Jon Stewart is my Hero

This was classic.  Last night, The Daily Show lampooned this past weekend’s Tea Party Convention, and it did so brilliantly.  Watch the first segment, if you don’t believe me.

This is especially cool, because the convention so richly deserved to be lampooned, whether because of Tom Tancredo’s xenophobic rant, or Sarah Palin’s mindless keynote in which she mocked Barack Obama for using a teleprompter while glancing down at the crib notes she had scrawled in pen on the palm of her hand.  This is the future of American politics?  I don’t think so.

A Post About Real Life Stories

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, A.J. Hartley, and Stuart Jaffe, among others. The post is called “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” and it’s about the strange things that happen in real life that don’t always translate well to fiction. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and by the way, there’s a new contest up on my website: http://www.DavidBCoe.com. Visit the site and maybe you’ll win a signed copy of my upcoming release, The Dark-Eyes’ War!

Where are the “Buy” Buttons?!

Update:  Here is a new message from MacMillan CEO John Sargent.  I like him more and more everyday.  Bezos could learn a thing from this guy.

It’s been several days now, and a check of Amazon.com shows that there are still no “Buy” buttons on my books.  What’s the problem Amazon?  I thought you were giving in.  I thought that you were interested in taking care of the consumer and fostering an open marketplace.  I’m not sure this qualifies.

Following up on Previous Post

Clearly, I’m not the only author whose work is being affected by the Amazon-MacMillan throw down.  I would urge you to read John Scalzi’s take on this.

I can also tell you that my friend Doranna Durgin has a new book out from Tor today.  The book is called The Reckoners, and Doranna posts about it here.  She’s a wonderful writer and a terrific person.  You should get her book, too.

Also want to add that it would be great, if you’re shopping for books, to give your business to one of the many terrific independent bookstores out there.  Check out this site.  There’s a link at the top of the page that can help you find an independent bookstore near you.

And here’s another perspective on the Amazon-MacMillan controversy from Tor author L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

New Paperback Out!

The Horsemen’s Gambit, Book II of Blood of the Southlands, is being re-issued in paperback today.  It is now available at all bookstores and online booksellers.  Except Amazon, of course.  Amazon may have claimed that they have reached an understanding with MacMillan, but they have yet to restore the “buy” and “preorder” buttons on the pages advertising my books.  So I would encourage you to do a few things.

First, I have a post up at the Knight Agency blog site about the new book and my other February release, the hardcover original of The Dark-Eyes’ War, the third and final book in the Southlands trilogy, which will be out on February 16th.  You can even be entered in a contest to win a copy of The Horsemen’s Gambit just by visiting the Knight Agency blog and leaving a comment.  Here’s the link to the Knight Agency post.  I hope you enjoy it.

Second, here are a few links to places where you can buy The Horsemen’s Gambit in paperback without having to deal with Amazon.com.  This one is for the MacMillan site itself.  You can buy the book directly from the publisher.

You can also buy the book from Barnes and Noble online.

Or Books-A-Million.

Or Borders.

Of course, you can also go to a local bookstore and buy it in person.  My point is that I I’m not going to let Amazon get in the way of my career, and I hope you won’t let Amazon’s policies get in the way of your reading enjoyment.

Finally, please visit my website – www.DavidBCoe.com — and enter the contest to win a signed hardcover copy of The Dark-Eyes’ War.

Many thanks.

A Post About Promoting Books Amid Publishing Wars

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “Promotion Time and Publishing Wars” and it’s about promotion I’m doing for my upcoming releases and the impact the Amazon v. MacMillan war might have on my sales. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and by the way, there’s a new contest up on my website: http://www.DavidBCoe.com. Visit the site and maybe you’ll win a signed copy of my upcoming release, The Dark-Eyes’ War!

Have You Seen This?

