Black-Cyber-Book-Weekend is here!

Before we jump right into the point of this blog, did you US peeps have a great Thanksgiving? The Kirk family sure did, and you can find out more about that in my December 6^th newsletter if you sign-up.

All right, onward! What is Black-Cyber-Book-Weekend? Obviously, it’s the combination of Black Friday (which now seems to start the Monday before Thanksgiving—unless you’re a car dealership, in which case it starts Nov. 12. The day after the Veteran’s Days deals end.) and Cyber Monday (which now seems to start on Thanksgiving). Am I wrong??

In a nutshell, it’s all about book holiday book deals!

For the record, I tried to think of a way to shorten Black-Cyber-Book-Weekend, much in the way National Novel Writing Month became NaNoWriMo, but alas, BlaCyBoWee isn’t as catchy. It doesn’t even look good as a hashtag. If you have a better idea, please post it in the comments.

And I totally digressed again, didn’t I?

Today…right here on this very blog…I’ll give you all the links I could find to super deals, freebies, and FB events that qualify for Black-Cyber-Book-Weekend! And in the comments, you all are welcome to include links to other book related deals and events I missed. Let’s make this a one-stop shopping spot for readers!

Enough of my yammering. Let’s get on with this!

Events

Cyborg Monday – A multi-author event on Facebook featuring cyborg-sized deals on manly machines. Join the Sci-fi and Fantasy Romance group on Monday December 2 from 6-11 p.m. EST

FB Groups featuring deals

Sci-fi and Fantasy Romance

Sci Fi, Urban Fantasy, and Dystopian Readers and Writers!

Science Fiction Romance Brigade Fanpage

Dragon’s Book Hoarde

Romance with Aliens Who Look Like Aliens

Individual Author Sales

*Tasha Black (SFR)

Reconstructed

*Cara Bristol (SFR/Cyborg)

Stranded with the Cyborg

*Nancey Cummings (SFR)

Snowed in with the Alien Warlord

The Alien Warlord’s Miracle

Taken for Granite

*Libby Doyle (SFR)

The Passion Season

                                                                   
*Susan Hayes (SFR)

Full House

*Lea Kirk (SFR)

 Prophecy

 Blue Christmas

 Space Ranger

 Skylar’s Gift (preorder)

 *Cynthia Sax (SFR/Cyborgs)

 Choosing Chuckles

 Warlord Sky

 Cyborg’s Secret Baby

*Elsa Jade (SFR)

Mach One

*Stephanie West (PNR & SFR)

Nameless Fate

Biting Back

Beautiful Moves

Charge

Arica’s Inferno

The Red Room Job

Hard as Rock

Fated to Fall

Betrayal by Blood

First Sight

Deals and Book Fairs (end Nov. 30!)

Out of This World SFR & PNR

Delicious Aliens

Remember, if you have an SFR, PNR, Fantasy, UF sale going on this weekend, post it in the comments!

Happy reading everyone. See ya next month!

~Lea

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USA Today Bestselling Author, Lea Kirk, loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her sci-fi romances. 

When she’s not busy writing about the blue and green aliens of her Prophecy series, or reading about dragons, she’s hanging out with her hubby, five kids (the nerd herd), and spoiled Dobie mix puppy.

She is currently working on a novella and the fourth book in her series.

Light My Fire

Recently, I’ve been on a dragon binge. No, I’m not writing about dragons (yet), but I have read lots of wonderful books featuring dragon shifters. All kinds of dragon shifters, frankly. Alien dragons, Earth-bound dragons…just gimme!

I know that many of you have a hankerin’ for fire breathing heroes too, so today I’m sharing some these books with you. Some are very recent additions, and others have been patiently waiting for me to tap their cover and step into their fiery domain.

To my author buddies: These are all very recent reads for me. If your dragon books aren’t featured here it’s most likely because I haven’t read your books yet, or I read them during an earlier dragon reading binge. Please, please, please feel free to drop your links in the comments.

So, in no particular order, here they are….

