New Lemony Snicket cover, Twilight wins big at the Razzie awards (insert surprised reaction here. Oh, wait…), STUFF happens with Robin in the Batman comic, a Beautiful Disaster disaster that brings both smug and shocked faces. Don’t worry, everyone lives happily ever after. Find 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.
Books
New Lemony Snicket Cover Revealed – I have no idea if these means anything
Just the other day the Harry Potter series began unveiling its new covers. Now Lemony Snicket is doing the same. For those Lemony Snicket fans (alas I’m not one of them – having never actually picked up one of these books) this could be exciting. I guess.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has released the new cover for the next Lemony Snicket book. When Did You See Her Last? is coming on October 15th.
This is the second book in the “All the Wrong Questions” series, illustrated by Seth. The dispatch also included a YouTube conversation between Snicket and his pseudonymous creator, Daniel
I’m not actually sure if this is an improvement or not, or how fans should feel about this.
So…. Here it is!
Twilight Wins 7 Razzie Awards. WELL OF COURSE IT DOES!
The Razzies happened and it’s always an excellent way to remind yourself that the world isn’t crazy. No matter how many millions of dollars a movie makes – at least there’s SOMEONE out there to appreciate how awesome they are.
So just how many awards, appreciating Twilight’s badness, did it manage to rack up?
Worst Picture – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Worst Actress – Kristen Stewart for Snow White & the Huntsman and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Worst Supporting Actor – Taylor Lautner for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Worst Screen Ensemble – the entire cast of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Worst Director – Bill Condon for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Worst Prequel, Ripoff, or Sequel – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Worst Screen Couple – Mackenzie Foy & Taylor Lautner for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
Twilight Movies, I just don’t think we’re that into you.
Batman Inc Kills Two Robins With One Stone
Spoilers ahead so only wade in if you’re ready or you couldn’t give a shit.
They killed Bruce Wayne and Talia A Gul’s son – the current Robin. Which is kind of a dick move since a) that’s his son and b) Batman tends to lean on the side of broody and temperamental.
I’m sure it’s not permanent because nothing ever is and what about that glimpse of the future where Damian becomes Batman, huh?! HUH?!
Out today, the eighth issue of the Batman Incorporated series will see Robin – who in his current incarnation is played by Bruce Wayne’s 10-year-old son Damian – die in battle. “He saves the world. He does his job as Robin,” writer Grant Morrison told the New York Post. “He dies an absolute hero.”
Robin, said Morrison, will be killed fighting an assassin cloned from his own genetic material, and Batman will not arrive in time to save him, with his death certain to affect the entire DC Comics universe. “It’s all about the family and the family going to hell,” said Morrison. “The two adults in the story are both culpable. The kid’s the good guy.”
Many comic book characters have been killed off lately. Including Professor Xavier. And not that anyone REALLY cares about Damian since he was an annoying bratlet and nobody really wept when Tim kicked his ass a few times. And by the by, who lets their ten year old son fight crime? Sure he was birthed from an artificial womb and raised from infancy for combat and assassination – but, really, just introduce him to the internet and then happily watch as he never leaves the house again. Problem solved.
Publishing
Barnes and Noble Nook is Down. Prepare a sad face
Everyone loves the story of an Underdog. You root for them in your heart. Hope they make it, fight the unbeatable battle and somehow win. This is how I felt for the Nook for a while. So slick. So stylish. So not a Kindle. All excellent reasons why I probably should have bought one, but I was just so busy, ya know? Always things to do, places to see, a perfectly working iPad to use.
But news from the front line is that the Nook is not doing so good, and this gives me a big, ol’ sad.
Barnes & Noble reported that Nook segment revenues totaled $316 million for the fiscal third quarter, sinking 26 percent compared to the same period last year. The company blamed “lower device unit volume” for the sagging sales, and promised to “significantly reduce NOOK’s expenses.”
Noooooooo!!!!!! I would ask how this could be happening, but that seems redundant. William Lynch, the CEO had this to say:
In terms of the NOOK Media business, we’ve taken significant actions to begin to right size our cost structure in the NOOK segment, while also taking a large markdown on NOOK devices in order to enhance our ability to achieve our estimated sales plans in subsequent quarters … NOOK Media has been financing itself since October of 2012 due to the strong investment partners we’ve been able to attract in Microsoft and Pearson. Coming off the holiday shortfall, we’re in the process of making some adjustments to our strategy as we continue to pursue the exciting growth opportunities ahead for us in the consumer and digital education content markets.
Well, I do have a birthday coming up.
