Buzz Worthy News In Which Ebooks Are Dying 04/04/2014

4 April, 2014 Buzz Worthy News 18 comments

BuzzIconBuzz Worthy News

Welcome back to Buzz Worthy News where the stories are awesome and not at all well-written. Need your YA industry news? Never fear, Kat and Kate are here to give it all to you. Just, ya know, not in any kinda sophisticated sense or nothing. Basically: Your first look at If I Stay, Percy Jackson movies are DOA, and the April Fools Pranks just kept coming. All this and more is happening 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: Hot New Titles.

IF-I-STAY

If I Stay Movie Is Coming to You

The If I Stay movie, adapted from the popular Gayle Forman novel of the same name,  is on its way and you can have your first look at it now. Entertainment Weekly has published two of the first photos of Chloe Moretz and Jamie Blakley in their roles of Mia and Adam.

Look, I loved this book. Loved it so hard. But Chloe Moretz said a bad, bad thing.

“What’s interesting about Gayle’s novel is that it’s not really that YA. It deals with issues that are much bigger…it’s much darker than I think most YA is.  I want people to walk in and feel like they actually felt something, and learned something, and realized something different about life that’s more than just, ‘Oh, I saw this love triangle and it’s super sad because she chose the guy I didn’t like. And then the movie was over.’ And you’re like, ‘Okay, that’s pathetic.’ You want to watch something that actually means something and makes you feel and makes you want to be involved. That’s what I wanted to make and that’s what I strive to make.”

I see. Is that how you feel, huh?

Luckily my blogettes had my back in this one and #recsformoretz sprung up and this blog post went up to school Moretz.  Word is that when she accepts the lead of Margo in Paper Towns, she plans to burn down the YA section of every book store she enters and piss on the ashes.

Logan LehrmanThird Percy Jackson Movie DOA, Maybe?

For the four or five Cuddlebuggery readers still invested in the Percy Jackson movie franchise which, according to credible sources, did not do the books even an iota of justice, is probably dead according to Sir Lerman the Argentinian (Haha, bet you thought I was going to say German. Don’t be culturally insensitive!) Just kidding, I have no idea where Logan Lerman comes from. But, at the premiere of Noah, Lerman put the kibosh on a third movie.

“It’s been a great experience for me,” Lerman said of the role. “It’s opened up a lot of doors for me, but I don’t think it’s happening.”

Compared to the $691 million that the first Hunger Games movie brought in, the $428 million combined from the two Percy Jackson movies must feel pretty paltry to the studio.

Lerman has come out to say that his words were “taken out of context” (ie. Oops, I shouldna said that) and that he’s contractually obligated to do a third movie IF THE STUDIO CALLS HIM. Considering the two movies cost $185 million to make, that’s a nice little return, but is it enough to entire the studio to go for round three?


Don’t try to look for book news on April Fool’s, is the lesson I’ve learned this week.  Here are some of the best examples that publishers still have a great sense of humor.

Reading in SpaceAmazon Puts a Bookstore in Space

When I initially saw this story, I thought to myself, “Okay, now they’re just desperate for headlines!”  Because who in their right minds would put a bookstore in space.  It doesn’t make any sense.  Turns out it’s not supposed to, but here are some of the funnier bits:

NASA announced the historic agreement in Houston this morning. The shop, which is expected to open in time for the busy summer season on the ISS – when international crews come and go every 50 days – will stock around 2,000 titles in hardback and paperback, curated by Amazon’s buyers working in conjunction with ISS Mission Control in Houston. Its aim is to make the downtime for the crews on the spacecraft more pleasant and provide welcome distraction in one of the ‘world’s’ most isolated of work environments.

The historic deal is the culmination of a long-held dream of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.  He has been fascinated by space travel for many years and in 2000 established Blue Origin, a “human space flight start-up company”, with the aim of developing “space hotels, amusement parks and colonies for two million or three million people orbiting the Earth”.  The bookshop on the ISS is the first stage of that dream.

But did you know Bezos himself dreams of a space voyage?  Yeah, I didn’t either.

Bezos himself is now in training to make the three-day journey to the ISS where he will perform a space walk for one of the book industry’s most extraordinary ribbon cutting ceremonies.  He once said: “I am awed by the prospect. If you’ll forgive me, this will be one small step for a bookseller; one giant leap for bookselling.”

You can read the whole thing HERE.

Jane-Austen-9192819-1-402Goodreads To Publish Lost Jane Austen Book (oh, how I wish this were true!)

I passed over this one when I first saw it, because I was like, “Good Lord, where did they possible find this?  Must be some outline somewhere that some lame author wrote up.” But no, it’s just fake.  Here is the supposed scoop, from the goodreads blog:

It is with great excitement and a weighty sense of responsibility that we make today’s announcement: Goodreads has acquired and will release a previously unpublished work by Jane Austen. The full-length novel, titled Mirth and Mischief, will be made available to all readers in fall of 2014.