Dragon Mates, J. K. Harper – I picked up this 3-book set awhile ago, and fell in love. Hope J.K. writes other stories in this world as I’d love to know what happens to some of the other unmated fellas. (Hint, hint, J.K.) (Available on KU**)

Under Fyre, Cara Bristol – Released last week, this is the first book in a new series, and wow, did it impress! There is an Under Fire Prequel available for .99 cents, or you can pick it up for free if you visit Cara’s website and sign up for her newsletter.**

Loyal Dragon Shifter, Rinelle Grey – First book in Rinelle’s Return of the Dragons series, which is an excellent series. Currently free on Amazon**. And, the next book is due out…ooh! May 31, 2019. Hey, that’s tomorrow! (Available on KU**)

Legion, Regine Abel & Juno Wells – These are not your standard fire-breathing dragons, but the Xion Warriors of this series are incredibly hot. And they’re aliens. So far there are only two books in this series, but I've heard whispers that more stories are planned. Can’t wait! (Available on KU**)

Feral Ice, Ann Gimpel – Original and thoroughly enjoyable. The last alien dragons (twins) of a dying breed are surprised to find their mates quite by accident…at Earth’s South Pole of all places. This is book one of Ann’s Ice Dragons series. Book three is set to release on June 25, 2019!

Loved by the Dragon, Vivienne Savage – Two complete stories in one book—a book that comes with its own “adult content” warning, if that’s your thing. <wink> It’s also the first in the four-book Dawn of the Dragons series. (Available on KU**)

Is it me, or do dragon romances have some of the most beautiful covers? 

Well, that should be enough to light your fires (pun intended). Have you read any dragon shifter stories recently that touched your heart? Please mention them in the comments so the rest of us can check them out!

** reflects prices and special offers at the time this post was written and are subject to change without notice.

~*~*~*~*~

USA Today Bestselling Author, Lea Kirk, loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her sci-fi romances. When she’s not busy writing about the blue and green aliens of her Prophecy series, or reading about dragons, she’s hanging out with her hubby, five kids (the nerd herd), and spoiled Dobie mix puppy.

She is currently working on two short stories and the fourth book in her series.

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News Flash: This Blog is Over

So I recently heard paranormal romance was on its way out.

I remember when I was working on a vampire novel about 15 years ago and I learned that vampire novels were on their way out. I was seriously depressed and put my very unique vampire novel away. I still loved to read them, but apparently too many people had written them and the world had reached its vampire novel quota, and no one was allowed to write one ever again.

Silly me. A good seven years later, Twilight was born. But, see, now there have been too many vampire novels. Now we’re not allowed to write them anymore. They’re “over.” And some people will tell you it’s even Stephenie Meyer’s fault that vampire novels are over. She ruined them by writing a very unique vampire novel and that’s just not done.

So, giving up on my vampire dreams, a few years ago, I wrote a series about angels and demons. At the time, I’d never seen a fantasy novel about angels and demons so I thought this was pretty unique, but apparently, around the time I was shopping my series in 2010, angels and demons were already overdone. Imagine my chagrin when I realized I’d stupidly written something that was already passé before it had even become popular enough for me to have heard of. Good thing nobody told me angels and demons were overdone and I wasn’t allowed to write about them until I was already through or I’d have put that series aside, too. (Book 3 will be out in June of this year.)

So skip to 2013 and I’m working on my first paranormal novel that I’m actually intending from the get-go to be a romance. (My other books just sort of went there without my knowing about it until it was too late. Books often do things like that when you’re not looking.) I’m really enjoying this book and excited about getting it ready to submit. But hold the phone—haven’t you heard? Paranormal romance is OVER. So step away from the computer, all you writers who are doing what you love, and put those ereaders down, all you readers who love the paranormal, because we’ve apparently glutted the market and no one is allowed to do this anymore. (Not to mention that paranormal romance apparently ruined urban fantasy—or urban fantasy by girls ruined urban fantasy by boys—or urban fantasy ruined epic fantasy. Or something.)

But of course, books themselves are over, too. People don’t read anymore. Publishing is dying. Paper books are a thing of the past and nobody reads ebooks, because they’re not real. Tl;dr. (And never use a semicolon, because Kurt Vonnegut said they were “transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing.” Shows what he knew. Hermaphrodites can't be transvestites; they'd have nothing to wear.)

DRM--A head's up

If you've been buying ebooks for as long as I have, then chances are, you may have a few ebooks in Microsoft Reader's .Lit format. Of if you're like me, more than a few. While the majority of ebooks today are purchased in kindle format, the kindle is relatively new. Microsoft first entered the ebook business way back in 2000. The kindle is a baby, first launched in 2007.

But now, Microsoft Reader is going away (more about that at techcrunch). By the end of the month, it will no longer be supported. So what happens to my several dozen protected .Lit ebook files? The same as all my music audio files that I had when an MP3 store went out of business a few years ago. With DRM (Digital Rights Management), I'm stuck. After changing computers several times and no longer having a shelf at that store, I've lost many music files. What was the music store's solution to their no longer supporting the files I'd purchased? Burn them all to audio CDs. Kinda defeated the purpose of having digital music.

