Buzz Worthy News: 28th January 2013

Buzz Worthy News

YA is sweeping the floor with the competition, Amazon launches two new imprints, Stephen King tells the NRA to go to hell in 25 pages, The Selection may get its CW time slot yet, JJ Abrams might be directing Star Wars VII, and controversy after controversy!  Come check out all this and more in this week’s Buzz Worthy News.

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 Sunday post: How New Titles.

 Publishing News

 Who Reads Ebooks?  If you’re reading this then it’s probably you.

Publishing!  What’s happening?  How?  Is it good? Is it bad?  Ebooks!  Shall they be the death of us all? Who reads them?  Does anybody?  IS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE TO RUIN?!

Well, luckily the venerable Infographic has come to your rescue to answer all your most pertinent questions so long as they’re questions like, “Who reads more ebooks, men or women?  Young or old?”  and not questions like, “What does Kat look like naked?  Does she love me?” (The answer to those two are: incredible, and yes.)

But the answer to all those pertinent questions about ebooks can be found here.

In summation, who reads more ebooks?  Women.  By, like, a lot. You know why?  Cause we are just so cool. Also, the youngin’s be ebookin’ it up.  That’s how they speak these days, right?  I got the slang down, right?

Also being well-monied helps.  But in my experience, that usually helps with a lot of things.

SOURCE

 Children’s and YA are killing it – again!

So you’re a a YA Author, blogger, a Goodreader, or a reading fan hanging out in the YA community.  Congrats to you, my friend because you are contributing to a phenomenon that is inspiring!  Children’s and YA books are KILLING it.  They are up by 24%!  In this economy, while the publishing industry is flailing about like it got an arrow to the knee, we’re telling it to eat some cement and harden up, sunshine – cause this party isn’t over!

Hardcovers, which fell by 1.5% this last year for adult fiction, rose by 24% for YA.  Ebooks for adult fiction rose by 36.2% last year.  Impressive, yes?  Ha!  Come back and talk to me when it’s raised by 177% in one year!

So every time you write a book review, rave over your favourite book, cheer on that awesome author you love, share a review or a post that inspires you – just remember that you are contributing to this incredible ass-kicking that the YA is partaking of.

“According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP) StatShot report for September 2012, hardcover sales revenue in the children’s and young adult category rose nearly 24 percent compared to the same period last year–rising to $440 million (AAP chart embedded above).

In contrast, adult fiction and nonfiction hardcover sales declined 1.5 percent in September. Children’s and YA also saw a 177 percent jump in digital sales while the adult category grew 36 percent.”

SOURCE

 Amazon opens two new imprints.  Officially sign of an apocalypse.

About a year ago we got a children’s publishing division.  Now Amazon has gifted us with two new imprints.  All bow before the books gods for their mercy.  Mercy, for it was not three.

“Two Lions will be home to picture books, chapter books and middle-grade fiction, and Skyscape will be devoted to titles for young adults, encompassing works from both established authors and new voices.”

I’m sorry.  Was my weeping disturbing the article?  I’ll try to keep it down.

“Margery Cuyler is editorial manager for Two Lions, and Tim Ditlow is editorial manager for Skyscape. Amazon Children’s Publishing’s general manager is Amy Hosford; Larry Kirshbaum, publisher for Amazon Publishing, oversees the editorial leadership for the company’s Seattle and New York adult imprints, as well as Amazon Children’s Publishing.”

SOURCE

Book World

 Amazon, still sucking at that review thing

There’s not a lot of things that Amazon sucks at.  Basically, the list comes down to their review system and having a soul.  John Dugdale chronicles Amazon’s continuously horrible decision-making when it comes to dealing with their product reviews.

“It seems that it just can’t win: when it’s not coping with a brouhaha caused by aggressive reviews, Jeff Bezos’s behemoth is provoking protests by removing flattering ones, and also by not removing them.

