Important - Please Read

After months of work, during which time you may have noticed a decrease in postings, I have finally finished preparing a new blog at my new domain.

Huh? What? New blog? Why a new blog? And what the heck took so long? Well, I was picky. I tried and discarded about 10 content management systems before I settled on WordPress. And then I had to find an appropriate template. Plus, I only worked on it every once in a while, on weekends, when I remembered that I had a new domain to set up.

Anyway. The new blog is called Debuts & Reviews. It's basically just like Fantasy Debut, except it's different. There's a post up over there explaining why I did this. But don't go over there yet.

Wow. This is kind of scary. I have almost 400 subscribers through Google Reader, and I'm working on 150 subscribers through Google FriendConnect. What if no one comes to my new blog?

(Shakes off moment of self-doubt.)

The rest of this post is for feed subscribers, Google Friend Connect Subscribers, and Blog Owners. Or, practically everyone.

Attention Feed Subscribers!

Before I moved into this new blog for good, I wanted to ask (implore, request, beg) any feed readers who subscribe to Fantasy Debut directly to a reader to re-subscribe through FeedBurner using this handy link. Simply click the blue button, select your feed reader of choice, and you're good to go. Oh! And come back here when you're done, because I've got more stuff for you to read.



When I redirect my feed to Debuts & Reviews in a day or so, I'll whisk you along with me, just as if we were riding a magic carpet through the interwebs over to the new blog. One day your feed will come from Fantasy Debut, and the next day it will come from Debuts & Reviews.

If you're an email subscriber, or if you originally subscribed through FeedBurner, then you're already on the magic carpet, so you don't have to do anything at all.

If you think subscribing by email would simply be the bee's knees (a cool bit of 20's slang I picked up from Barely Bewitched), then please enter your email address and click the button. This is also through Feedburner.

Attention, Google Friend Connect Subscribers!

If you prefer to subscribe through Google Friend Connect, please re-subscribe directly at Debuts & Reviews using the link below. Apparently, links from here won't work. I DID find a hack that would allow me to sweep you along on the magic carpet ride as well, but it relied on a hole in Blogger's programming. Were I a software developer for Blogger, I'd want to patch that hole. I'd hate for my hack to one day stop working. Besides, I didn't want my new blog to remain dependent on my old blog into perpetuity. Best to start off clean.

So click on over to the new blog, click the Join This Site button, and make my day.

Attention, Blog Owners!


And lastly, if you are a blog owner and are linking to Fantasy Debut, please, update your link to the following:

Blog name: Debuts & Reviews
Blog link: http://www.tianevitt.com/weblog/

If you really, really, really want to make my day, announce my blog change-of-address at your own blog. All bloggers who do so will be publicly thanked.

Ok, if you're still here, go ahead and take a peek at my new blog. There's a welcome post waiting for you. I've tried to recreate everthing I have here, but I still have a few items on my ToDo list. Do let me know what you think!

I've Been Interviewed!

Harry Markov of Temple Library Reviews wrote some very insightful interview questions, which must have taken him a while to research. He also did one of his blog critiques, where he said some very nice things about me and Fantasy Debut. Times like these make blogging very rewarding. He calls this feature Reviewer Time.

Check it out!

Happy Anniversary, Fantasy Debut

One year ago today, I started Fantasy Debut. It's been a much more interesting year than I expected!

Here are some numbers:

• Debuts announced: 91
• Reviews: 29, of which 8 are guest reviews
  
• Interviews: 15 (including one that Raven helped with)
  
• Guest Posts: 5
  
• Contests: 4
  
• Best Technorati Authority: 101
• Current Technorati Authority: Varies wildly, currently inexplicably back up about 20 points to 101. Oops! now, it's back down to 88 so who knows?
• Visits: 23,590
  
• Unique Visitors: 11,856
  
• Pageviews: 35,454
  
• Number of Countries: 97
  
• Number of States: 52 (How does that happen? Turns out there's a region called "not set" and then there's good old Washington, DC.)
  
• Top Referring Blogs: Fantasy Book Critic (1,266 referrals), Pat's Fantasy Hotlist (742) and Graeme's Fantasy Review (411) -- thanks to everyone who has sent traffic here!
  

I know my numbers aren't as high as some other fantasy bloggers, but since this is a niche blog, I'm fairly happy. Those numbers have gradually grown over the past year. Big-name authors don't tend to blog about this site, thus sending me their traffic (although some up- and-coming authors have). I've learned a lot and I've had a lot of fun. If you think my site deserves higher traffic, perhaps you could share the love with a shout-out. I always reciprocate!

Have you any advice for me? Should I run more contests? More interviews (two are in the works)? More guest posts? Something else, entirely? Any complaints? The suggestion box is now open.

New Announcement Format

In order to be able to continue doing the debut announcements, I had to make some changes. They were taking about an hour to put together, and I kept getting further and further behind. This new format will also permit me to announce debuts on the day of their release, because I no longer will be searching for and vetting possible links. I've discovered many good blogs while trolling for reviews to link to, but I will hopefully will continue to do so through other methods. Plus, I'm constantly putting links in the Other Debut Coverage box. It changes every day.