With DRM'd ebooks, it's not even such an option. I can't print them out and store them. Even today, I can no longer activate a new copy of Microsoft Reader, so I can't read the several hundred dollars worth of books I've purchased. This is a cycle that continues in DRM. The difficulty of installing software, keeping it up to date, and managing copies. When support is gone, so is your content.

For the past several days, I've been backing up and archiving my old ebook files. I'm using Calibre (can't recommend it enough. If you're not using it, go here.) And in a hypothetical sense, completely not saying this is true, I might suggest (hypothetically) to backup your ebook library and strip the DRM--because you never know when a protected format might get dumped. If I did recommend it, I'd insist it's for personal archival only, to protect yourself from the craziness that is the DRM world. Because there are no guarantees that the books you purchase today will be in a format still supported in two years. After all, I'd liked the Microsoft Reader format fairly well. Still do. And who'd have thought, back in 2006, that Microsoft wouldn't keep a toe in that market?

So, yeah. If you have ebooks in .Lit format, make sure you back them up. Because if you're like me, you have some classics in your library, some favorites, some many-times-over re-reads. I'm not done with those books. Hopefully I won't be for some time to come.


***
Ella Drake is a dark paranormal and science fiction romance author. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, & Goodreads.

Her latest releases are Desire the Banshee an erotic paranormal romance from Ellora's Cave & Desert Blade, a near-future post-apocalyptic romance from Carina Press. Coming soon, MetalMark (Lyrical Press). Other work includes The Forbidden Chamber, Silver Bound, Jaq’s Harp, Braided Silk & Firestorm on E’Terra.

Of nooks, Vooks and the Changing World of Books

A few days ago, I blogged about my reading slump. I’ve been picking up a lot of newish paranormal books and some contemporaries but I’m not seeing anything really unique and new (save for my fellow PRomantics upcoming works ;-)). In talking with my mentor, I find that a lot of these are books that have been in the back burner of publisher queues (aka legacy) and is just now being released all at once. But there’s a deeper problem as well.

The sameness is safe.

A recent Publisher’s Weekly article talked about this and the comments were really telling. Thus, reading book after book gets tiring if every story seems just like the last.

At the same time, my reading hasn’t stopped. I'm addicted to publishing related news sites like Pub Weekly, Huffington Post’s publishing section, blogs like Teleread, Booksquare and my new favorite podcast On the Media. I read tons of things on the internet and some great fiction from my fellow author friends who look for crits. But pleasure reading as I used to do as a kid has changed dramatically with the new changes.

It got me thinking about the future of the book. There’s no doubt that things are changing in the industry and it seems like it all charged ahead in just the last few months. With this generation’s e-readers fast becoming the new “it” toy of this year’s Christmas rush, a new trend in reading will begin.

What else will change? As things become even faster paced, I wonder how our reading will change. It’s already been said that the next generation of e-readers will be nothing like this generation’s. Will we see readers than can double as audio books? Barnes & Noble's nook is in high demand so much that orders are on hold. Amazon's Kindle and Sony's eReader continues to be popular among ebook lovers. The Vook (yes, a portmanteau for “video” and “book”) recently launched with the iPhone and as a web version. I’m not sure I, as a reader, would jive with this because of the fact that I use different neurons for watching tv than I do for reading a book, but I’m sure an audience is out there somewhere. Netbooks, tablets (Apple, do you have something up your sleeve over there?) and the continued sophistication of cell phones are becoming strong competitors for ebook devices. All of this, along with my own current experience, makes me believe that there still are a bunch of people reading in some way or another. Just maybe not books and not in the numbers they used to, which is a bummer.

(In considering all of this, one small part of me muses over the fact that everyone is preoccupied with how the books will be read rather than trying to get more folks to focus on telling a darn good story. But I digress.)

Social networking sites like Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThing are bridging the gap between authors and their readers so instant feedback on newly released works are immediate along with excerpts giveaways and other reader goodies. Reading has become a community focus again. Maybe we'll see a surge of reading groups with youths. Laptops are being given to some school kids in Canadian schools and ebook readers are being handed out in others, both with the curriculum's books inside. We know how we're going to read. Maybe we can now focus on what to read and how to bring those to readers.



Bob Stein of The Institute for the Future introduces his view of how things will be once the shift occurs.





Do you see your reading habits changing in the near future? Any future e-readers on the list who have one of the gadgets on their wishlist?