Buzz Worthy News 6th July 2015

6 July, 2015 Buzz Worthy News 10 comments

BWN-bee-graphic

Welcome to Buzz Worthy News where the stories are awesome and not at all well-written. Need your YA industry news? Never fear, Kat Kennedy and Kate Copseeley are here to give it to you straight.

In this week’s Buzz Worthy News: EL James Twitter kerfuffle, John Green Saga continues, Amazon changed its rating system, Kindle Unlimited is worse than expected, Neil Gaiman news, GRR Martin News and much, much more!

Buzz Worthy News is Cuddlebuggery’s weekly news post bringing you all the best information about the book and blogging world, particularly for the venn diagram of people who overlap between the two. For new releases and cover reveals of all the best Young Adult fiction, check out our Tuesday post: Hot New Titles.

Amazon Reviews Changing

Basically Amazon is implementing a learning machine to sort through the reviews and rejig them. That’s the technical term anyway. Rejig. The thingamawhatsit.

Reviews will be given more weight based on their newness, whether they have a verified amazon purchase thinggie and how helpful customers found the reviews.

Clearly not a big deal but still THEY’RE CHANGING SOMETHING OMG WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

https://twitter.com/chuckwendig/status/616621428587298816?refsrc=email&s=11

SOURCE, SOURCE

 

 

More Amazon Kindle Unlimited Kerfuffle

As we reported a few weeks ago, Amazon decided to radically change the way it pays its authors on Kindle Unlimited.  Well, the fall-out has officially begun, as outlined by erotica writer Selena Kitt:

Looks like the numbers are (kind of) in… and the outlook is rather dismal. Erotica shorts authors knew it was going to be bad. I just don’t think most of them thought it was going to be quite *this* bad. Because it looks as if authors will be making about $0.0057 per page. That’s slightly less than half a penny a page, folks.

I believe the projections were abysmal, but it’s only been a few days.  How do you even know until you’ve given it like a week?

The general consensus has been that Amazon is using this pricing to encourage authors to pull their short stories out of the program, thereby freeing up market space for full novels.  Well, it worked—as Kitt is encouraging erotica authors to yank their work from Amazon so the company becomes aware of their value in enticing readers to Kindle Unlimited.

How can authors make good business decisions without knowing how much money they are earning? The short answer is, we can’t. And that makes many of us question whether we should remain part of the Kindle Unlimited program at all.

That’s why I’ve joined #releasetherate, an author-led initiative with a simple goal: getting Amazon to release more information to authors.

The info they want is simply to know how many people are reading their books (number of units borrowed per book) and definitive knowledge of what the rate per page is for authors.

What the draw is for erotica on Kindle Unlimited is unknown, but considering the enthusiastic prevalence of sexytimes on the internet, it’s probably pretty high. Can authors do anything to affect the powerhouse that is Amazon,  since even powerful publishers have a hard time negotiating with them?  Still, best of luck to erotica authors and their #releasetherate campaign.

Source

Author Gender Transition

The Cemetery BoysAfter finishing two successful series, and stand-alone novel (The Cemetery Boys), the author, previously known as Heather Brewer, has announced his intention to transition to his true self, Zac Brewer.

In the next few months, Brewer who self-identifies as male, will transition. “Nothing in the media sparked my decision to come out,” Brewer said, noting, “I realized about nine years ago that I was transgender.” The author continued, “I’ve been in therapy for a little while now and have learned that my depression, anxiety, and suicidal urges largely stem from an inability to live as my true self. I am so big on authenticity. I always say to my Minions, ‘Own your weird. Embrace who you are, and whoever you are, you are special.’ It’s been weighing on me that I’m not taking my own advice. How can you tell the world to do it and not do it yourself?”

Brewer is all about self-acceptance these days, and emphasized the point that the transition is soul saving.

This was a save-my-life moment. I know that if I don’t do this, I’m concerned what my future will be. I need to be true to myself and come out to the world.” Brewer came out to their husband three years ago. “We’ve been together for over 20 years. I was terrified of his reaction,” said Brewer. “But he said, ‘I fell in love with the person you are, not your body.” Brewer’s children, to whom the author came out about a year ago, have been equally supportive. “My kids were completely wonderful,” Brewer added.

We wish him all the best in this journey.

Source (<-The full article is at Publisher’s Weekly and it’s fab.  You should all read it!)

 Neil Gaiman To Write Scripts for American Gods

640px-Gaiman,_Neil_(2007)The good news keeps getting gooder (yes, I know it’s not a word) in the world of pre-production for American Gods.  Now Neil himself (see what I did there?) is getting more involved.

The show’s producer Bryan Fuller spilled the beans to Collider at the Saturn Awards earlier this week.

“We are cranking away. We’ve got the first two scripts written already,” Fuller said. “It’s wonderful to be working with Neil Gaiman.”

Fuller clarified: “Neil Gaiman is going to be writing episodes of the show,” he said. “It’s going to have scope, as it should.”

Yet another reason I’m gonna be watching this one!!

