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September 7, 2001
Dear Reader:
While we know that you click through to our website to read the features and reviews each week, please note that for your convenience this newsletter can also be found online at: Bookreporter.com Newsletter.
As a few of you wrote me regarding the recent format change in our newsletter, I decided it would be easier to explain the rationale behind it to all our readers at once, so please bear with me. Here is the dilemma:
A few weeks ago I finally confirmed what I had been fearing for a while now --- people were getting the simple overviews of our weekly features from the newsletter, but never actually going to the website for the rest of it. As an example, one reader wrote and asked why we had not done a feature on Eudora Welty's death. We had! I was proud that we had posted a significant feature within two hours of her death and told him so. He replied: "Well, I never bother to go to the website; I just read the newsletter." And, to add to the problem, I've been getting letters from people every week who think our newsletter IS the website. Comparing our newsletter circulation numbers with our website traffic, it became apparent we had reason for concern.
The newsletter is only meant to interest our readership in coming to the website to get the full blown versions of our reviews and features; it was never intended to replace the website. Reality is that while my favorite part of the business is the editorial, in order to run a website, you have to have revenue. The basis for receiving ad dollars, sponsorships and other things that allow me to run a small privately-held company is dependent upon pages being viewed on the actual website. Those are the only numbers we are judged by.
Trust that I, too, miss these brief promos in the newsletter, but I've been wrestling with this situation for some time and fear what will happen to the company if people do not go to our website to see what is there. I hope this helps to explain the recent change, and if any of you have another solution, I would love to hear from you. Please note that ALL the promos can, as always, be read on the home page of Bookreporter.com where the features and reviews are a link away.
This Week's Poll
Which of the following books are you most looking forward to reading?
(a) A BEND IN THE ROAD by Nicholas Sparks
(b) LONG TIME, NO SEE by Susan Isaacs
(c) PARADISE SCREWED by Carl Hiassen
(d) MIDDLE AGE by Joyce Carol Oates
(e) THE ASSOCIATE by Phillip Margolin
To answer this week's poll, please click here. Please do not send your answers in e-mail, as they will not be included in the response tally.
This Week's Question
Which new book are you most looking forward to reading this fall?
To answer the Question of the Week, please send your response to Question@bookreporter.com.
New This Week
Bookreporter Talks To:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR may be less fictional than would appear as John Colapinto relates an insider's viewpoint in an interview with Bookreporter.com's Chuck Leddy.
Debut author Michele Andrea Bowen discusses the choice of setting and the inspiration behind CHURCH FOLK in her interview with Bookreporter.com's Jana Siciliano.
Ross LaManna, author of ACID TEST, compares screenwriting to novels, and talks about future plans and projects with Bookreporter.com's Joe Hartlaub.
Diana Gabaldon was a recent guest in the Bookreporter Chat Room on AOL. In case you were not there to join us, here is a transcript.
Newsworthy:
After years of speculation on when --- or if --- Jean Auel would add Book #5 to her Earth's Children series, fans can finally celebrate!
SHELTERS OF STONE.
Celebrate the joy of reading! Join 60 notable authors and artists in Washington, DC, Sept. 8 for the first National Book Festival.
Last Week's Poll Results
How long have you been a Bookreporter.com reader?
19% said from the start in 1996
21% said for the last 3 or 4 years
24% said for the last 1 or 2 years
36% said I just recently started reading it
Once again...thanks for reading!
Bookreporter Readers Say....
What book or author would you never have read had you not seen him/her/it on Bookreporter.com?
Perspectives
BOOKS, BIKES AND THE LIBRARY LADY
Jana Siciliano finds that going home to her favorite childhood haunt is a bittersweet experience.
Amazon.com
On the home page of Bookreporter.com
see the new Amazon Recommends area.
These books and special offers
are based on what our readers are reading.
Be sure to check them out!
Features
THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen
Reviewed by Sarah Brennan and excerpted.
VALHALLA RISING by Clive Cussler
Reviewed by Ann Bruns and excerpted.
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW by J. F. Freedman
Reviewed by Roz Shea and excerpted.
PEACE LIKE A RIVER by Leif Enger
Reviewed by Jana Siciliano and excerpted.
WHAT YOU OWE ME by Bebe Moore Campbell
Reviewed by Sofrina Hinton and excerpted.
CHURCH FOLK by Michele Andrea Bowen
Reviewed by Jana Siciliano and excerpted.
CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL by Glen David Gold
Reviewed by Bob Ruggiero and excerpted.
BOOK MAGAZINE:
Check out BOOK magazine's September issue for previews
of the Books to Movies coming out this fall
and their all-time picks for best and worst adaptations.
Reviews
IN THE CITY OF SHY HUNTERS by Tom Spanbauer
Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol
AMERICA: A Jake Grafton Novel by Stephen Coonts
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
BLUE NILE: Ethiopia's River of Magic and Mystery by Virginia Morell
Reviewed by Ann Bruns
WAIT AND SEE, ANNIE LEE by Michelle Curry Wright
Reviewed by Katie Ayers
LULLABY, VESPERS, WIDOWS: Three Classic Novels of the 87th Precinct by Ed McBain.
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
MY SPY: Memoir of a CIA Wife by Bina Cady Kiyonaga
Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
The Bookreporter.com marketplace
Take a minute to scroll through our mini-mall of great online shops.
Whether you're looking for elegant writing tools, downloadable reading
materials, or great bargains on books and magazines, you'll find
what you need in our collection of great online stores for readers.
Contests and Giveaways
This week we're giving away a copy of BIRD'S-EYE VIEW by J. F. Freedman to one lucky winner! Submit to Word of Mouth and your name will go in the hat for your chance to win one. By the way, if you would prefer your contribution remain anonymous, just let us know when you send in your submission.
Every month one Bookreporter.com newsletter subscriber wins a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate. To subscribe to the newsletter and automatically be entered to win, send an e-mail to newsletter@bookreporter.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. If you already receive this newsletter in your e-mailbox every week, why not forward it to a friend?
Weekend weather forecast here looks great. I am planning to spend time in
the hammock with a book. Hope you find time to read too. See you next week.
--- Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@Bookreporter.com)
for The Book Report Network
Bookreporter.com * ReadingGroupGuides.com * AuthorsOnTheWeb.com * Teenreads.com * Kidsreads.com
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