1. Have any of you heard of the Humble Indie Bundle? It bundles indie video games – some well known, some not so much – for a pay-what-you-want price with the money going directly to developers and charities (in whatever proportion you prefer).
Well, now, the Humble Bundle has come to the book world. Pay whatever you want to get six DRM-free books by well-known SF&F authors (detailed below) or pay above the average (at time of writing, $11.54) to receive those six books plus Old Man’s War by John Scalzi and Signal to Noise by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Like the video game bundles, you decide how much money you want to go directly to the authors and how much to the chosen non-profits (The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which protects individual’s digital rights; Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, SFWA, which supports SF&F authors in a variety of ways; and Child’s Play, which gives video games and gaming systems to children’s departments in hospitals) and, if you so choose, how much to kick back to the Humble Bundle to pay for operating costs like bandwidth.
The books you will receive for paying ANY PRICE (links go to Amazon so you can read up on them):
Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow
Pump Six by Paolo Bacigalupi
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Invasion by Mercedes Lackey (making its digital debut!)
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
If you pay more than the average, you will also receive:
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
Signal to Noise by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (making its digital debut!)
Let me repeat that all of these books are DRM-free and that the money goes directly to authors and non-profits in whatever proportion you choose. I’m so happy to see the Humble Bundle make its bookish debut. They have already sold over 25,000 bundles! I can’t help but think some of those 25K at least are not great readers and I hope this bundle creates some new habits! The books overall look great – I loved Magic for Beginners and have been wanting to read Zoo City and Old Man’s War for ages. I’m definitely going to be picking this bundle up after my next paycheck – this deal is good for the next two weeks.
(Since I can’t leave any endorsement without a criticism, let’s see some books by POC next time, eh? You’re killing it on the women front (4/6 or 4/8 depending on which bundle you go for!), but as far as I know, none of those authors are POC.)
2. Well, that got a bit long cause I’m so excited about it, but my other links for today are almost as worthy of your attention. First up, Smart Bitch Sarah wonders if we are returning to the secretive, elusive hero in our romances. I love having about equal time given to both hero and heroine POV, so I hope this trend doesn’t spread past paranormals!
3. Janine at Dear Author gives the reasons, with examples, why she as an adult loves to read YA. My favorites are “YA often goes to dark places, but typically still retains some optimism,” “YA is [often] romantic,” and “There’s some good writing in YA.” Can I get a hell yeah?!
4. Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard kicks the opposition leader’s ass for his misogyny and sexism. It is a beautiful thing to see, but Justine Larbalestier breaks down Australia’s poor coverage of this historic speech.
