WhoHub Interview with Claire Collins
Posted: May 3, 2009 | Author: Tracy Beltran | Filed under: Second wind | Tags: author, authors, books, characters, Claire collins, editing, murder, mystery, name, Novels, people, reading, recognition, Research, Second wind, terms, Writing | Leave a commentInterview with:
Claire Collins [clairecollins]
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© Claire Collins Web address for this interview: http://www.whohub.com/clairecollins |
Are Book Sales on the Decline?
Posted: March 24, 2009 | Author: Tracy Beltran | Filed under: Second wind | Tags: author, Book Sales, books, Claire collins, impact, Novels, Research, Second wind, Writing | Leave a commentI have a real job. Yes, believe it or not, I don’t just sit around all day living the lives of my imaginary people. Shocking, I know. Yes, I have an actual job where I leave home every morning to go work for someone else and I come home at the same time every night. I fight rush hour and have more than one boss. Do I want to write instead? Absolutely. I’d gladly trade my eight to five job for ten hours of sitting at my computer clicking away at the latest story. The problem, of course, is that I have bills to pay. Oh yes, and children. Lots and lots of children. They like to eat… and argue. So even if I didn’t have to feed them, the chances of me sitting at my computer and clicking away at keys for ten hours is simply never going to happen until they all move away.
I know there are lots of other people out there who have the same desire to get lost in a good novel whether they are writing it or reading it. No matter which end of the spectrum you are, I thought I would share the Association of America Publishers sales reports for the month of December. You can read the whole article here: http://www.publishers.org/Dec08stats.htm
Oh, did I mention that in my real job, I’m an accountant? I have this ‘thing’ for numbers…
Check out the increase in ebook sales compared to the changes in the other categories. So what does this really mean?
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tina Jordan
212/255-0200 ext. 263
tjordan@publishers.org
AAP Reports Publishing Sales for Month of December
February 12, 2009, New York, NY: Book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of December increased by 9.7 percent at $1.5 billion but were down by 2.4 percent for the year.
The Adult Hardcover category was down by 10.3 percent in December with sales of $113.3 million; year-to-date sales were down by 13.0 percent.
Adult Paperback sales increased 12.5 percent for the month ($132.8 million) and increased by 3.6 percent for the year.
The Adult Mass Market category was down 8.3 percent for December with sales totaling $73.7 million; sales were also down by 3.0 percent year-to-date.
The Children’s/YA Hardcover category jumped up 124.6 percent for the month with sales of $115.1 million, although sales for year-to-date were down by 12.4 percent.
The Children’s/YA Paperback category was also up by 37.0 percent in December with sales totaling $54.4 million; sales increased by 6.4 percent for the year.
Audio Book sales posted a decrease of 11.7 percent in December with sales totaling $10.5 million; sales for the whole year were down by 21.0 percent.
E-books sales jumped up by 119.9 percent for the month ($6.5 million), reflecting an increase of 68.4 percent for the year.
Religious Books saw an increase of 3.5 percent for the month with sales totaling $49.3 million; sales were down by 7.6 percent for the year.
Sales of University Press Hardcover books were up 5.4 percent in December with sales of $7.1 million; sales decreased by 7.9 percent for the year. University Press Paperback sales posted a decrease of 3.8 percent for the month with sales totaling $9.7 million; sales were down 8.2 percent for the year.Sales in the Professional and Scholarly category were up by 11.4 percent in December ($110.3 million) and decreased by 0.5 percent for the year.
Higher Education publishing sales posted an increase of 5.6 percent for the month ($814.7 million) and increased 2.7 percent for the year.Finally, the net El-Hi (elementary/high school) basal and supplemental K-12 category posted a decrease of 14.4 percent in December with sales of $127.2 million; the category was down by 4.4 percent for the year.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’smore than300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.
NOTE: All sales figures cited in this release are domestic net sales
Claire Collins is the author of Images of Betrayal and Fate and Destiny
Where Does Your City Rank?
Posted: March 15, 2009 | Author: Tracy Beltran | Filed under: Second wind, Writing about Writing | Tags: author, authors, books, Claire collins, Novels, Research, Writing | 2 CommentsI live in one of the least literate cities in America.
That’s sad.
Maybe I need to move to Minneapolis.
That seems to be where the book lovers are!
How did the city you live in fare?
http://www.ccsu.edu/amlc08/overall_all.htm
Maybe you should go out and buy a ton of books to raise your ranking! We may have made a dent in the rankings for the state of North Carolina. Many of our authors congregated there over Valentine’s weekend for an author event.
Check out the pictures at
http://www.secondwindpublishing.com/Events.html
Claire Collins is the author of Images of Betrayal and Fate and Destiny
http://www.secondwindpublishing.com
Research
Posted: November 16, 2008 | Author: Tracy Beltran | Filed under: Writing about Writing | Tags: books, Claire collins, history, Novels, people, Research, route 66, Writing | Leave a commentI love research. I love it so much that I get wrapped up in the research and forget what the purpose of the research was to begin with. In college, I worked in the library. I was in research heaven surrounded by all of those volumes of information. I have a genealogy file with over 20,000 individuals in it that I work on in my spare time. One of my incomplete novels started in the year 1956. Since my mother was only a child at the time, I have no direct knowledge of this period, so I started researching. I became totally wrapped up in the history and evolution of Route 66 meandering through Arizona. I was certain this would be an integral part of my story. I bookmarked tons of webpages, went to the library and checked out books, and began a mental journey along the path Route 66 took before the Interstate Highway System was in place. In fact, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 was approved on June 29th, only a few months before my story began in September of 1956.
The appeal of the open road pre-interstate appealed to me. Drive-in’s, bobby socks, and rock and roll all had their places outlined in my story.
Then, I started writing the novel. The characters took over and evolved my facts and figures into a story about people. The path Route 66 followed is barely touched on in the book. The music and clothes that defined a generation are simply garments and background noise. All of my research, all of the details of life during that time are put aside.
The book isn’t going to be about what they wore or listened to. It isn’t about popularity or fads.
It’s about people, and people are basically the same throughout time.