Prithee, Inform Me: Return of the E-reader

The last time I polled you on your e-reading habits in June, 42% of you indicated you owned an e-reader and 58% of you said you didn't. With Christmas come and gone and a variety of new and improved readers on the market, I thought I'd revisit the question.

Prithee, Inform Me: Genre Sales Breakdowns (Redux)

It's that time of year again, mes auteurs!

I've gotten a few suggestions via The Twitter, but since I realized many of you may not be Twitter-inclined, I've decided to open up the official vote to the blog. I'll do four genres this week (including Friday, as Ms. Ombreviations will be away on vacation) and (potentially!) another four next week, so vote while the voting's good.



As always, if your genre of choice isn't represented in the poll, please mention it in the comments!

Prithee, Inform Me: Do You Own an E-Reader?

I like to keep track of trends in the industry, mes auteurs, especially ones associated directly with consumers. Sure, it's nice to know what agents and editors are buying, but it's often more interesting to see what people like you and me are, by and large, bringing to store registers or purchasing on-line.

That said, prithee, inform me: do you own an e-reader of some type?

Prithee, Inform Me: What Genre Do You Read Most?

NB: Mea culpa, dear readers. The second science fiction button is, indeed, supposed to be YA/Children's; unfortunately, I can't fix the poll without erasing the voting up to this point. I know it's lame, but if we could treat Sci-Fi #2 as Children's/YA, we might be able to get (mostly) correct numbers anyway. Sorry for the confusion! — E

Happy Monday (and happy May), gentle readers! It's been awhile since I've visited genre/category sales (see Genre Sales, Parts 1 – 8 under "The Essential PMN"), so I thought I'd gather some preliminary info with an info(rmal) poll.

The Democratization of Publishing

I know we've been discussing the coming e-pocalypse (or possible e-velation) over the past several months, fair readers, and so I present to you the following poll:



Edit: Also, please forgive the typo in the above poll. This is what happens when you stay up late to blog.

Prithee, Inform Me: Paying for POD

Following up on my POD post from the other day, I was wondering, readeurs and readeuses: would you approve the use of tax dollars to fund the installation of a POD device (like the Espresso Book Machine) in your local library (or other municipal book-type location)?

Poll time!

Prithee, Inform Me: Amazon vs. Macmillan

Based on the comments on yesterday's post, it seems we are not in agreement over who "won" the Battle of E-Book Pricing Hill—Amazon or Macmillan. Generally I determine winners and losers by divine fiat, but in this case, I think I'll conduct (you guessed it): a poll.



Have at it!

Genrification

It's been awhile since I've run a poll, and since 1.) I've noticed several new followers as of late, and 2.) I'm gearing up for another round of genre-specific sales smackdowns, I figured I'd offer you, gentle readers, the following poll:



Have at it!

Prithee, Inform Me: Welcome to the North Poll

Because I love gathering information almost as much as disseminating it, I've got another fancy poll for you (and by "fancy" I mean "decidedly low-tech," as the question doesn't really lend itself to the choose-your-own answer format). Today's question:

What's on your Top Five/Ten/Twenty-Five/&c "Must-Have Gifts" list for the holiday season?

This includes books you want for the holidays, books you've got to get for that special someone, &c, &c.

If you're interested, my Top Ten (patent pending) are below:

1. Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
2. Werewolves in Their Youth, Michael Chabon
3. Strike Anywhere, Dean Young
4. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
5. The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood
6. Say You're One of Them, Uwem Akpan
7. The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Richard Feynman
8. The Greatest Show on Earth, Richard Dawkins
9. Ein König für Deutschland, Andreas Eschbach
10. Shells, Craig Arnold

Prithee, Inform Me: The McTitle

The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
The Bonesetter's Daughter.
The Heretic's Daughter.
The Calligrapher's Daughter.
The Hummingbird's Daughter.
The Concubine's Daughter.
The Gravedigger's Daughter.

Are we perhaps seeing a pattern?

I'm not sure whether this is something authors are unconsciously doing (due to their constant absorption of contemporary fiction), something agents and publishers are purposely doing because it's the new "[Insert Adjective Here] Wife," or both, but it's an interesting trend and I'd like to get your take on it. Have you noticed this before, or with other title "templates"? Do you think it's a sign of homogenization within the industry?

