Looking ahead for the month of October I would like to do something to celebrate Halloween (my favorite holiday of the year), so I’m looking for help from you guys. I would love to do a series of blogs and guest blogs on the things that scare us (why we like them or don’t, why we read them or don’t, why we write them or don’t). If you’re interested in being part of this (or interested in volunteering someone to be part of this), then please email me at the address in the sidebar (in the purple button).
If you are not and just looking for some entertainment to goof off with instead of writing or working, here’s a link to some great “literary” comics that I got from Emdashes. I highly recommend The Stepford Jonathans.
Showing posts with label Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comics. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Link Love
M.J. Rose (of Buzz, Balls and Hype) talks about the dangers of comparisons when it comes to explaining your novel. I agree with her idea on using focus groups to help summarize a book’s concept (especially if I can be part of them). Link via Alison Kent.
As always Powell’s Book Blog had a very informative list of links up yesterday including this remaindering horror story as perpetuated on Caitlin R. Kiernan by her publisher. Very bad form, Penguin, but an excellent explanation as to why I couldn’t get these books in stock for a customer.
The, uh, good folks at Killer Year are very helpful, so helpful that they have provided “20 Surefire Tips to Help You Get Your Book (not) Published.” It’s great advice from a group of people who (all together) know more than 300 ways to kill you if you disagree, so smile pretty and take your notes in sparkly pen.
A few weeks back Tess Gerritsen discussed hype (both its good and bad affects) and the “Whatever Happen To…?” authors. Good food for thought and discussion. I especially agree with this advice:
C. Max Magee of the Millions covers the “10 Most Dangerous Books” list as provided by Human Events and his thoughts on the power (and dangers) of labeling.
Dear Author has a column from Jolie, the intrepid bookseller, about the RWA conference this year and the bookseller tea. I’m appalled at the lack of support for booksellers, but I’m intrigued by tea aspect (as long as it is not Stash). Still I’m saddened by the complete lack of planning that seemed to have gone into the event. They could have at least provided name tags.
Over at The Publishing Spot, Jason Boog is interviewing Christa Faust the author of the novelization of Snakes on a Plane (she also wrote the novel of Final Destination 3). It sounds like she’s a pretty funny lady.
And finally, your future competition in Children’s Literature from Pearls Before Swine. (Click on the picture to enlarge.)
I really could have used this book as a kid.
As always Powell’s Book Blog had a very informative list of links up yesterday including this remaindering horror story as perpetuated on Caitlin R. Kiernan by her publisher. Very bad form, Penguin, but an excellent explanation as to why I couldn’t get these books in stock for a customer.
The, uh, good folks at Killer Year are very helpful, so helpful that they have provided “20 Surefire Tips to Help You Get Your Book (not) Published.” It’s great advice from a group of people who (all together) know more than 300 ways to kill you if you disagree, so smile pretty and take your notes in sparkly pen.
A few weeks back Tess Gerritsen discussed hype (both its good and bad affects) and the “Whatever Happen To…?” authors. Good food for thought and discussion. I especially agree with this advice:
A loyal reader is far better than the casual reader who just picks up your book because of media hype. The loyal reader will forgive you the occasional dud, because she knows you’ve done better. The casual reader will read that dud and never pick up another one of your books.
C. Max Magee of the Millions covers the “10 Most Dangerous Books” list as provided by Human Events and his thoughts on the power (and dangers) of labeling.
Dear Author has a column from Jolie, the intrepid bookseller, about the RWA conference this year and the bookseller tea. I’m appalled at the lack of support for booksellers, but I’m intrigued by tea aspect (as long as it is not Stash). Still I’m saddened by the complete lack of planning that seemed to have gone into the event. They could have at least provided name tags.
Over at The Publishing Spot, Jason Boog is interviewing Christa Faust the author of the novelization of Snakes on a Plane (she also wrote the novel of Final Destination 3). It sounds like she’s a pretty funny lady.
And finally, your future competition in Children’s Literature from Pearls Before Swine. (Click on the picture to enlarge.)