What I will continue doing

• Link to various Amazon releases (this may change to B&N -- they seem to have a better shipping policy)
• Link to author websites and blogs
• Include official blurb
  
• Comment with my initial reaction
• Provide ongoing links in Other Debut Coverage box
  

What I stopped doing

• Search for and link to reviews/interviews/articles
  

What I started doing:

• Include image of book
• Include publisher info and links
  
• Include book format
• Include excerpt link
• Announce on day of release (or close to it, in the case of multiple releases on the same day)
  

What do you think?

Fantasy Debut Nominated!

While looking at Pat's nomination for the Preditors and Editors annual poll, I discovered that Fantasy Debut was nominated for this award as well! I'm kind of overwhelmed at the company that this blog is in. And, I must admit that I'm thrilled!

Here is the poll for review sites. The deadline for voting (or nominating other sites) is January 15th.

Rebottling the Genie

I decided to relax my "no review copies" policy because it has proven to be impossible to keep them from arriving. I rather feel like Aladdin in the Disney movie, when Robin Williams/Genie roars at him, "Now you're getting yer wishes!!!" You can't re-bottle the genie. Not before you get your wishes -- er, books.

Since I'll be getting review copies anyway, it hardly seems fair to refuse someone who asks. The details are in the What I Do Here post.

Thanks to the Swivet for the latest, which is a debut that I missed from September (my tardy announcement is forthcoming). And darn it if it doesn't look as good as the last one she sent me!!!

About Fantasy Debut

Fantasy Debut is owned by Tia Nevitt. This post always has my current policies. I will keep it current.

Status: Not currently taking review copies.

Please note! I only cover debuts for books published by publishers that distribute books to bookstore shelves nationwide, which puts the books on shelves, like this:

In other words, it must be the book that would permit the author to join the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America or Horror Writers of America. It's OK if the author has published other small press or POD books, or novels in non speculative genres.

All books I hear about go on my Debut Calendar, which is available through my sidebar. I also try to do a Debut Showcase for every entry in my Debut Calendar.

For reviews, I'm more selective. I'm open to most genres, with the exception of the following:

• Vampire stories. I'm not interested in protagonists that have to devour humans or human blood. Psionic vampires might interest me, however.
• Stories with demon or undead protagonists. It's okay if they're the bad guys.
• Angels as sexual partners.
  
• Deal-with-the-devil stories. However, I wouldn't mind reading such a book when the main protagonist is trying to save someone who has made a deal with the devil.
• Blood and gore horror. Horror should have a supernatural element and should scare the hell out of me, not gross me out.
• Stories with sex involving more than one partner.
• Excessively gritty stories. Of course "excessively" is subjective.
  
• Christian bashing, either overt or subtle. I don't like to see my beliefs trashed.

Raven, who also reviews here, does read dark fantasy and urban fantasy.

If you don't mind filling out a form, you can use this one to tell me about your debut. It has everything I like to know about new debut novels, which helps me when I do a Debut Showcase. You can also email me at tia dot nevitt at gmail dot com.

Small Press - What do you think?

I've started getting requests to review small press books here. I've given it some thought and my decision is somewhat mixed.

When I started this blog, I decided to focus it on major press debuts because my time is so limited. Even so, there are many debuts that I simply do not get to. One debut that I never got to despite wanting to review, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, is actually on the bestseller lists.

Therefore, for the most part, I will not make any attempt to keep up with all the debuts from small presses. It would take way too much time. This week alone, I have five books that I'm preparing for my weekly debut round-up. However, if a small press author contacts me about his or her book, I will include it in the weekly round-up on the week it is released. If it is not available on the bookshelves of bricks-and-mortar stores, I will say so. If I start getting a lot of such tips, I'll put then in a separate post.

As for actual reviews, I'll decide on a case-by-case basis. In keeping with my usual practice, I won't let the author know about my decision to review until after I have already started reviewing it.

What do you think?

Feedback, Please

I've come up with a few ideas for this site and I'd be interested in hearing yours as well.

I decided to put my reviews on a schedule. I am basing this schedule on web traffic patterns that I have observed during the month that this site has been live so far.

All featured debuts will now start on a Monday, and will be featured at least a week. I will put up posts at specific milestones in the book. The first post will be on the first chapter, which is usually available for free on author websites. I will put up a second post when I am about halfway through the book. The third post will be about the ending. And a forth post will wrap-up with all the links I always give on the final post. I will try to finish the book by Friday.

I'll also put up short posts if something really wows me or turns me off. Any extras, such as author interviews or chats, will take place after my last post. If a book runs for longer than a week, I will wait until the next Monday before starting the next review.

Every Wednesday, I will post any debut news that I have been able to glean over the past week. Tips are always appreciated! On weekends and in between milestone posts, I'll put up any relevant news items that I may come across (especially about authors that I have featured), or the odd frivolous post.

Between featured debuts, I may have one-shot historical reviews of books I have read in the past, guest reviews, or one-shot reviews of subsequent books by my authors.

Do you have any helpful ideas?