The first of several recent crises occurred in September, when detective work by another author exposed the award-winning British crime writer RJ Ellory, who (recalling the online misdemeanours of the historian Orlando Figes) had used the “sock puppet” alias Nicodemus Jones on Amazon to attack rivals.”

It’s no industry secret that the Amazon review system sucks more balls than a bowling alley ball catcher, but the anger and public annoyance over Amazon’s system has steadily grown of late.

“In a crackdown, reviews were deleted without notification – often several by the same reviewer – on grounds only later explained: writers were no longer allowed to comment on others in the same genre, and the guidelines also barred reviews written by “a person or company with a financial interest in the product”. Some rave reviews by family members and friends disappeared too, with Amazon’s ability to identify them as such seen as sinister.

That their efforts to clean up its sock puppet theatre haven’t gone far enough is made clear by the latest scandal, in which hostile postings are back with a vengeance. Instead of one-on-one takedowns the issue now is organised, collective assault – the converse of barely concealed social media campaigns promoting books, in which fans are mobilised to pen puffs by publicists or authors themselves.”

Oh well, guess I’ll just have to keep using literally any other review site out there.

SOURCE

2013 Fantasy Pin-up Calendar is on its way. Yeeeeeey.

I know when I think of empowering ways I’d like to see my beloved female literary characters, fantasy pin up is definitely it!  Or well, okay, not.  Well, it does raise money so I guess that mitigates some of my annoyance and provokes a modicum of my forgiveness.

But, putting my disapproval aside (because who cares what I think, right?), what does Patrick Rothfuss say about his participation in the calendar?

I’m also concerned about my girls. Does this calendar reinforce the idea that they need to be skinny, scantily-clad and sexily-posed to be attractive? That kind of goes against what I’ve been teaching them, too.

I hear you. As a dad, I think about this stuff a lot too. I’m trying to keep my little boy from soaking up too much cultural poison.

I will say this though, we worked hard to fight against a lot of the negative stereotypes. All the models aren’t twiggy thin. And they aren’t vapid bimbos either.

I really don’t know a thing about pin-ups, so when I first saw Mercy’s, I didn’t understand what was going on with those red outlines. It wasn’t until I read Lee’s blog where he talked about the different artists he was emulating that I understood what he was doing.

Side by side, you can see that Lee’s turned things on their ear. Back in the day, a pin-up was a vapid sex kitten. Lee’s version is going so far against the classic conventions of the pin-up that it’s almost satire. Not high heels and a bow, but a tire-iron and a creeper. (Which, if you’re curious, is the name of that wheelie thing mechanics use to slide under cars.)

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying everyone should run out and buy the calendar. If I’d put out a puppies-and-kittens calendar, I wouldn’t be trying to convince you that puppies and kittens are somehow the morally correct calendar choice.

I’m just saying it’s out there, and it’s not just women in bikinis.

SOURCE

Tolkien Fans: Prepare for flood of jizzment

Okay, I promise that I will not be flooding your with infographics forever.  But this one was just so cool that I couldn’t help myself.  That tricky ring, where did it go whilst away from Sauron for 4,860 years?  Did you knit, ring?  Go on a spiritual journey?  Don’t tell us about your time with Gollum, ring.  It’s probably more than a little creepy.

So, I present to you, the Time Line in infographic form!

It’s beautiful!  It’s just so beautiful…

Also here is a Pinterest for PSA’s of Middle Earth.  You know you want to check it out.

SOURCE

Stephen King pisses off gun lobby.  Does it awesomely.

So it’s not like Stephen King is known for being anti-guns.  He is, after all, a renowned gun owner and his books aren’t short of violence or gun violence.  However, he’s recently released a 25 page book decrying automatic guns as weapons of mass destruction.  Cue the croaking death rattle of the NRA as it hisses in indignation.

“King, who owns three handguns, aimed the expletive-peppered polemic at fellow gun-owners, calling on them to support a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the December shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school which left 20 children and six adults dead.

