights to the novel authored by TV executive and mother of two, E.L. James, with plans to create a trilogy out of the novel and its two sequels. “At its core, this is a romance of the most emotionally resonant, but delicate, order — and we look forward to working with our colleagues at Universal to transform E.L. James’ vision into a great film,” says Focus Features chief James Schamus.

 

Fans of Harry Potter are going to be delighted to learn that the books are finally available as Ebooks from Rowling’s Pottermore site.

Books can be purchased either individually or as a bundle.

Also, Pottermore sneak peak Video?  Have a look!  Pottermore will be available to the general public early April.

 

In the larger, professional world of book reviewing, the place and propriety is being called into question – as evidence by this article by Arthur Krystal.  This prompts Ron Charles gives an impassioned endorsement for professional reviewers to use more vitriol and bile.  I personally applaud this effort and will be researching ways in which to do this.

Best quote:

And speaking of zombies: Bland plot summaries, worn out compliments and the requisite quibbles have surely done more than excess bile to drain the life out of the nation’s book review sections. I look longingly at the fist-fights in British newspapers and wish we could roll up our sleeves more often in this country. But that would require aggrieved authors to fight back, instead of quietly enduring critics’ abuse. I can’t quite accept Krystal’s complaint about negative book reviews, but I’m all in favor of his concluding advice to writers: “Make noise. Call attention to the offending review. In fact, write that letter to the editor that everyone enjoins you not to write and in a few deft strokes outline the reviewer’s bias and how he or she misread, obfuscated, and distorted your work.”

At the very least, we’d all have more robust review pages.

-Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Scandalous Scandals

This one is almost too long and convoluted to get the full story, but here at Cuddlebuggery, we don’t understand statements like “This author will threaten libel lawsuits like they’re going out of fashion, so be careful.”

It’s all just nonsense words to us!

So it’s starts with the release of The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton from her own press, Immortal Ink Publishing.  It gets some good reviews.

Then it gets some average reviews.  So the author ever so innocently tweets the negative review.

Which, surprise, surprise, means that Hamilton’s small fanbase heads over to attack the reviewer.  On another review, the author and some of her fans try to reach out and try to explain where the reviewer is getting it wrong.  Which goes about as respectfully and positively as it always does.

Hamilton later believes that people are purposely downvoting positive reviews and so does the professional, clear-headed response of…requesting people upvote the reviews?

The author also takes to Fangs For the Fantasy to explain where they, too, are getting it wrong.  This leads to an argument, angry tweets and eventually a blog post by Hamilton.

But this is all fine because, as Hamilton explains in her own words below, she wasn’t arguing with the review or reviewer, she was arguing with the person!  Never mind that the entire discussion over the term “crazy” began with Hamilton correcting the reviewer over their opinion of her representation of minority groups…

 

 

But the fun and frivolity doesn’t end there, because as far as complete and utter public meltdowns go, she still hasn’t matched Kony’s founder, Jason Russel.

Hamilton gets into a discussion on Absolute Write regarding her new Publishing company.  I should point out that this thread is in a section of Absolute Write designed for vetting publishing companies for the benefit of authors looking to ensure they’re as informed about the company as possible in regards to viability, professionalism, and ability to make authors money without bottoming out and finding themselves in debt to their clients (the authors).  Things turn sour very, very quickly when AW’s request basic information about Hamilton’s credentials – and Hamilton starts a fight over it.  The thread spans 10+ pages.

It ended with Hamilton threatening libel and a possible lawsuit both on the thread and this tweet here:I want everyone to know that this is ALWAYS the responsible and proper way to end an argument on the internet that centers on proving your professionalism.

Accusations fly from Hamilton that Absolute Write is personally attacking her, lying, and editing/deleting posts to make her look bad.

Some favourite responses:

 

Eventually, Hamilton apologizes – only, not really because she’s still completely missing the bloomin’ point on what it is to be professional.

 

 

 

 

 

The culmination of all this is a blog post by Rebecca Hamilton, which shows that she has learned… absolutely nothing.  Brilliant.  But she does has some fantastic advice for authors intending to use Absolute Write which is, in no way, another subtle attack meant to reiterate her supposed innocence.

