E-books on the march in a new blog, at a new press

One sign that e-books have arrived, or at least that they have their seat backs and tray tables in their full upright and locked positions, is a newish (since March) blog devoted to them.

The blog, Allan Guthrie's Criminal-E, offers short interviews with crime writers whose work is available as e-books. In addition to his own work as an author, Guthrie is an agent and an editor. He knows the business side of books, and the discussions on the blog reflect that knowledge. So, in addition to "Sum up your book in 25 words," "How important is a good title?" and James Henderson on his own strengths and weaknesses, you'll get Roger Smith on e-book pricing,  Christa Faust on "reviews" in the Amazon age, Guthrie himself on pricing and self-publishing, and many, many more.

Looks like a good chance for readers to get authors' perspectives on some important questions — and to learn about some good books.

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Also in the e-world, there's a new outlet for dark fiction. It's called Snubnose Press ("Compact. Powerful. Classic."), it's brought to you by the folks from Spinetingler Magazine, and it's devoted to publishing stories of 20,000 to 60,000 words that "that could, within the broadest definitions of genre possible, be categorized as crime and horror."

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FLASH: From Bitter Lemon Press, June 30, 2011:

E-books now have their own page on our site. The eBook catalogue has 20 titles and is growing quickly. The books are available on most platforms, Apple, Sony, Nook, etc. and, via our site or directly, on Kindle. Click here for our list.

© Peter Rozovsky 2011

2010 Spinetingler Award winners

This year's list of winners in the Spinetingler Awards has an international flavor. OK, an Irish flavor. All right, Northern Irish.

Stuart Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast won for best novel by a new voice and Adrian McKinty's Fifty Grand for best novel by a rising star. (Spinetingler breaks down its categories by the number of books the author has published. Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow won in the "legends" category, for authors who have published lots and lots of books. He beat a field that had international presence of its own, in The Complaints by Ian Rankin and Tower by Reed Farrel Coleman & Ken Bruen.)

My favorite international contender, Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette's West Coast Blues, fell short in the comic/graphic novel category, and a guy named Peter Rozovsky did the same in his bid for a historic second Spinetingler victory, losing as best reviewer after sharing last year's award for special services to the industry.

I'll be brave. Meanwhile, congratulations to the winners.

© Peter Rozovsky 2010

Vote for me!

I've been nominated for a Spintingler Award again, this time in the best-reviewer category, and thanks for the good people at Spinetingler for their consideration. Vote here; I know you'll do the right thing.

© Peter Rozovsky 2010

Detectives Beyond Borders is a winner

The people have spoken. Your humble blogkeeper has won a Spinetingler Award for special services to the industry, in a tie with the worthy J. Kingston Pierce of the worthy Rap Sheet.

I like these awards because the categories reflect serious thought about and great care for crime fiction. They recognize a wide range of authors, for instance, and they include graphic novels.

Both the ballot forms and the winners list include links to the nominated short stories, another sign that the Spinetinglers want to spread the news about writers and artists who might not otherwise get the recognition that they deserve. So thanks to all who voted, and I hope you'll join me in spraying some champagne on Sandra Ruttan and all the good folks at Spinetingler.

© Peter Rozovsky 2009