“Autos and semi-autos are weapons of mass destruction. When lunatics want to make war on the unarmed and unprepared, these are the weapons they use,” King wrote.”

Can you hear that?  It’s the sound of million gun nuts crying out in horror before suddenly… pwned.

“King finished the 25-page essay, Guns, last Friday and wanted it published as soon as possible, given the Obama administration‘s looming battle with the National Rifle Association and its allies. It was published on Friday on Amazon’s online Kindle store, price 99 cents.”

SOURCE

Entertainment

 The Selection has been resurrected.  Again.  Why won’t it just die?

Because it’s a zombie.  And above all it wants your brrraaaaaiiiinnns.

“The sci-fi fairy tale is getting another shot at a happy ending. After originally being developed for this season, receiving a pilot order last year, getting shelved and then being rewritten, The Selection has just received a greenlight for a second pilot. Based on a novel by Kiera Cass, The Selection was dubbed “The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.” It’s the story of a young girl named America Singer (arguably an even lamer name than Katniss Everdeen) and is set in an impoverished post-apocalyptic North America. She joins a televised competition where the prize is marrying the nation’s wealthy prince.”

It’s not surprising that The Selection gets compared to The Hunger Games.  Here’s a helpful chart to determine if a YA Book is going to get compared to The Hunger.  Even though it really has nothing but a passing resemblance to The Hunger Games.

“The novel’s cover (image above) used the rather ideal marketing hook: “35 girls. 1 crown. The competition of a lifetime.” Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain are the writer-exec producers. Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), who starred in the first pilot, is no longer attached to the project. For more on this one, the io9 blog did a deep dive on The Selectionhere.”

SOURCE

Prayers are answered – If I Stay might be a movie!

Okay, who sacrificed the virgin to the movie gods in order to get If I Stay made into a movie?  Whoever you are, I love you.  Let’s get together and make beautiful, beautiful babies!

“After years of helming documentaries and TV shows, R.J. Cutler is closing in on his first narrative feature directing gig: Summit Entertainment’s “If I Stay.”

Cutler is in talks to direct the supernatural music pic with Chloe Moretz attached to star.”

Okay, who is this Chloe Moretz?!  Who iiiiiissss she? I looked her up on IMDB but I don’t think I’ve seen a single movie she’s been in which seems statistically improbable because I’ve seen a lot of movies and she’s been in a lot of movies.

Here are your orders, people:

RJ Cutler – Don’t suck.  We’re counting on you.

Chloe Moretz – Be Awesome.

Casting Directer – Find someone who can play Adam.  Like, someone really fantastic.

Now, you all have your jobs to do.  Go forth and don’t disappoint us!

SOURCE

The Graveyard Book to become a Movie.  Maybe.

So this was a project that was going to happen, but then didn’t, but has now had new life breathed into it by none other than Ron Howard.

“In a new twist, Graveyard now has been reconfigured as a live-action movie, and sources say Ron Howard is in negotiations to direct.

Gil Netter, a veteran producer with adaptations including Marley & Me and Life of Pi among his credits, is producing with Ben Browning.”

Okay… sounds hopeful, sounds hopeful!  What else we got?

“Howard’s boarding signals a new round of development for Graveyard. The director will oversee the writing of a new script, and Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment also might end up in a producer role.”

Wait, I haven’t read this one.  What’s it actually about?  Anybody know if it’s any good?

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family . . .

Awwwww!  That sounds so sweet!  Too bad I don’t generally like Gaiman’s work, but I still might give it a try regardless!

SOURCE

 Disney moves ahead on this little project called Star Wars VII

I know you may not have heard of the little sci-fi series that could, Star Wars.  They’re very underground.  However word on the street is that they’ve been bought by Disney, they’re going to be the next big thing.  Zis iz mah serious face.