 

 

 

 

30 Responses to “Buzz Worthy News April 2 2012”

  1. elena

    Haha what over the Rebecca Hamilton thing. I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY AUTHORS DON’T LEARN?!!! It’s not a hard concept to get that a negative review is just…a negative review, not everyone is going to like your book. She definitely takes it to extremes though, lawsuits? Come on.

    Also dying at that quote for 50 Shades, “emotionally resonant but delicate”? Okay sure.

  2. Cyna

    God, I was around for the Fangs review, but to see this chick just *not getting it* all over the internet blows my mind. Are you freaking serious? She can’t take even mildly bad reviews? I wonder if she really doesn’t understand that she’s making herself look like an ass, and using perhaps every derailing technique known to man. Seriously, grow up.

    I’ve got a copy of her book sitting in my TBR queue and now…I don’t even know. Blah.

    Also, the 50 Shades of Grey thing made me lol. Not quite as marketable as Twilight…are that many people really going to cop to seeing a BDSM erotica movie in theaters? Will they take the kidlets?

    • Kat Kennedy

      I haven’t put her on my TBR list yet. I was thinking of trying her book just to see if it was worth reading. However, I don’t think I can really be bothered and it just doesn’t sound different enough for me to give it a try.

  3. Stephanie Sinclair

    *HUGE Facepalm* over the Rebecca Hamilton thing. Stalking your reviews is never a good thing!

    Also, yay for The Fault in Our Stars movie! I need to read that book since it’s on my shelf.

  4. Katie @ Blook Girl

    Oy. I watched, cringing, as all this went down on Twitter and Absolute Write. Rebecca was kind enough to send me a copy of The Forever Girl a month or two ago, and I was looking forward to reading it (had actually started it, in fact) until I saw the drama. It’s really unfortunate, because I feel like most of these authors who get involved in situations like this are good people, but they make really bad, emotional knee-jerk decisions :-\

    Not sure if I’ll continue The Forever Girl, but I probably will, given that I already started it.

    • Kat Kennedy

      I don’t think she’s a bad person per se. But I would probably classify her as extremely NOT self-aware and very much in the habit of victimizing herself and twisting reality. She is claiming that we stalked her and altered events. I’m not sure how it’s possible when everything above is linked to, screencapped and contextualized. In fact, all along she is the one that has been making assertions about Absolute Write etc that can’t be backed up and that she hasn’t even tried to legitimize.

      And even if that were the case – when you’re OWN words – unchanged, unfiltered, and in context – look that bad… well, you have to start asking questions then.

      I had thought of reading her book to see if it was worth it and if her Publishing company will go anywhere, but…yeah…

  5. Steph

    Hold on, they are turning Fifty Shades into a movie? Lord help us all.

  6. Lisa @ Fic Talk

    LMAO! You guys, like I said on twitter and I’ll say it again, you two are the E! Entertainment channel for book bloggers. Entertaining, witty and laugh out loud funny.

    Also, why do YA authors make some dumb mistakes, like attacking reviewers because they received a low rating?
    Is the reason why we get such crappy YA “heroines” these days because they, too, are trying to live out their teenage days vicariously through their characters and are liable to make these kinds of mistakes even at this point in their lives?

    They act SO unbelievably childish that I feel like they all need to be grounded and given a freaking time-out.

    Anywho, I felt like I went on a little rampage there…

    GREAT POST, KAT!

    xo

    Lisa

  7. Nafiza Azad

    Call me bitchy but I am so unimpressed when (oh hello, someone’s speaking Spanish very sexily outside my window…sorry) anyway, as I was saying, I’m unimpressed by people who drag in personal sob stories to explain or justify their actions/thoughts/whatever. Especially since I’ve known people whose personal lives have been falling apart but who manage to give more than a 100% professionally. That said, I’m so amazed by Cyn Balog’s decision to stop writing though I do wonder if it was an act of emotion rather than a calmly thought out decision. If I were her, I’d enroll in writing classes. Personally though, her books are not for me. I’m just saying.

    • Kat Kennedy

      I agree. I do not think she understands, to any extent, what it means to be professional. A professional would have stepped back immediately and said, “My behaviour was inexcusable and won’t happen again. Here are the answers to your questions, this is what our company stands for. Thank you for your questions, queries open _____.”