Where in God’s name could such a novel come from?  As it turns out, Napa Valley, California.

Eager to fill our empty shelves with books, we purchased a large lot of volumes from an estate sale in nearby Napa Valley. Wedged between two aging folios, we found a full manuscript prefaced by a cover letter from Henry Austen, Jane’s elder brother who acted as her literary agent, to London publisher Benjamin Crosby.

We have used the last seven months to consult with historians, Austen scholars, and legal counsel to verify the authenticity of the manuscript. We used every test at our disposal—including radiocarbon dating of the manuscript and verification of Henry Austen’s signature. As the manuscript continued to pass each test, we could scarcely believe what we had stumbled on!

For a synopsis of the fake book’s plot (quite amusing) go HERE.  BTW, you can even add the book to your bookshelf! haha

J-K-Rowling-Harry-Potter-series-authorJ.K Rowling To Publish Colin Creevey Series!!!

In what is probably the cruelest practical joke, from my viewpoint, Tor posted this story on their website, sending Potter fans into spasms of delight.  (And then into the depths of despair, when they realized it was nothing but a hoax.)

In a press conference held at King’s Cross station last night, Rowling and her publishers revealed a new set of middle-grade books to be centered on Colin Creevey.

“I had been wanting to return to the world of Hogwarts for some time,” Rowling explained. “But instead of continuing the timeline forward I wanted to re-approach the relative innocence of the first volumes of the Harry Potter series.” The author went on to explain that she felt stymied as to how to approach this desire until she happened to catch a few minutes of theHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie in her hotel room during a convention appearance in the U.S. in 2013.

“Right there, it hit me. Colin Creevey. He’s got such charisma, his innocent impetuousness is clear, and his arc is simultaneously tragic and heroic.” She was further delighted to find a small but fervent fanbase for the character online.

You got me, Tor, you got me.  And also, WHY CAN’T YOU MAKE THIS BE TRUE???  Read the whole fake story HERE.

Penguin Now!Emperor_Penguin_Manchot_empereur

Finally, I bring the story that actually hooked me until I’d read the whole post.  My heart seized in my chest, I felt cold sweat.  I just couldn’t believe this hideousness could be true.  Well, yeah, because it isn’t.

LONDON: Penguin are pleased to announce the launch of imprint Penguin Now!, a ground-breaking new series re-packaging classic novels for a new generation.

For the first time, iconic books such as Albert Camus’s The Stranger, Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishmentwill remove all the instances of full stops in the original text, and replace them with exclamation marks.

At first I was just like, WUT?  What is this madness?  Then it really started to sink in.

Penguin editor Mae Dappersonne: “Today’s generation have become used to the immediacy provided by smartphones, Netflix and game consoles. In order for older literature to remain relevant we felt it was important to break free of some of the more outmoded grammatical constraints of the past and publish something that today’s readers can actually relate to.

“By using exclamation marks over and over again, the reader is reminded of the urgency of the story at the end of every sentence. It’s a great way of preventing potentially inattentive readers from tuning out, putting the book down and wandering off, without altering the original text too much.

“Also, exclamation marks are intrinsically just plain fun, adding an air of frivolity and serving to soften the edges of some of the heady subject matter to be found in a great deal of classic literature. We think it’ll make them more palatable for people who want to read these great books without getting depressed.”

Penguin, you evil bastards!  Do you have any idea how appalling even the idea of this is?  Seriously, for a second there I almost had a heart attack!  Here are some delicious examples that they posted for our amusement:

The Stranger, Albert Camus
“Mother died today! Or yesterday, I don’t know!”
1984, George Orwell
“One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution! One makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship! The object of persecution is persecution! The object of torture is torture! The object of power is power! Now you begin to understand me!”

Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart! The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth!”

Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy
“But no one came! Because no one ever does!”

Read the whole heart-stopping post HERE.

 Good News, Booklovers: Your Species Is On The Rise

Are you a bookaholic (It’s a word, ask the Oxford English Dictionary)?  If so, you’re in good company.  Apparently, the world is so filled with book readers that book sales went up by 1.0%, to 15.05 billion dollars in 2013. (or so says the Association of American Publisher’s StatShot program)

Every one of the major book categories increased last year, with the exception of “children & young adult” segment, which actually fell by 6%.   And yes, this could just mean that some people are buying more books, but I choose to believe that more and more of our earthly citizens are figuring out that books are awesomesauce.

SOURCE

Zac Efron To Star In Grisham Adaption

I remember back when Zac Efron was this adorable little kid, singing and dancing in High School Musical.  Then this happened:

I’m gonna go ahead and let you enjoy that for a moment.

