Experts Estimate Amazon Sold 6 Million Kindle Fires

Publishers Weekly reports Amazon sold about 6 million Kindle Fires in the fourth quarter of the year - that's the three-month period that ended Dec. 31, 2011.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan credits Amazon's competitive pricing for the success of the Android-based tablet.

The Kindle Fire sells for $199. The least expensive Apple iPad 2 costs about $499.

"Kindle Fire has staked out an important market position due to its loyal Amazon customer base and attractive device pricing," said Rohan.

The Kindle Fire remains the top-seller in Amazon's electronics category.

Best Book of 2011: The Black Hawk

Followers of this blog know I've already posted my Top 10ish romances for 2011.

The ish is because there were still so many 2011 titles in my TBR pile that I couldn't come up with a comprehensive list.

Much less my favorite book of the year.

But now I have. One hundred percent. Hands down.

I don't have to read anything else to know The Blawk Hawk by Joanna Bourne is the best book of 2011 for me.

Bourne is a new-to-me author. I'd seen her name on best-of lists and decided to give The Black Hawk a try. Boy, am I glad I did.

The Black Hawk is not only the best romance I've read this year, it's the best book I've read - in any genre - in quite a while.

Why? For so many reasons. But let's start with the fact that it's a complex, intelligent read with the most memorable heroine I've encountered in some time. And everyone would want to be the object of the complicated hero's single-minded affection.

So much is going on in this spy story, that I had to slow down at times to savor it all. To let it sink in.

I usually hate stories that go back and forth in time. In this case, it worked beautifully. Not only did I not mind it, I loved the way it heightened the intensity of the writing.

I checked The Black Hawk out from the library, but I plan to buy it because I want it for my keeper shelf.  I know I'll be reading it again. 

It's a masterful work. If you haven't already read The Black Hawk, you should.

Self-Published Author Earns $100,000 in January

Self-published author J.A. Konrath claims he's raked in $100,000 over the past three weeks.

That's revenue from his self-published titles on Amazon.

According to his blog post, Konrath's "The List" - a book publishers rejected - has been in the top 100 for two months and is currently ranked #71.

"I am soooo glad I had so many books rejected,” Konrath blogs.

GateBookNewser reports Konrath is averaging well over $3,500 a day for January, even though the holiday season is over.

"The List" sells for $3.99 on Amazon and Prime members can read it for free right now.

The Danger of Romance Novels

In a recent Huffington Post essay, author Maya Rodale makes an intriguing case for why romance novels are often ridiculed - most often by people who've never read one.



Rodale, who has university degrees in women and fiction, presents a compelling argument that romance novels have been historically derided by society because they empower women.

Writing romance novels, she says, brought women into the marketplace in a powerful way, both as sellers and buyers. Romance novels encourage women to get out of the house, to seek adventure, to demand true love.

Romance is derided, Rodale says, because it inspires and empowers "women to live and love to a higher standard. And because that's a threat to the status quo, we're taught to ridicule those who embrace that literature, that message, that vision of a life well lived and loved."

Check out the quick, thought-provoking video above.

E-book Sales Up 81% in October

The rising ascendancy of ebooks continued in October 2011, with sales jumping 81.2 percent to $72.8 million, according to Publishers Weekly.

Those figures come from the 20 publishers who reveal their ebook sales numbers to the Association of American Publishers.

Publishers Weekly reports the 81-percent hike marked the first time in 2011 that ebook sales did not double over the same month in 2010.

Overall, for the first 10 months of the year, ebook sales were up 131 percent.

Mass market paperbacks took a hit, with sales falling 37.6 percent.Trade paperback sales were down almost 17 percent, while adult hardcover fell almost 8 percent. 
 
The one high point in print is that religious sales were up more than 12 percent in October.