Did any of you see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBuG2TdgMn0&feature=channel

Yesterday, President Obama went to the Republican House Caucus, gave a speech, and then answered questions from GOP House members for over an hour.  The give and take was contentious but polite.  It was also fascinating.  And at the end of the day, Congressional aides on the Republican side were questioning whether they had made a mistake by keeping the C-Span cameras rolling.  Every time a GOP questioner tried to use party talking points in a question, Obama corrected them — schooled them, some might say.  He made Mike Pence (Indiana), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), Joe Pryce (Georgia), and Jeb Hensarling (Texas) look like political hacks (though he did call Jeb “Jim” a few times), and he did it all with charm and humor and eloquence.  He had no notes, no teleprompter, no aides whispering in his ear.   He was thinking on his feet the entire time.   And he ran circles around them.  Don’t believe me?  Watch if for yourself.  It was a masterful performance.

Amazon Bullies Writers, Publishers, Consumers!

I’m a little late to the party with this one — we had a storm yesterday and it knocked out our internet for a while.  But in what appears to be fall-out from the iPad release and new competition between Apple and Amazon over ebook sales, Amazon has now halted direct sales of all MacMillan books, including Tor imprints, until MacMillan stops insisting that Amazon honor their price points in marketing their products.  In essence, Amazon is trying to bully MacMillan, and by extension other publishers, into charging a certain amount for books.  And until they get their way, they’ve pulled books off their cyber-shelves.  Now, on the one hand, Amazon wants to charge less for ebooks than MacMillan, and the MacMillan price point is probably too high.  But stopping sales of the books hurts authors and consumers, and given that I have releases due out this coming week and again later in February, I’m not happy about this.  Not at all.  Here are some links:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/amazon-pulls-macmillan-books-over-e-book-price-disagreement/

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/29/amazon-and-macmillan.html

http://sleigh.livejournal.com/283370.html

As my friend Laura Anne Gilman points out, this isn’t about price, and it’s not about saving consumers money.  It’s about control.  Amazon is terrified of the iPad and with good reason.  They want to maintain their grip on the publishing biz, and so they’re choking off my sales and those of all my friends at Tor and MacMillan in order to get their way.  Not cool at all.

Tonight’s Address

I just read an article on CNN by David Gergen, for whom I have a great deal of respect. This article, though, is ridiculous. Gergen basically argues that Obama has already lost all his ability to govern and the State of the Union address tonight is a waste of time. (The title of the piece is something like “State of the Union DOA?” Seems ridiculous to me. Other Presidents have gone through much rougher political patches than this, and it didn’t mean the end of their political agendas. Pundits and the President’s supporters (not to mention his opponents) need to remember that the Democrats still hold strong majorities in both houses of Congress, and that the President’s job approval is still far higher than that of Congress in general or Congressional Republicans in particular. It may make for splashy headlines to say that the State of the Union is “DOA” but that doesn’t make it true.

Gergen also says that the President needs “to move to the center” beginning tonight. I couldn’t disagree more. Moving to the center is not the solution. the Presdient has already capitulated too much to the GOP. What he needs to do is fight hard on a small number of core issues that will re-energize his base and attract the support of independents. He needs to call on the Senate to reconsider the deficit reduction panel, even if it means passing it through reconciliation (bypassing a cloture vote). He needs to fight hard for his tax on banks and for the financial reform package that has already passed the House. And he needs to come out hard for a new jobs package. Again, if the Senate can’t muster 60 votes for it, use reconciliation to get it through. The time for moving to the center and seeking “bipartisan” solutions is over. The Republicans have made it clear all year long that they’re not interested in working with the President. It’s time for him to whack them over the head with a political two-by-four.

A Post About the Opening of Your Book

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “Writing Your Book, part III: The Opening Pages” and it’s about starting the actual writing of your book. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and by the way, there’s a new contest up on my website: http://www.DavidBCoe.com. Visit the site and maybe you’ll win a signed copy of my upcoming release, The Dark-Eyes’ War!