Hyrule and How-To's

Yet again geeks prove the power of their ferocious passion and their need to acquire anything and everything surrounding the topics they love. No, I didn't just hang up my new Lord of the Rings movie poster. What are you saying? Middle-Earth Dictionary? Tolkien Bestiary? Art books? Multiple copies of the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Every book Middle-Earth related that Tolkien wrote? Pah, to own such frivolity. Stop laughing.

According to Publisher's Weekly, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia was the #1 bestseller for Nielsen BookScan's week ending February 3rd, selling almost 60,000 copies in that first week alone. Published by Dark Horse,

"Hyrule Historia is a guide and history of The Legend of Zelda series, which has been around for over 20 years. Outlets reporting to BookScan account for about 80% of print sales."

60,000 in the first week, and that only 80% of proposed print sales. Well, if I do say so myself, that's not bad at all. Danielle Steel, reportedly, came in 2nd and 3rd bestseller by half at around 34,000 for each novel. Who says video games are no way to make a living?

I'm an old, die-hard Zelda fan. I played "Link's Awakening" on ye olde Gameboy Pocket when there was no such thing as color or 3D in the screen. Pixels, baby, pixels. So I can definitely understand they  hype surrounding a book with the entire history of the land in which the video games take place. A classic warrior/puzzle game, the Zelda universe is definitely not for the weak minded-- those fortresses are hard to beat!!

Next on the news line, Gabe Habash reports on Author (R)evolution Day, a convention

"designed to give authors, content creators, agents, and indie author service providers a full day of panels and breakout sessions." 

The theme revolved around What Should Authors Do in the Digital Age? The most talked about point? Discovery, and how the digital era affects that. Amanda Havard, author and creative director, pointed out the complexity and flexibility that one needs as an author in an electronic age:

"you have to be able to plan and commit to different methods of discovery, but (somewhat contradictorily) you also have to be able to abandon those methods and move on if you find something better. The takeaway: the digital world both allows and forces you to adapt."

As I've mentioned before, you have to do your research and be willing to change your mind. My own opinion of going the traditional method could very well change in the coming years, depending on what we see the electronic means of publishing doing and how it adapts with print publishing. We'll see. But read the article-- one of the  most important aspects of research is keeping up to date on the opinions, methods, and ideas of the times.

Further ideas discussed at the convention included excerpts, how to keep from being overwhelmed by options and opportunities, achievement, Internet connectivity with ebooks, and social media.