I really could have used this book as a kid.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Comic Geeking the Book Industry
I’m getting ready to rush out and grab some breakfast so I’ll have to keep this short. The other day I was talking with a friend in the comic industry about what literary works could be turned into a comic book/graphic novel (and by literary works, I mean anything fiction/mystery/scifi/fantasy, and in no way limited to the big names). Sounds fun, right? Imagine your favorite character in a visual format, dialogue in little clouds. It could be a chance for an author to hook an audience young, or attract a larger range of people by tapping into this other medium. The problem is that not many can be easily transferred to the comic medium, nor could you guarantee that the author’s existing audience would follow them there.
Of course, this hasn’t kept the comic book industry from getting into bed with publishers. Back in March PW reported that HarperCollins inked a deal with Tokyopop to collaborate on as many as 24 “book to manga” projects based on some of their top selling authors (Meg Cabot’s Avalon High as well as her Princess Diary books being among the first offerings from this joint venture). The books have yet to be released (Meg Cabot has blogged about working on her storyline for the Avalon High follow-up), so we’ll have to wait and see if they’ve targeted the right audience and found the right illustrator.
Meanwhile Harlequin partnered up with Dark Horse Comics to adapt six top selling Harlequins into two color-coded lines (pink for younger readers, violet for the more mature) under the Harlequin Ginger Blossom Romance heading. The decision to use much older titles for this line has hurt them (at least I feel that way), and I haven’t personally sold many to my customers. We’ll have to wait and see how the rest of the titles do after Harlequin decision to change their marketing focus.
According to Newsarama, the Dabel Brothers Production has approached (and signed a contract with) Laurell K. Hamilton for the rights to turn the first Anita Blake novel into graphic form. Whether this deal carries through for the rest of her novels (and their increasingly NC-17 content) is unknown to me at this time. If they decide to do so I ask that they please, please plastic wrap the suckers.
So let’s play pretend and imagine that we were the folks in charge of putting these “book to comic book” deals together. Here’s something to think about:
What books, if any, do you think could make the transfer to the manga format? Why?
(Do you think it is only a matter of time before we see a Fight Club (or any of Palanhiuk’s more visual works) graphic novel from Marvel or DC?)
Should we even bother or does it sully the purity of the original work?
C’mon, dream. Dream big. Don’t be afraid to argue or bring up odd choices, just be prepared to back up the thought. What author’s words would you follow into a picture format?
Of course, this hasn’t kept the comic book industry from getting into bed with publishers. Back in March PW reported that HarperCollins inked a deal with Tokyopop to collaborate on as many as 24 “book to manga” projects based on some of their top selling authors (Meg Cabot’s Avalon High as well as her Princess Diary books being among the first offerings from this joint venture). The books have yet to be released (Meg Cabot has blogged about working on her storyline for the Avalon High follow-up), so we’ll have to wait and see if they’ve targeted the right audience and found the right illustrator.
Meanwhile Harlequin partnered up with Dark Horse Comics to adapt six top selling Harlequins into two color-coded lines (pink for younger readers, violet for the more mature) under the Harlequin Ginger Blossom Romance heading. The decision to use much older titles for this line has hurt them (at least I feel that way), and I haven’t personally sold many to my customers. We’ll have to wait and see how the rest of the titles do after Harlequin decision to change their marketing focus.
According to Newsarama, the Dabel Brothers Production has approached (and signed a contract with) Laurell K. Hamilton for the rights to turn the first Anita Blake novel into graphic form. Whether this deal carries through for the rest of her novels (and their increasingly NC-17 content) is unknown to me at this time. If they decide to do so I ask that they please, please plastic wrap the suckers.
So let’s play pretend and imagine that we were the folks in charge of putting these “book to comic book” deals together. Here’s something to think about:
What books, if any, do you think could make the transfer to the manga format? Why?
(Do you think it is only a matter of time before we see a Fight Club (or any of Palanhiuk’s more visual works) graphic novel from Marvel or DC?)
Should we even bother or does it sully the purity of the original work?
C’mon, dream. Dream big. Don’t be afraid to argue or bring up odd choices, just be prepared to back up the thought. What author’s words would you follow into a picture format?
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