Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore Uncle Edgar's Mystery ...

ooks on the shelf I’m not interested in
reading. I can remember when most of
the mass market new releases at Uncle
Hugo’s would have an initial order of at
least 15 copies, and would sell out.
Now, half the spaces on the new release
shelf is taken up with titles that I only
ordered 3 to 5 copies, and many of those
will only sell 1 copy. There are still
some titles that I’ll order 20 to 30 copies
initially and I’ll sell all of them, but there
are a lot fewer such titles being
published. What’s especially painful is
when a publisher has a series with a
substantial following at Uncle Hugo’s
(such as Lyda Morehouse’s series or
Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Retrieval
Artist series) and the publisher kills the
series even though the author and the
readers want the series to continue. It
seems that the publishers are so obsessed
with hitting a home run with a title that
will sell like crazy at Target, Walmart,
and Sam’s Club that they don’t care
about supporting moderately popular
mid-list authors.
There are now hundreds of
thousands of self-published titles
available. A few are very good, some
are okay, and most are dreadful. In
many cases the authors got suckered by
unscrupulous publishers, who took the
authors’ money knowing that the book
would never be able to sell more than a
few cases to the authors, which the
authors will have to store in their closets
for the rest of their lives. Many of these
books have never been edited, spellchecked,
grammar-checked, etc., and are
offered at high prices and low discounts
that guarantee that a bookstore will
never buy a copy. For an extreme
example of this, check out
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blog
s/PWxyz/2012/01/31/the-worst-book-e
ver-is-moon-people/
Once again we had lots more
new titles than we had space for in the
paper newsletter. Most paranormal
romances, gaming related items, action
adventure series titles, Doctor Who
books, kids and young adult novels,
reissues, and non-fiction books were
either eliminated or had their
descriptions shortened for the paper
newsletter, but full information is on our
website. There are also book reviews at
our website. About 150 people
switched from the paper newsletter to the
electronic version in the last 3 months,
saving us about $500 per year.
Henry, Christina
Holm, Chris F.
Irwin, Stephen M.
Jacka, Benedict
Kazimer, J.A.
Kearney, Paul
Kiernan, Caitlin R.
Knight, E.E.
Kratman, Tom
Long, Nathan
Mallory, H.P.
Martinez, A. Lee
McCarthy, T.C.
McGuire, Seanan
McKenna, Juliet E.
reprint).......................................................... $13.00
Black Howl (Maddy Black #3: PBO; Ghosts are walking the Chicago streets, and
Maddy's boss wants her to figure out why). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.99
Dead Harvest (Sam's job is to collect the souls of the damned. Sent for the soul of a
young woman accused of slaying her family, Sam believes her to be innocent, and refuses
to collect. Now he has to keep her safe while trying to find out who's behind the setup)
................................................................. $7.99
The Dead Path (Nicholas is being haunted, by ghosts doomed to repeat their final
violent moments in an endless loop. Fearing for his sanity, he returns to his childhood home
seeking a fresh start. But he soon finds himself a suspect in a series of disappearances and
murders. As the evidence mounts against him, Nicholas will need to confront the origin of
his troubles - the woods that surround his hometown, where a malign force may be lurking)
................................................................ $15.00
Fated (Alex Verus #1: PBO; Alex Verus runs a magic shop in London, and while his
powers aren't as showy as some mages, he can foresee the possible future. When he's
approached to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever is
inside must be beyond powerful. And he can foresee that if he takes the job, his odds of
survival will go from slim to none)...................................... $7.99
Curses! (When Cinderella is run over by a bus, her stepsister Asia suspects murder, and
hires RJ to investigate. While searching for the culprit, RJ meets the flamboyant Prince
Charming, Cinderella's crazy stepmother, and a seriously twisted version of Hansel and
Gretel, and dodges bullets, explosions, fires, and his ex-wife). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15.00
Kings of Morning (Macht #3: For the first time in recorded history, the Macht have
a High King: Corvus. And Corvus has a plan. The preparations will take years, but when they
are complete, the Macht will undertake the overthrow of the Asurian Empire). . . . $7.99
The Drowning Girl (India Morgan Phelps - Imp to her friends - is schizophrenic.
Struggling with her perceptions of reality, she must uncover the truth about her encounters
with creatures out of myth - or from something far stranger). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $16.00
Dragon Strike (Age of Fire #4: Three dragon siblings find themselves at odds over the
coming human war: AuRon believes that dragons should remain out of human affairs;
Wistala hopes for peaceful coexistence; and Copper is seizing the opportunity to fulfill his
own plans). ....................................................... $7.99
The Amazon Legion (Carrera #4: When the Tauran Union refuses to relinquish
control of the Transitway between Terra Nova and Earth, the entire Balboan population will
be needed in the fight to finish freeing the country, and, if possible, the planet). . . $7.99
Jane Carver of Waar (On the run from the cops after accidentally killing a pervert
outside her favorite bar, Jane finds herself transported to another planet by a weird glowing
gadget she found in a cave. What's a biker girl to do on a planet rife with slavery, feudalism,
monsters, pirates, and priests? Kick a little butt, of course!). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $14.99
Witchful Thinking (Jolie Wilkins #3: PBO; Jolie is startled to be crowned Queen of
the Underworld. She may be a witch with a rare gift, but governing fractious factions of
supernatural creatures? She's having enough trouble managing her personal life - and the
sexy warlock and seductive vampire vying for her affections). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.99
Emperor Mollusk vs. the Sinister Brain (Emperor Mollusk is a supervillain
from Neptune who wants to retire on Earth, but a death cult has marked him for
assassination. To stay alive, he'll have to use his feared intellect and superior technology to
unravel a mystery that could be more important than he ever suspected). . . . . . . $19.99
Exogene (Subterrene War #2: Catherine is a soldier, bred by scientists. She and her
sisters will win this war, no matter the cost. And the costs are high: on their 18th birthday,
they will be discharged, lined up, and shot like cattle. They may not be strictly human, but
they're not animals. Catherine dreams of life, and she will get it at any cost). . . . . $7.99
Discount Armageddon (InCryptid #1: PBO; She's been trained from birth to be a
cryptozoologist, but Verity Price is spending a year in Manhattan to pursue a career in
professional ballroom dance. A simple enough plan, if it weren't for the talking mice,
telepathic mathematicians, and asbestos supermodels. Oh, and the trained monster-hunter
sent by the Covenant of St. George, old enemies of the Price family. Worse still, local
cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's
spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping under the city).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.99
Darkening Skies (Hadrumal Crisis #2: As a once in a lifetime conjunction of the stars
approaches, the Aldabreshin warlords and the Hadrumal mages vie for power).. . . $8.99