Monday, November 15, 2010

Trending by Morgan Mandel

Sometimes it seems I'm the only one on the planet who enjoys a particular something. When I first got into country music, not so many people shared that interest. Now, there are tons of us out there. I had a great time Wedneaday evening tweeting back and forth on Twitter about the winners ,the songs and the outfits at the Country Music Awards. (How romantic that Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, her fiance, won for best female and male vocalists, how sweet that Brad Paisley was humble enough to be so moved at receiving the Entertainer of the Year Award)  Also, a new movie, Country Strong, will be coming out January 7, 2011 starring Gwyneth Paltrow & Tim McGraw. So, country really is strong these days.

Something else strong and getting stronger is the e-book industry, especially Amazon Kindles. I've been seeing more and more of them, plus people constantly ask me about my Kindle when I whip it out at lunchtime to catch some reading in. 

I've done some blogs on this topic before, as have other writers, because e-books are trending right now. If you want to read more about the various aspects of e-book publishing, http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/ will be offering a wealth of knowledge on the topic this week. I do know something about e-books, and have three of mine available on Kindle, but I'm still looking forward to learning more by reading the blogs there. Meet you over there.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/
PS - If you like bargain prices, my romantic suspense, Killer Career, is now on Kindle for 99 cents.

12 comments:

Mark W. Danielson said...

Morgan, for the most part, the country music we hear these days is what we called pop many years ago. True country artists like George Straight, Alan Jackson, and Brad Paisley must cringe when Kid Rock appears on stage. I suppose it's appropriate after Jackson wrote "The whole world's gone country."

As for e-books, Diablo's Shadow just came out on Kindle and it's interesting that Amazon doesn't link it to the published book version. It's also interesting that Borders.com doesn't automatically list books like Amazon and BN.com. Authors can't assume anything -- they need to follow up to ensure their books are out there for the public to buy.

Jean Henry Mead said...

I was a country fan when country wasn't cool, as Barbara Mandrell sang many years ago. At 16, I met Lefty Frizzell and got his autograph picture and was hooked.

I have four books on Kindle and they're outsold my print editions by a wide margin so I think ebooks are here to stay. :)

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Everything runs in cycles. Which is why some of the clothing styles from the 70s are back. All the remakes of movies and series are yet anotehr example.

All you are seeing withe-books is a temporary upsurge. E-book proponents ave not noticed that sales of readers are flat lining. That means those that wanted the device have it already. Hence the sales pushing the price lower in hopes of getting new buyers.

Unknown said...

MORGAN-- Gwyneth Paltrow singing country? I've just been seeing this, and I've read she has a good voice and can really sing country.
Tim McGraw--very cool guy--he was in The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock and it took me the longest time to realize this good-looking husband was actually Tim McGraw.
I'm now turned off with eReaders--at least for the moment. I've read and learned too much and my head might now explode. Too much information is not good. Celia

Unknown said...

I don't agree that the upsurge in ebooks is a temporary thing. All the hype about "going green" has changed the way we operate, and saving trees, waste, and space has finally become the "in" thing to do. Print books may never go away completely, but now they have some serious competition...I know because I'm one of those old dogs who swore I'd never learn a new trick, but I adore my Kindle and I prefer it over a real book any day.

jenny milchman said...

I hope both e and print can coexist (understanding the environmental impact that both have--digital devices are not without their carbon footprint). But mostly I hope that the impact e publishing has (and it simply can't be insignificant--it corrects so many things the standard model gets wrong) will bring more deserving writers to readers, and not flood the market with work that just wasn't ready. Sorting this out--content filtering--will be a job for everyone who knows books best.

Readers.

Maggie Toussaint said...

Morgan,

By the time I catch onto a trend, its gone. Every ten or more years the colors I like come into fashion and then everyone looks like me, LOL. I like it when I'm the only one walking around in shades of aqua and dark peach.

Sheryl Browne said...

I agree with Ginger. The more we shout about it, the more people will realise ebooks are more than a trend! :)

Sheryl
xx

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Beyond the environmental costs of digital (which when fully calculated may be much higher than print), the latest fad of "going green" is the same cycle many of us remember from the late seventies. Corporations jumped on the bandwagon with feel good campaigns and there were calls for environmental action before slowly fading away. the same thing is starting to happen now with experts pointing out the real costs of the new GM car "The Volt" and other situations.

Kevin
http://kevinrtipple.com/

Keena Kincaid said...

I was talking to a writer the other day, and an editor she'd met compared the digital to instant coffee. At one point, everyone was going to instant coffee, but look at that trend now. The same will happen with ebooks, she thought.

I thought it was an interesting viewpoint, although I'm not sure I agree.

Stephanie Burkhart said...

Morgan,
I never got that much into country music, but the stars of the genre appear very nice.

I do think ebooks are the wave of the future and it's nice to see them taking off. I enjoy buying books for my Kindle and using text to speech. I even have an audio book on my Kindle.

Smiles
Steph

Morgan Mandel said...

I enjoy buying autographed books and saving them, but I also love my Kindle. I've read more books on it than the print ones because it's so convenient. I always have something to read and it's not that heavy to carry around.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com