      Instead she was like, “I was wrong to do this. But you guys were so mean because with the home *weep* and the children *more weeping* and the stress *weep weep* and my anxieties/issues *Weep weep weep*.

      That is NOT professional.

      As for Cyn Balog. I don’t know. Talking about her at this point feels like kicking a dog. She hasn’t been well received, no. And with good reason. But this has obviously caused her to leave the industry and that is sad. And if she did reenter the writing world, nobody can promise her that it will improve or that people will get over her mistakes. It’s just a sad situation all around.

  8. Kara

    The Rebecca Hamilton thing? You guys are brilliant. Whoever did the sleuthing deserves a cookie. A whole basket of cookies. There are some things I haven’t even seen yet. I’m going back to read and I will probably spend several hours doing so. I agree with the commenter who said you guys are like The Soup of the blogging world. I love it.

    I’d like to say one thing though. Attacking the people who put money in your pocket is never a good idea, and frankly, disgusting. I guess that’s another author to add to the will never read list. When will they learn? I’m always team reviewer. I know critical reviews hurt, but you are an adult. Grow the eff up and act like one. Using illnesses as an excuse for your behavior is even more gross in my opinion.

    Thanks for calling my attention to this and the Cyn Balog thing. I had not heard of her retirement until I read this post. Her blog post is as sad and pathetic as usual.

    • Stephanie Sinclair

      I think we will both accept those cookies. 😉 I sat for a few hours reading, mystified at this huge meltdown Hamilton had! I’m not sure why she tweets negative reviews! They weren’t even that bad, IMO.

    • Kat Kennedy

      Thank you, Kara! I’m kind of glad it’s over, done and blogged with! After hours of combing through conversations, blogs, reviews and tweets, screen capping everything and then preparing screencaps, organizing the date and trying to get it to make sense in a linear fashion… damn! All I can say is – I always thought BWN would be a cheap and easy post to do every week.

      Nope.

      It’s easily the longest, hardest post I ever have in my schedule!

  9. VeganYANerds

    The author-related drama seems to be increasing lately, it’s crazy!

    April looks like such a good month for books, I LOVED Preloved and I want to read I Hunt Killers.

  10. Lexie B.

    I swear, I don’t know how I’d keep up with these things if it weren’t for your updates. I can’t imagine how long these take to put together, but know that your efforts are sincerely appreciated.

    So it was Cyn Balog that quit? Interesting. Just the other day I read another author’s blog post discussing the mob mentality of Goodreads, calling us hateful, bullies, etc. and mentioning a favorite, inspiring author of hers who’d just quit due partially to criticism. I’d been wondering who.

    I have mixed feelings about TFiOS being a movie. On the one hand, it’s my favorite book, and I certainly don’t mind publicity for it if that’ll get the book more readers. But on the other hand, it’s not one of those books that I’d think would make a good book-to-movie transition, and I’m afraid that if they ruin it, there will be those who watch it, hate it, and never read the book. Fingers crossed that it turns out all right.

    Regarding Fifty Shades: Ew. That is all I have to say.

    And re: Rebecca Hamilton, I’m just shocked that I haven’t heard of this earlier. I’m torn between laughing and facepalming. There’s something so hilarious about watching someone make a complete and utter dick of themselves.

  11. poppy

    I know Rebecca (Becca) Hamilton from Authonomy and, yes, she has Aspergers. She can also be a pain in the ass. And she will never learn. But judge her on the writing, not on the rubbish that comes out of her mouth.

  13. Searock

    Kat,
    I thoroughly enjoyed your post and appreciated your efforts at rounding up various thoughtful articles and the meltdowns. I have been fascinated by the dilemmas and issues arising between writers and reviewers in this interactive age.
    Thanks again.

  15. Charles

    Aspergers is often confused with NPD m.psychologytoday.com/basics/narcissism

    This is the case in Ms Hamilton I believe.

    • Anonymouse

      The rest of my comment got deleted…
       
      Anyway, I’ve lost faith in Hamilton as a person, and therefore don’t really care for her as an author.