Reading Goals for 2011

As of this writing I read 96 books, 4 books short of my reading goal for the year. I actually had two goals--100 books/25,000 pages. I reached the 25,000 pages goal about a week ago. I'm a little bummed about not reaching both, but glad to have been able to read as many books as I did, and to have discovered quite a few new, excellent authors. Unfortunately, I'm anticipating reading even less for 2012 as my own writing kicks back into high gear. I'd still like to finish no less than 50 books, hopefully more, to put a dent in my numerous TBR piles (and with my purchase of a Kindle, my TBR piles have been growing by leaps and bounds in the virtual and physical realms ;)

The usual refrain for me comes to mind: So many books, so little time. Of course this hasn't stopped me from piling up on books--both electronic and print. Helping me to feed my book purchasing addiction is this nifty little site I recently discovered http://www.pixelofink.com I'm about a week and a half into my subscription and I've already dowloaded at least 15 free or bargain e-books for my Kindle and looking forward to enjoying even more new and up-and-coming authors as well as my reliable auto-buys.

How about you? Did you reach your reading goals for the year?

Traditional Publishers' E-book Pricing - A Crime

Received this link in an e-mail from Amazon with a list of several other books they thought I might be interested in since I had purchased some other Mystery/Thrillers recently. Just out of curiosity and as I've read Jodi Picoult in the past and enjoyed her, I checked the link out:

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0058M8JRG/ref=pe_170410_21550890_pe_epc_dt2

Now aside from the fact that this book is a reissue with a different cover (a rant for another day about how publishers get you to purchase a book that you've already purchased, but luckily I remembered the premise in this case) it's shit like this that just pisses me off with traditional, big publishers. WHY the hell is the Kindle version TWICE as much as the print?!?! And this is just a sample. I've seen other big name authors' books priced like this (J.R. Ward, for example, whose Black Dagger Brotherhood books I avidly follow!). Amazon makes this note beside the Kindle edition: "This price was set by the publisher", like this is supposed to somehow absolve and separate them from the travesty.

When I purchased my Kindle, I thought I would just convert and buy all my books in the Kindle version from now on, but with prices like this, I can see myself buying half-print, half-e, or just stop buying books from traditional, big publishers altogether, except in very special, auto-buy-author instances (and these are getting few and far between, especially since I can find comparable authors and themes with e-publishers). Admittedly, I have found lots of bargains and have downloaded numerous FREE or reasonably priced (i.e., $2.99-$5.99) books in Kindle version (some by big name authors) since I purchased my Kindle, so I guess like with any new technology, one must take the good with the bad (i.e., outrageous, traditional publisher pricing vs. reasonable e-publisher pricing). As usual, the best prices for e-books are coming directly from the source: E-Publishers!

I still like the idea of the Kindle and reading on it, but traditional publishing, hanging on tooth and nail to their outdated models (and pricing accordingly) is, as usual, trying to control the market and stomp on the "little" guy. Except that the little guy isn’t so little anymore as authors like Barry Eisler can attest:

http://writersbreak.com/2011/05/ebooks-and-self-publishing-a-long-dialogue-between-authors-barry-eisler-and-joe-konrath-part-1/

http://writersbreak.com/2011/09/novelist-barry-eisler-launches-the-detachment-explains-why-he-turned-down-500000-in-order-to-self-publish/

So traditional publishers, stomp on! E-Publishing is here to stay. Better check yourself before you wreck yourself!