How Do You Find Books? Goodreads really wanted to know
That rascally scamp, Goodreads. Always wanting to know why we read things and how. Poking us and prodding us to see how we think. Like labrats. Adorable labrats that we’re sure Goodreads is very fond of. As long as we behave. Always.
Their latest foray into the world of TELL US WHAT YOU READERS WANT!? Is a graph showing what made certain readers discover a book. Magic, right? Turns out all you gullible bastards listen to your friends! What about ME?! Why don’t you listen to me?
Actually, you know what is missing from this list in a move that is either daft or on purpose? Bloggers. I would be really interested to know how bloggers play into this. Probably more than I needed to know what part Goodreads Choice Awards played.
Anyway, I’m just going to assume I AM your trusted friend and that I am there for awesome enough to have this kind of impact on all of your reading choices and panty selections. Today is already going better than I assumed!
Controversy
Beautiful Disaster’s Not-So-Beautiful-Disaster
Haha! I came up with that myself. Trufax. Had to use all of my braincells to do it too. So Yesterday Jamie McGuire posted on her Facebook about a situation happening with the self published version of Beautiful Disaster:
I have looked into this as best I can, but being a Saturday, Amazon isn’t responding.
It appears that Amazon has sent a mass email to everyone who’s ever purchased the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster. They are encouraging readers to request a refund. When asked why they are offering this refund, Amazon customer service has given several different reasons, the most common is problems with content. THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE CONTENT OF BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, and it makes no sense for them to encourage a refund for a book that has already been read and enjoyed 6+ months later, but that is the only information I have for now.
Customer service admits that if you do NOT get the refund, your copy of BD will NOT be affected. If you get a refund, they are offering to reimburse the $4+ difference it costs to purchase the $7.99 version, but what they aren’t telling you is that **I** am paying for every refund.
Last week, I sent an email to Amazon asking why the self-published version of my book is still experiencing returns. Returns are only allowed for up to 7 days after purchase. 6 months after the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster went off-sale my account was still seeing negative amounts for returns. I’m not going to assume the reasons behind this mass email, but it appears that Amazon customer service is now encouraging these returns.
I was not notified of this. This email has nothing to do with my publisher Atria books. If you do not get a refund, your copy of BD will not be affected. If you do, the refund will show as a negative amount in my Amazon KDP author account. Because BD is no longer available, this money will be taken out of my Providence sales.
In other words, this is very bad, and I have no idea why this is happening. Please do not return your copy of BD, and please help me spread the word to not return your copy of BD.
I will let you know what else I find out from Amazon. In the meantime, your support has brought me to tears. I love you all.
It was such a weird thing to happen that it immediately sparked both outrage in some quarters and hilarious enjoyment in others (what can I say? We’re sadistic bastards…)
Understandably, self-pubbed authors across the Kindle boards freaked the fuck out because if this can happen to one, it can happen to any. And as some pointed out, it could easily bankrupt an author – which would actually be terrible. Blog posts were MADE. Fury was ripe to be reckoned with. Pitchforks were pulled.
Apparently the email received by purchasers of the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster looked something like this:
We want to let you know that the edition of Beautiful Disaster that you purchased is no longer available. You can order a new version that is now available here:
(Link to Amazon Redacted)
You can also request a refund on your original purchase by responding to this email. After the refund is issued, you will no longer be able to access this item.
Thank you,
Others claim that when they inquired or contacted Amazon about the copy they were all but forced to refund.
And then the conspiracies started, which was amazing to watch because I alternately loved and believed every single one at some point in the day.
1) Was that there was a different font used on the published version.
2) That copyrighted material in the Self Published version (Can’t Get No Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones) had been used without authorization and that the record company was demanding take down. Jane L of Dear Author published the offending pages with the copyrighted material here.
3) It was a scam trying to get people to log into Amazon and steal their customer data.
In the end, the problem resolved itself. After all that speculation – Amazon is claiming that it was an error. Another email was sent out to Beautiful Disaster purchasers.
Hello,
You may have received an e-mail from us yesterday stating that the edition of “A Beautiful Disaster” you purchased is no longer available. This e-mail was incorrect, and there is no action required to continue enjoying the book.
If you are having any problems with the book, please feel free to contact us by replying to this message, and we will be happy to help you.
We apologize for any misunderstanding our e-mail caused.
Sincerely,
The Kindle Team
So problem solved? We can go back to being bored, I guess!
Kat Kennedy
Latest posts by Kat Kennedy (see all)
- Buzz Worthy News: 20th May 2013 - May 20, 2013
- Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - May 17, 2013
- Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff - May 15, 2013
- Buzz Worthy News: 13th May 2013 - May 13, 2013
