I just finished reading Emily Giffin’s latest, Baby Proof. It is scheduled to be released in June of this year, but I was lucky enough to get Advanced Readers’ Edition from St. Martin’s Press. I must tell you, I loved it. It has all of the appeal of Something Borrowed and Something Blue with an entirely new cast of appealingly layered and funny characters. (Although one memorable character from the S.B books did make a pivotal appearance). The story is unique, with the perfect balance of emotional highs and lows to keep it from being too heavy (or in my opinion, too literary). I highly, highly recommend it.

I also have another ARC on my TBR stack, and I must confess to feeling very self-important. I’m to have the pleasure of reading and reviewing the debut novel of a fellow member of the Houston Bay Area RWA chapter. Sophie Jordan’s book, Once Upon a Wedding Night is scheduled to be released in August 2006, and I’m very much looking forward to the read. A wonderful debut author is always a treasured find.

I do believe the day I’m quoted on another author’s cover is the day I’ve made it…so I’m hoping to read more ARC’s in the future…and of course become a much-sought after author in my own right… Reading a book before it’s released is like knowing a secret before everyone else does…and being able to talk about it!

Saw their CD on display in Borders and was intrigued by the idea of them. Five brothers and sisters who are Juilliard-trained, piano-playing geniuses. Now typically I’m not much one for classical music. I like it every once and a while, but eventually it all begins to blur together, and I can’t distinguish one piece from another. I don’t have an iPod, and I don’t like to listen to the radio because there is so much talk and so many commercials…so I listen to CD’s. As such, I like the songs on an artist’s CD to have distinctive sounds so I don’t get bored. I like versatility. I visited the website of The 5 Browns, and it seems like critics agree they have it in abundance. I listened to a few tracks on Amazon.com and a couple on their website, and I think they could conceivably win me over. I love ‘new discoveries’, be it in books, music, restaurants, or ice cream varieties—I like to latch onto ‘The Next Big Thing’ as much as everyone else does and pretend I was there at the onset. So…I might just have to buy one of their CD’s and see if they can win me over. Five wholesome, fun-loving, talented siblings—what’s not to like? Besides, they’re homegrown—from Houston just like me.

I will confess that I did tell my husband I wished I had their Amazon rating…

Well, I’m back to researching e-books, wondering if e-publishing might be a feasible way to market/distribute my book since I’ve retained the rights via self-publishing. I figure all the work is already done, why not try and take advantage of any additional sales? If it weren’t so difficult/uncomfortable/awkward to read a book on your computer, or if the handheld, portable readers weren’t so cost-prohibitive (and again, awkward), e-books would be vastly more popular. E-publishing is the wave of the future, but the publishing world is so behind the times, it will probably take years and years for us to really see any considerable impact. It would probably help for some big names to publish strictly in e-book format, but I doubt there are too many authors that would jump at such a chance. But they could pull people in…convert ’em, pave the way for the rest of us. I know there are plenty of romance novels published strictly in e-book format…however, I don’t know the authors. I’ve never even tried to read a book that way. I figure I sit at the computer enough as it is trying to write. The difficulty in putting my book out there in e-book format is in the marketing and promotion. Same as with the hard copy…. How will people find it? I think I might possibly have an ‘in’ with Amazon.com since I already have the paperback version of my book setup and sold through the Advantage Plan. I’m waiting to see… Barnes & Noble has evidently discontinued their e-bookstore, so I may not have that many distribution options that I don’t actually have to pay for. We shall see…

I recently finished reading How to Get Your E-book Published by Richard Curtis and William Thomas Quick. It had a lot of good information. I thought it interesting that they included hints for those who had not yet written their book, but maybe some people are considerably more proactive than I am. My book has been finished (written) for almost two years, and only now am I getting serious about e-publishing. Maybe I’m just way behind the curve.