“Star Trek” filmmaker J.J. Abrams is Disney’s choice to helm “Star Wars: Episode VII,” according to reports published by TheWrap.com and Deadline.com. MTV News has confirmed the report with a source close to the production. Emails and calls to representatives at Disney and Abrams’ Bad Robot were not immediately returned.

Abrams was frequently cited as a fan-favorite pick for the “Star Wars” job, but his connection to the “Star Trek” series seemingly took him out of the running. Abrams even clarified in a December interview that he was approached by Lucasfilm to direct the new “Star Wars” movie, but he passed out of loyalty to “Trek.”

You’re damn right you did, ABRAMS!

“Now, it appears that Abrams does want to be involved in the minutiae of making a “Star Wars” film. In landing the job, Abrams beats out an extensive list of rumored hopefuls including the likes of Ben Affleck and Jon Favreau. It also marks Abrams’ second high-profile intergalactic franchise; his next “Star Trek” film, subtitled “Into Darkness,” cruises into theaters this coming May.

“Star Wars: Episode VII,” written by Michael Arndt and directed by J.J. Abrams, hits theaters in 2015.”

Mah gahd!  Can you imagine how many light flares Abrams could get off of a lightsabre battle?  *shivers in horror*

SOURCE

Controversy

 One awesome thing before a whole bunch of shitty things

So GenX kind of stumbled onto STGRB, you know, those cretins we don’t usually discuss because the Fail is too strong with these ones (point of fact, apparently they sometimes refer to us as Cuddleboogery, or something like that.  The statute of limitations on how many times you can embarrass yourself publicly with one word, has now been reached people.)  And what proceeds is hilarious.  From her many run-ins with that Herp-a-Derp, to general info and commentary on how people can help take part in giving them the finger.

But this week she really outshone herself here, and let me tell you – it’s a thing of beauty.  Here are some of my personal favourite moments, but I strongly suggest you go read the whole thing:

“I’m sorry that you feel you’re being censored when your comments post visibly on this blog. I’m sorry that you can’t keep track of your comments long enough to notice that you’re not being moderated – unlike your own blog or STGRB, both of which are heavily moderated and often edited.”

I’m sorry that you feel the need to insult me when I am courteous with you. I’m sorry people call you a racist and insist your remarks toward women are derogatory because you make slurs like “Mexican bitch” or refer to a young black woman as a monkey. And I’m sorry your idea of defending yourself is Pee Wee’s Playhouse “I know I am but what are you?” and that it doesn’t work.

“I’m sorry… [you] won’t stop talking about a teenager who clearly wants nothing to do with you and that you’ve still confused no moderation with its opposite, being banned. I’m sorry you’re upset that someone keeps calling you a pedophile and I’m even sorrier that the person who keeps doing that is you.”

“I’m sorry you can’t construct an argument to save your life, can’t think or type your way clear of an open field and that you get your uppity backside kicked in every debate you stupidly fumble into.”

“I’m sorry that you lied about your age to score a mate you could have fathered.  I’m sorry your self esteem is so poor that you feel you have to date teenagers to make yourself feel safer. I’m sorry that women who are old enough to buy and smoke cigarettes frighten you. I’m sorry you pretended to be this model because you’re ashamed that you really look like this and I don’t know why you’d feel that way.” [E/N: Can’t. Stop. Laughing.]

Seriously, if you want a pick-me-up just go and read the whole thing for yourselves people.  A work of sheer genius.

GenX, we give you the Cuddlebuggery salute for that one.

SOURCE

Plagiarism, Plagiarism, Plagiarism aaaaaaaaaaaand Plagiarism

Plagiarism dramas reached the scale of un-fucking-believable this week (this is a true scientific measurement, btw) after four different bloggers (3 book bloggers and one fashion blogger plagiarized by a book blogger) all separately chronicled their experiences.

First, we have Fashion Blogger, Beautifully Invisible, who was the victim last year of a plagiarism attack by The Story Siren.  At the one year anniversary of that drama, she chose to speak up about the effect it’s had on her.