So yeah, Zac grew up and stuff.  (and stuff!!!)  Now he’s producing and starring in John Grisham’s The Associate.

Grisham’s legal thriller was originally published on January 27, 2009. The story follows a Yale Law School grad (Efron) who is blackmailed by a group of criminals. He’s told he must take a job at the world’s largest law firm, where he’ll be spying on their work in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions.

Efron, along with the producers behind Divergent will oversee this project.  And I’m just going to hope for a lot of shirtless scenes, because why not?

SOURCE

 

 

Tim WaterstoneTim Waterstone Is NOT Pulling an April Fool’s Prank

I always love reading the opinions of out-of-touch oldsters on the internet.  I mean, you’re like a hundred years old, you’ve probably never read an eBook in your life, AND you’re nitpicking from studies to get the results you want, but yeah, your opinion is so important.

But let’s hear it from the man himself:

“I think you read and hear more garbage about the strength of the e-book revolution than anything else I’ve known,” Mr Waterstone told the audience in Oxford.

“The e-books have developed a share of the market, of course they have, but every indication – certainly from America – shows the share is already in decline. The indications are that it will do exactly the same in the UK.”

Mr. Waterstone, I get that you founded a chain of famous bookstores in the UK and that people think you’re the be all and end all of bookish predictions.  But are you being serious with me right now?

First of all, ebooks not selling as much in 2012 as 2013 in the US means pretty much nothing.  Like, it’s one freaking year.  Show me year after year of results and I might just believe you.

Second of all, you looked at one study, which doesn’t even include indie eBooks (yes, I get that you and several others would rather pretend they don’t exist).  According to authorearnings.com (which generates B&N as well as Amazon sales reports), of the top 7,000 books on each site, roughly half of those sold are indies.  If you don’t count those in your ebook count (which The Association of American Publishers does not) then you don’t have the whole picture, do you?

And lastly, publishers (and readers) want to keep eBooks around because they make more profit!  They’re the hope for publishers lagging bottom lines.  If we can get them to give a bigger chunk of those book sale royalties to authors, we’ll be in even better shape!

Mr. Waterstone, in closing, I’m just going to quote you:

“Anyone who tells you they know the future is telling you the most grotesque lie, because none of us do.”

Well, yeah.  Which means that you definitely don’t know if they’ll go into a decline or not, do you?

Sources HERE, HERE and HERE.
 

 

Kat Kennedy

Kat Kennedy

Co-blogger at Cuddlebuggery
Kat Kennedy is a book reviewer and aspiring author in the Young Adult genre. She reviews critically but humorously and get super excited about great books. Find her on GoodReads.
Kat Kennedy
Kate Copeseeley

Kate Copeseeley

Buzz Worthy News Correspondent
Kate Copeseeley is the Buzz Worthy News Correspondent, occasional reviewer, and a bonafide bookslut®. She can be found haunting Goodreads, writing The 100 fanfic, and neglecting everything else in favor of burying her nose in a book. Visit her on Goodreads.
Kate Copeseeley

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18 Responses to “Buzz Worthy News In Which Ebooks Are Dying 04/04/2014”

  1. Sara @ The Hiding Spot

    I don’t really know tons about book royalties and what percentage of profits authors actually get, but I do that it’s difficult all around to make money selling books. As an indie bookseller, I can tell you that indie stores buy books at a 40-50% discount (usually 40% for smaller stores who buy from warehouse like Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Partners, etc). Which means that, *if* we sell the book, we make a profit of only 40-50% – if we don’t sell it, we, obviously, lose money. Now consider how much profit a store makes on a paperback book, which in my area is what we primarily sell, and we can barely keep the lights on some months, let alone pay staff and order more books, especially books that aren’t on the bestsellers lists and reasonably guaranteed sales.

    Of course, there are bigger, established indies that don’t struggle as much and big box stores are a whole different ball game, but, overall, I really fear for brick & mortar stores! It’s an uphill battle but I hope they’ll survive.
    Sara @ The Hiding Spot recently posted…Weekly Wrap Up (11)My Profile

    • Kate Copeseeley

      I think we all hope they survive! But I also think that if publishers don’t come up with a way to shore up their sagging bottomlines, they will be in big trouble. They need to cut some fat, and sell some ebooks.

      Since you’re an indie, I am curious… what do you think of the “selling ebooks from your indie store” plans that kobo and amazon have put out? I thought they sounded cool, but I’m just a reader, so I have no idea if they’re practical at ALL.

      • Sara @ The Hiding Spot

        I’ll preface my response by saying that I haven’t deeply researched this proposal (that indie bookstores sell Kindles and Kindle books), but, from the articles I’ve read, I don’t think that most booksellers will end up taking the partnership.