Source

George R.R. Martin Is Definitely  MIGHT Be Done With Book 6

georgerrmartin-300x197In the name of the Seven Holy Gods, let this be true.  In a recent Reddit AMA, show director Jack Bender sent everyone in a tizzy by making them think George’s draft was complete.

Asked by one user is he was “able to read an advance copy of Book 6 of Game of Thrones to prepare for directing next season’s episodes?” Bender, under the alias MrJackBender, replied: “Yes”.

The response has sent the Game of Thrones rumour mill into overdrive, with many interpreting Bender’s reply as proof thatGeorge RR Martin has indeed finally finished his long anticipated sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

But of course, no one could let me stay happy.  Oh no.

But, according to fan site Watchers on The Wall, Bender’s comments have been interpreted incorrectly and the director was allegedly referring to the season six outline instead.

A source told the site: “Bender hasn’t seen an advanced copy/draft of The Winds of Winter, and must have confused it with the season 6 outline when answering the question.”

A source?  I choose to believe the source was a white walker and that this is totally false.  BECAUSE I NEED THIS BOOK ASAP!!

Source

Possibly The Best Worst An Idea On The Internet: #AskELJames

In their quest to ruin every week of Buzz Worthy News for me, the internet gods arranged for EL James’ marketing team to forget every other #Ask campaign on Twitter EVER and give the author her own: #AskELJames.  Needless to say, Twitter exploded last Monday with a blast of both hilarious and thoughtful tweets.

https://twitter.com/mouldingbrain/status/615548309428695040?refsrc=email&s=11

https://twitter.com/amyslayer/status/615536769325404160?refsrc=email&s=11

https://twitter.com/tinyorc/status/615560443139067904

https://twitter.com/GameOverRos/status/615560746991230977

https://twitter.com/avestal/status/615578089511190528

https://twitter.com/LiamDrydenEtc/status/615563655363592192

But of course, no one could just let good humor lie.  After allegedly seeing a tweet calling James a “c**t” (can’t corroborate this, as it was nowhere to be found, probably flagged and deleted) a few other authors decided to come to her defense on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/chuckwendig/status/615550086936940544?refsrc=email&s=11

Chuck Wendig was among them, and proceeded to post an entry on his blog comparing James’ plight to that of Cersei’s walk of public shame in Game of Thrones.

But that’s not entirely what’s happening, here, is it? Sometimes the criticism isn’t really criticism but instead, a snarky performance dressed up as criticism. And sometimes? It’s just abuse.

I am reminded of Cersei Lannister made human to the audience when she was forced to march, naked, covered in excrement, the Shame Nuns dogging her steps and ringing their Shame Bells.

The bookish community quickly schooled him on his wrongs, because in his defense against malice, he was also shutting down valid criticism.

And then it came out that he’d never even read the books.

Shortly thereafter he posted ANOTHER blog entry saying that he’d been somewhat misguided and he was leaving a conversation he was never meant to have joined in the first place.

Some folks pointed out that I was punching down and ignoring a lot of the really awful things James has done and it became increasingly clear that I am speaking from a place of ignorance and that runs the risk of doing more harm than good. Like, my goal is not to use my privilege to take over conversations that aren’t mine. I’m not here to police people. Particularly women. I think of myself as feminist, but maybe I’m not a particularly good one.

And it feels like if I want to be a better one, then it’s more appropriate for me to take a backseat instead of clumsily pawing at the steering wheel and driving us all into Mansplain Gulch.

And then #AskELJames became just another internet meme and everyone went on with their week.

https://twitter.com/Krosecz/status/615579525896744960

Sources HERE, HERE, and HERE

John Green’s Creepy Saga Continues

Tension remains high this week after the tumblr post that called John Green creepy.

An article ran in Huffington Post about John Green and Rape Culture.

So…the men twice my age who stare at my breasts instead of my face creep me out, but I suppose they aren’t creepy because you said so. Am I supposed to just tolerate all of the older men in my life who make me uncomfortable? The men who have more power than me because they’re older and more respected?

You’ve got all of these famous authors defending him — Chuck Wendig and Maggie Stiefvater and Sarah Dessen — but no one ever stopped to think about this girl. They chastised us about “forgetting the people behind the screen,” but that’s exactly what they did.

You can read the rest of the post for yourself and decide where you fall on the spectrum of whose in the right and who’s in the wrong.

Then earlier this week, Maggie Stiefvater had strong words for a thirteen year old who questioned her position on the John Green Creepy Saga.

