Wrap Up: Sunny Days Edition

Wish I was here...

It is gloriously, deliciously beautiful outside, like the weather decided to make a big ole present to all of us, and I love it. I even unpacked all my skirts and cute summer dresses! I'm wearing flip-flops, people, FLIP-FLOPS! In March! To which I can only say, keep the good times comin'.

I am off for a week of vacation and relaxation, and for my last bit of blog-business, here are this week's posts:

Agent Jim of Dystel & Goderich talks conferences, and the new reaction he's getting as an agent now that self-publishing is rising in popularity and agents are seen as less-necessary to publish books

Continuing the agent speculation, Janet Grant discusses how agents will need to adapt in order to stay relevant and continue to provide services to their clients and how readers are already changing their reading and buying habits

Via Galleycat, personalized "Go Away I'm Reading" book covers (I'm partial to the LOTR one)

Rachelle Gardner breaks down the process behind when a book goes to auction and goes behind the scenes on the agent-author contract

Direct from her house boat on the Seine (seriously), Mary Kole gives some tips on how to seamlessly integrate a character's thoughts into the narrative

K.M. Weiland takes a look at a popular narrative structure, the multiple POV, and describes some of the most common pitfalls and problems

Tor brings a great look at how the iconic Hunger Games covers developed

And in my favorite post of the week, Nathan Bransford takes us step-by-step through the DoJ's potential lawsuit of publishers and Apple for allegedly colluding on e-book prices. As usual, Nathan is straightforward, clear, and compelling, and this should be required reading for anyone in the industry. Seriously, after reading this, it was like mind-->blown.

That's it! Have a wonderful, sunny weekend!