        First off, the indie bookseller/Amazon relationship is a lot like Harry Potter and Voldemort. Booksellers don’t trust Amazon, don’t like Amazon, they don’t even say the word Amazon if they can help it. So having a relationship with Amazon would be difficult for many booksellers who have just downright despised the company for so long.

        Secondly, from what I can tell, the bookstores won’t benefit much from the deal… They profits that they would make would be very, very minimal. I could be wrong on this, but it looked like bookstores would have two choices: 1) Sell the Kindle for very little profit and make some commission on e-books sold to that customers for a specified amount of time or b) Make more profit on the sale of the Kindle but no profit for e-books sold after. Either way, the bookstore would make very little and only for a short period of time. PLUS from that point forward, the customers will keep buying from Amazon, not the brick and mortar store.

        I don’t know what the right course of action is, but I, personally, wouldn’t want to partner with Amazon. I just don’t think they really care whether we succeed or fail – and why would they? They are for profit business who might very well corner the market, then they can do what they want because they have no competition to encourage fairness or better prices. Of course, this might not happen, but it worries me.
        Sara @ The Hiding Spot recently posted…Weekly Wrap Up (11)My Profile

        • Kate Copeseeley

          I’m really glad you took the time to answer me. I did a Buzz story about Amazon (which basically said the same thing you just did) and about Kobo last fall, but I did wonder what booksellers would really think about them.

  2. Natalie Monroe
    Twitter:

    I got trolled so many times on April Fool’s day. No new Puck novella, but I did get a page’s worth of his POV on Julie Kagawa’s website. That’s win enough for me!

    Percy Jackson holds a lot of mixed feelings for me because I freaking worship the books, but the movies were just awful (at least Logan Lerman is hot). I have the feeling if they’d asked for Rick Riordan’s help like they did for THG and Divergent, it wouldn’t have been that bad.

    And thanks for clearing up the #recsformoretz topic! I saw it on Twitter a couple days and didn’t really know what it was for. Romance in books rule. Around 85% of the books I love have a romantic subplot and I’m damn proud of that fact.

  3. Kelly
    Twitter:

    Look, I ain’t gunna lie, I have no idea what you were talking about after seeing that photo of Zac Efron. He’s just a package of delicious.

    I loved If I Stay, but I have no idea who Chloe Moretz and Jamie Blakley are. Going by that photo, they look like a pair of dorks.

    Why, WHY do they insist on casting people that look nothing like what I imagined them. Dorks I tell you, dorks *sobs*
    Kelly recently posted…Stacking The Shelves and Weekly Wrap #016My Profile

  4. Cait @ Notebook Sisters

    Um…I’m still kind of boggled over Chloe Mortez insulting all YA like that. Like, does she READ YA? And who says that YA can’t deal with big and deep issuses? Are we supposed to be reading about candy canes and cotton fluff? DANG. *narrows eyes* ANYWAY. This is a really awesome post! (as always) I kind of laughed my head off at the Penguin one. Oh yay! We love exclamation marks! Everywhere!
    Cait @ Notebook Sisters recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #18My Profile

  5. Fangs 4 the Fantasy (@Fangs4Fantasy)

    Ooooh them’s fighting words. Why single out this YA as the super special one? While there are plenty of vapid love triangles out there – there’s also plenty of meat and substance as well. There’s good and bad in every genre – and in every genre you have to fine through a lot of shit to find the diamonds

    Ebooks are dying? HAH! Keep dreaming!
    Fangs 4 the Fantasy (@Fangs4Fantasy) recently posted…Lagoon by Nned OkoraforMy Profile

  6. Eileen @ Singing and Reading in the Rain
    Twitter:

    Aww I’m really glad that If I Stay is becoming a movie but what Chloe said was definitely a little disappointing. Doesn’t she know about The Fault in Our Stars being YA? It’s not the only example, of course, but it’s one of the most famous YA novels that “actually means something” by her definition. Haha and all the April Fools’ jokes this time around were so cruel but hilarious, if I saw the JK Rowling news I’d probably freak but then be so sad afterwards.
    Eileen @ Singing and Reading in the Rain recently posted…The Last Forever by Deb CalettiMy Profile

  7. Sandy

    I don’t think Chloe Moretz knows what YA means and it sounds to me the only YA she’s “read” are the movie adaptations she’s watched -_-.

  8. Stephen Juarez

    That fake Colin Creevey gave me a mini heat attack. I wanted it to be true so bad. So freaking bad. Why can’t it be true? Will the Hadron Collider give me what I want in February?

  9. Elle Salazar

    I agree with the recent backlash with the sales of books. Pretty sure there are a lot of new books being published that is most likely being popularized by hollywood. Thanks to the movies, kids get more curious about a book series up to the point where they get to buy the book version (which is better).

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