Chuck Wendig also had words to say on the allegations that John Green is creepy and he posted them to his Facebook page.

https://twitter.com/fangirljeanne/status/617373145582866436

A note from Meg:

I’ve been sitting and watching all of this unfold since John Green’s response to the original post hit the fan and banging my head against the wall. Personally, I think a large part of the problem here is that there seem to be two separate (and valid) conversations happening. Is there a problem with how people talk to creators on social media? Absolutely. Do people dogpile and casually toss about words without maybe considering the full consequences of using those words? For sure, adults and teens alike are guilty of this. You’re probably guilty of this, I know I am definitely guilty of this. However, I think it’s safe to say we can table that discussion for now (it will still be there to be talked about later) and maybe we should consider focusing on the fact that teens are feeling like the community that is built around media that is supposedly for them is telling them to sit down and shut up, the adults are talking. Does that sound kind of fucked up to anyone else? The Huffington Post article was an eloquently-worded, thoughtful opinion stated by a teen about her feelings on this situation and from what I can tell, a large number of people couldn’t stop being defensive long enough to consider whether or not she had a point as they rushed to shut her down therefore kind of proving the point she was trying to make. If this were my playground and I were in charge, we’d all be taking a breather for a minute to think things through and regroup and try and have an actually productive conversation about one thing instead of shouting on top of each other about different things but seeing as I have just described twitter, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. If you need me, I am retreating to my batcave on cynic mountain with a stiff drink.

 

Interesting Links:

53 Sentences From Fantasy Novels That Will END You

Sherlock Holmes Infographic

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10 Responses to “Buzz Worthy News 6th July 2015”

  1. Fangs for the Fantasy

    I have to say I’m leery with Amazon editing their review system even if what they say they’re doing isn’t inherently bad – Amazon has a habit of pushing double-plus-good-great-reviews even if they are from Mumsy Definitelynotfamilyski.

    That askELJames tag was a terrible idea for publicity but it was a great idea for a lot of people to emphasise some of the real problems with that book. And, inevitably, there is an eternal problem of ANY criticism being called “bullying” and “shaming”. This is a problem – especially when it comes to calling out isms in books – and yes, it can seem like a mass of people raging, but that’s because a mass of people ARE HURT

    It’s also an old tactic to pick out the arseholes and decide everyone involved is the same. Every peaceful protest has someone who will throw a rock – that doesn’t make the march a riot

  2. Tiffany / Bookplates for Brunch

    1000000% agreed on Meg’s assessment of the John Green situation.

    Are teenagers frequently brushed aside when they speak out about issues, whether they are ethical, political, social, etc.? Yes.

    Do people on the internet sometimes engage in groupthink and stage witch hunts based on false information or assumptions? Yes.

    Are actions and behaviors interpreted by different people with different backgrounds and different experiences differently? Yes, of course.

    It’s definitely a complex multi-layered discussion.

    I’ve never gotten a weird vibe from John Green, and I do think he does a lot to speak out against sexual abuse and misuse of power, but that doesn’t make someone else’s experiences any less valid. I think it does become a problem when someone is projecting onto a person who actually has done nothing wrong or harmful, but I agree with Jenny Trout’s tweets, which you included in the last post on this – for someone who believes it’s important to call out those abuses and that we need to be a community who supports those whistleblowers, he maybe should have handled it differently.

  3. Maraia

    Well said, Meg, well said.

    Also, I didn’t realize Sarah Dessen was one of the people defending John Green. That seems hypocritical, considering she wrote an entire book based on the concept that teen girls know when older men are creepy, regardless of whether the adults in her life acknowledge it.

  4. La Coccinelle @ The Ladybug Reads...

    So, according to Maggie Stiefvater, being “creeped out does not make someone creepy”. Now I’m confused. If that doesn’t do it, then what does?

    I agree with the points the writer of the Huffington Post article made. These authors, directly or indirectly, are telling girls to ignore their intuition, potentially putting them in danger.

    If you find someone creepy, listen to your gut! But maybe don’t post about it on social media…

  5. Beth W

    So when the #AskELJames saga hit…did you fix yourself a margarita, put your feet up, and cackle with glee? Cuz I’m thinking that’s just made everyone’s week. 😀

  6. Georgette

    I’m terribly immature as most of my comments have shown…but this E.L. James Twitter thing was the funniest thing I’ve seen in weeks. I literally almost peed my pants. STILL laughing.
    Like I said, Immature.
    I WISH George RR Martin were done, but I think we’re going to have to wait a little longer…just a hunch.
    Amazon changing something? The fact that it’s not done by a drone somehow surprises me..
    Still feel bad for what John Green is going through.

  7. Natalie Monroe

    The E.L. James Twitter chat is hilarious. I was asleep on the other side of the world (hi, Hong Kong) when it hit and I spent my morning eating cereal and snorting over my phone.

  8. Shannelle C.

    I absolutely related to that Huffington Post. I feel really sorry for that girl, because who knows how many of his rabid fans went to argue with her about it. And it’s not that girls fault for even bringing it to John Green’s attention. I do think it is silencing, and whether or not there is any claim to the sexual allegation, I don’t like the way all those big authors are handling it.

  10. Carina Olsen

    Yay for bunch of interesting news 🙂 Thank you for sharing about them all. <3 Ugh, I'm thrilled I have not yet read the Game of Thrones books. I could NEVERNEVERNEVER wait this long for the next ones to be published, lol 🙂 But I do love the show. Though I have yet to see the latest five episodes :p Sometime soon, though. But anyway. Curious about the books 🙂