Have at it!

Poll is the New Blog

First: happy Veteran's Day!

Next: business. The last time I ran a poll (three long weeks ago), I wasn't too surprised to learn that about half of you are waiting for e-reader technology to improve before you'll decide to buy one. I must admit, however, that I was a taken a bit aback by the fact that nearly a third of you insist you will never buy one of those damnable devices so long as you live.

In the interest of science, I hereby submit to you the following follow-up poll:

Give My Creation... LIFE!

In the spirit of the upcoming Halloween holiday (and the topic of yesterday's post), I've decided to experiment with polling here on PMN. Blogger (as far as I know) doesn't support polls in posts, only as sidebar widgets, so I'm going to have to go third party on this one. If any of you happen to have expertise in this area, please post in the comments!

Now then, today's poll:



Have at it!

Prithee, Inform Me: What Interests Ye?

Special announcement! PMN has been shortlisted for Best Publishing/Industry Blog over at Book Blogger Appreciation Week (we got a great button from them, which I'll add to the blog ASAP), so if PMN has been of help to you, I'd be eternally grateful if you'd vote for us! Many thanks in advance. This blog wouldn't be possible without you.

Now, it's been awhile since I've asked you what you'd like me to blog about, so I figure I'll open the gates once more. Do you want to know what I do all day (besides blog, that is)? What the Dan Brown juggernaut (just one week away!) will do to the market? More on e-books? More doom and gloom on the state of the industry?

Prithee, inform me (in the comments)!

Read Any Good Books Lately?

It's Tuesday! Why aren't you in a book store?

A couple of responses/reminders for you before I get started today:

1.) A few of you mentioned in the comments section of yesterday's post that it's possible for a book to be profitable without its author earning out his/her advance. This is absolutely true. Depending on your advance, royalty structure, and the cost(s) of printing and distributing your book (cost of jacket, cost of (re)design, cost of marketing campaign in-house, &c), you may fail to earn out your advance and the house may still turn a profit on your book. (The reverse can also be true.)

2.) Don't forget to enter Laura's most recent contest! Disease(d) superheroes & nemeses, assemble!

Now, since I work in sales, I have to read a lot. (That is, ARCs and galleys of our titles.) Most people attracted to the industry are already pretty heavy readers, so between work and pleasure, I probably read about 200 books a year (possibly more if I'm reading more graphic novels or poetry than average). Below I'll list some of the books I've (re)read this summer, and in the comments, please feel free to list your top five/ten/twenty/or more! novels of the summer/year so far. You'll see what I'm reading, I'll see what you're reading, everybody learns something.

So! Since early June I've read (not including the ARCs/galleys for work):

• The Odyssey (Fitzgerald translation), Homer
• Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut
• The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut
• Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut
• Best American Short Stories 2008, Salman Rushdie, ed.
• Watchmen, Alan Moore
• Embryoyo, Dean Young
• That Old Cape Magic, Richard Russo
• Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
• The Accidental Billionaires, Ben Mezrich
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith
• When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
• American Lion, Jon Meacham
• Citizen Of, Christian Hawkey
• Complete Works of William Shakespeare (a handful of plays—not the whole thing!), William Shakespeare
• Batman: The Long Halloween, Jeph Loeb
• The City & the City, China Miéville
• Origins of the Specious, Patricia O'Conner & Stewart Kellerman
• Natural History, Dan Chiasson
• L'Être et le Néant: Essai D'Ontologie Phénoménologique, Jean-Paul Sartre

Prithee, Inform Me: Genre-Specific Sales

So.

Next week I'm thinking of writing a series on book sales that is genre-specific (e.g. romance on Monday, fantasy on Tuesday, &c). Now, I'd insert a poll here and ask you to vote, but Blogger is acting up something fierce and won't let me do that. So, for now, we'll do this the old-fashioned way.

Prithee, inform me (in the comments): which genres would you like me to discuss next week? (Keep in mind that paranormal romance, contemporary romance, &c, will all be under romance; epic fantasy, urban fantasy, &c will all be under fantasy, and so on.)