Big news (or at least for Baen ebook readers) – Baen’s moving to Amazon (and potentially other third parties) as a distribution platform for the ebooks as of the 15th.
I have mixed feelings about this. I’ve posted previously about how much I love their current ebook distribution model – ebooks released 2 weeks before the official street date, DRM-free, and for $6 even if it’s a hardback release (and potentially even cheaper if you buy as part of a bundle). On the other hand, this model was always aimed to encourage ebook adoption, and now that ereaders are taking off in a big way, it makes monetary sense for Baen (and their authors) to move to a distribution system that gives them the widest audience.
I’ve not seen anything about release date changes (i.e. whether it will now tie-in with the official street date), but they will stay DRM-free. Prices will rise (hardbacks from $6 to $10), so buy now is the message if you’re planning on any Baen ebook purchases. Bundles stay, but will be on sale for a limited time period (i.e. pre-sale only). E-ARCs also stay (though I’ve never bought any).
More info @ Baen’s Bar (logon required). It kind of feels like the end of an era – I remember my very first ebook was from Baen (Catherine Asaro‘s RUBY DICE, because I’m sure you really want to know), and I was so on the fence as to whether ebooks would work for me. Ha.
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Diana Peterfreund responds to a claim that the cover of FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS was white-washed (spoiler: it’s not). It’s a measured response and worth reading. And I was totally oblivious to the fact FOR DARKNESS was set in New Zealand. *blinks* It makes so much sense in retrospect.
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Jo Walton‘s insightful posts at Tor.com are a must-read for me – she either makes me think about old favourites from a different perspective or introduces me to books that sound right up my street. Here’s the former - her take on Lois McMaster Bujold‘s CAPTAIN VORPATRIL’S ALLIANCE as well as a comparison between Aral and Miles.
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Patrick Rothfuss is running his annual Worldbuilders fundraiser for Heifer International - a chance to win books AND support a good cause.
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A snippet of Patricia Briggs’ upcoming novel FROST BURNED on her forum – it feels like a very long time since we’ve last seen Mercy.
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Sarah Rees Brennan has announced she’s doing a retelling of A TALE OF TWO CITIES. This could be amazing. I mean, seriously amazing.
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Kristin Cashore posted about how BITTERBLUE (very slowly) took shape. I’m impressed. Also, I can’t believe she actually wrote the story out by hand. Several times. And that her writing was still legible by the end.
That’s big news for Baen indeed. I don’t like Amazon ^_^; But I’m glad to see they could come to a compromise, that Baen hasn’t given up everything that had made them unique
Looking forward to the Patricia Briggs. Too bad she now writes a book a year and alternates between the two werewolves series. It’s going to be a long time before we see Charles and Anna too, sigh.
The Baen/Amazon deal has apparently gone live now, though I haven’t checked either site yet.
I am sort of torn between Mercy and Charles/Anna books – can’t decide which one I prefer. The ending of the last Charles/Anna book implies the two series will be more intertwined going forward though!