What’s New in the World of Books?

A lot, apparently.  So let’s go down the list, shall we?

1.  The Masquerade Crew’s anthology, which you can be a part of!

Mark from The Masquerade Crew is putting together an anthology based on the premise of characters time-travelling to the future.  What do they see?  What’s the world like?  Are they stuck or are they able to return?  You tell us!  Write and submit a short story from 5,000 to 10,000 words to be considered for Mark’s first anthology.  For more information, here is my post ‘Calling all Writers!’ and Mark’s post on his blog.  You can also email him at msl_007@live.com to submit your story or if you have any additional questions.

I will be one of the editors working on the project and to be perfectly frank, other than critiquing short stories in forums, I have no experience editing.  What relevant experience I do have has been obtained by book reviewing, in which I talk about characterization, plot, dialogue, etc.  Therefore, I will be the developmental (content) editor and any changes I make will be subject to Mark and the author’s approval.  This is my first foray into formal editing and Mark’s first foray into publishing, so it will be a learning experience for the whole team.

Note: this is the first of hopefully many anthologies The Masquerade Crew will be publishing.  If you can’t find inspiration for this particular prompt, wait around for the next one!

2.  Sue Grafton makes an ignorant remark about indie authors.

My little circle of followers and people I follow on Twitter almost exclusively includes people who are authors, publishers and book bloggers, so you can imagine that I heard the rage of indie authors when Sue Grafton basically insulted all of their hard work.  I think some people have taken things too far, but on the whole, the posts about her remarks and the aftermath have been relatively level-headed.  For some background about the controversy, here’s a great post by Nobody Asked Me, But…

3.  Clockwork Princess cover art and release date have been announced.

As if you Cassandra Clare fans didn’t know this already!  By internet standards, it’s old news, but for you guys who don’t obsessively check writer’s sites, this is probably new.  But Clockwork Princess, the third book in The Infernal Devices trilogy has a set release date of March 19, 2013 (so long, I know!) and the cover art is now all over the web.  I like the cover art on The Infernal Devices much more than I do on most of The Mortal Instruments books.  There’s less emphasis on the ‘sexy’ aspect of the novels, but that’s to be expected as they are set in the Victorian Era of England.

Personally, I’m apprehensive about the end of the trilogy.  From the way it intertwines with The Mortal Instruments, things don’t bode well for Tessa and the gang (I’m predicting an operatic tragedy, personally) and Cassandra Clare has a lot of loose ends to tie up.  It will be interesting to see how she handles things.

So what have you guys heard in the world of books lately?  Any series you’re eagerly awaiting the next book(s)?