So what was the post about?

“It is about sharing why I only posted on this blog a minuscule 18 times following that discovery last January.

It is about admitting that I was so disheartened but what happened that I somehow lost my voice.”

So, without adieu, just a few short comments from the blog post:

“Maybe it’s because blogging helped me reconnect with my love of writing. Maybe it’s because it was such a personal outlet for me. Maybe it’s because I took particular pride in a number of the posts that were plagiarized.”

And this:

“It was a scandal and it was ugly. It was personal.

Some people defended the plagiarist. Some defended us. We were introduced to a slew of new bloggers, many of which I now admire. That was a positive.

But during the height of the scandal our writing was belittled more times than I could count. It wasn’t worth anything. Anyone could string together what we had done. They weren’t original ideas. It was no big deal. We over-reacted. Etc. etc.”

Check out the rest of her beautiful post here.

Winner of the best payback on a plagiarizer goes to: Rachel from Fiktshun

Rachel from Fiktshun chronicles her encounters with another blogger stealing her images and shit.  What proceeds is some of the most hilarious payback ever.

“I learned that she was NOT hosting that particular image. Having been shown how to view page source I could see that in fact, she did NOT have that image on her site. I was OVERJOYED. Because this was proof-positive that she was in the wrong, that no amount of lies could change that.

While it may be difficult to see, just look at those word within and then check out the orange portion which is a link to my site with the folder my heart was stored in.

So not only was she using my image, she was stealing my bandwidth to do it.”

Her account goes on:

“I deleted the heart image from my uploads folder.
Immediately after i did that I took a screenshot of this person’s site – which I have NO control over. And guess what? Missing images.”

Want to see the hilarious results?  You know you do!

That is where Rachel replaced the stolen images with, “I stole this image” on the offending blogger’s site.

And THAT, my friends, is how it’s done.

SOURCE

Wendy Darling!  NOT TO WENDY DARLING!

The ever-delightful Wendy Darling chronicles her own experience with being plagiarized recently.

“But about a year ago, someone submitted two items to me that had disquieting echoes of material I had seen on this blog. I gently mentioned this to the person in passing, without any response. This triggered alarms, because it just isn’t natural for a topic like that to go unacknowledged.”

Eurgh!  No good!  Wendy went on to discover that more of this reviewer’s material could be linked back to her own.  She contacts the blogger and receives a defiant response.  Notable quote:

“I assumed that appealing to her conscience would make her stop.“

She goes on to chronicle the rest of her experience and impart some common sense advice regarding plagiarism.  Check out her blog for the full scoop.

SOURCE

Giselle from Xpresso Features in SCANDALOUS

A new Broadway musical.

Opening Stanza:

“I was approached by a friend of mine who was on this blog reading a review of Alice in Zombieland. They found some similarities to my own review and approached me about it. After reading the review myself, I not only noticed the 1 example they had found, but 5 of them–and this was only by skimming. I did not bother reading any more as I had enough to prove it was taken off of mine and I emailed them a cease and desist letter.”

Giselle chronicles the text copied and continues here:

“Now, am I wrong here, to assume that she copied off me? Because in my email, yes I assumed. I didn’t ask if she mistakenly took a few words and put them in her review during a lack or clarity or something… So wanting to stay out of the drama that I avoid like spiders, I email her this to ask her to take her review down.”

The story goes on.  The blogger deletes/changes those reviews and that technically should have been the end of the story.  However, the blogger’s mother confronts Giselle on Twitter and it all goes to hell in a handbasket.  Look, I’m certainly not going to pull out the Hatermobile and go ballistic on this girl, who literally had seven followers before her blog went subscribers-only. That wouldn’t be fair.  But you know how you don’t take a gun to a knife fight?  Conversely, you don’t take your mother to an adult fight.  That is just… it’s never going to end well, ya know?

SOURCE