What Did You Think?

I'd like to open up this blog for (gulp!) critique. Of me. I tried to strike a balance of writing about the book without giving too much away. How did I do with my postings about MAGIC LOST, TROUBLE FOUND? Was I boring? Did I post too often? Not often enough? Did I take to !@#$ing long to read the book? Were my posts comprehensible? How can I improve?

Did I do anything right? Did you enjoy my posts? Did you want to go out and read the book?

I love debut books, and I'm not often disappointed by a debut novel that I think I will enjoy. MAGIC LOST, TROUBLE FOUND was no exception.

Thanks and Blog Changes

A hearty thanks to The Toasted Scimitar for adding me to their blogroll! And many thanks to Kristin for her nice little blurb about this site. Thanks, guys!

I've added a few boxes to the right, including a link to MLTF on Amazon so you can rush out and buy a copy. I also added links to book titles ("Filter Posts by Title") so you can jump straight to the reviews without enduring entries like this one.

I'm working on a better way to link to the Amazon site by clicking on the book's cover. Blogger doesn't seem to provide a way to do this so I'm going to have to brush out my HTML and make my own wigit. But time has been at a premium this week, so it will have to wait until the weekend.

Why This Site

I've been thinking about starting this site for quite a while.

Whenever I hear of a book by a debut author that zooms to the top of the bestseller charts, I take notice. After all, as a writer, it is my job to try to determine what made that book so successful. Here is a short list of book that I might not have otherwise read, had they not been wildly successful debuts:

• The Bridges of Madison County
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• The Devil Wears Prada
• Eragon

Of these, I enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) Harry Potter the best. J. K. Rowling is a master storyteller and I learned a lot from her.

Oftentimes, when I go to the bookstore, I go specifically to find a debut book. Green Rider by Kristen Britain is one such book. Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon is another.

Since I read so many debut novels, I decided to start Fantasy Debut. Fantasy Debut is where I will post my reviews of debut books by fantasy authors. I will read books that meet the following qualifications:

1) It must be published by a major publisher. No small press, no POD, no E-books. There are plenty of other blogs that review such books. Since debut books fly off the presses every month, I don't have time for anything more. I don't even have time to review every debut book that is released every month. I've whittled this down to a nice niche that should keep me busy without overwhelming me.

2) It must be a fantasy novel. By "fantasy", I mean that if I were to go to a bookstore, I would most likely find it in the fantasy/science fiction section, or in the fantasy Young Adult section.

I have several reasons for this requirement. The key reason is that the first book you read in a genre tends to be the most memorable. The first modern fantasy series I ever read (back in the 80s) was Dragonlance (actually a series), which I think tends to get a bad rap these days. I have never forgotten Dragonlance, and for a few years it was the standard by which I judged other books in the genre. I have never read, say, a paranormal romance. Therefore, I would not be a good reviewer of such books. I am willing to stretch this to include light SF, but no hard SF. (I do enjoy hard SF, but I have not read enough of it to be a good reviewer.)

3) It must be an author's first book by a major publisher. By this I mean that this is the book that could get the author into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It's ok if the author has published other small press or POD books.

These will not be typical reviews. I will take full advantage of blogging technology. In other words, I will blog on your book as I read it. I will make every effort not to give too much of the plot away. I do not read quickly, so expect it to take me about a week to read your book. I will make every attempt to finish it. If I am unable to finish your book and I set it aside, I will attempt to articulate why. I am not a paid reviewer and I will not continue to read books that are a chore for me to read. However, I very rarely set books aside so I don't expect this to happen much.

I will not mock your book. In having your first book published, you have made a significant achievement and I admire you for it. But, I will be truthful in what worked for me, what didn't work for me, and what I wish you had thought of.

Books I tend to like:

• Historical fantasy. I am a big Stephen Lawhead fan.
• Futuristic fantasy. I like blends of SF and fantasy.
• Mythological fantasy, especially with historical mythology.
• Different fantasy. I like new ideas.
• High fantasy. However, I tend to judge these a bit more harshly than others, since there is so much of this out there. Thinly disguised elves will earn frowns from me. If you have an elf or fairy in your story, I prefer if you just come out and say so.
• Christian fantasy. Miracles are good.
• Dark fantasy, with several caveats (see below).

Books I tend to dislike:

• Vampire stories. I'm not interested in protagonists that have to devour humans or human blood. "Psionic" vampires might interest me, however.
• Stories about ultra-powerful characters. I like reading about humans.
• Deal-with-the-devil stories. However, I wouldn't mind reading such a book when the main protagonist is trying to save someone who made a deal with the devil.
  
• Blood and gore horror. Horror should have a supernatural element and should scare the hell out of me, not gross me out.
• Christian bashing, either overt or subtle. I'm no fundamentalist, but I don't like to see my beliefs trashed, either.

I will review books by authors who have more than one book out, but I will only review their first book. For example, I might review Eragon, but I won't review Eldest. Books by new authors will take priority. I will always bump such books up to the top of the list (although of course, I will not stop a book in mid-review). Caveat: there are so many new books coming out all the time that I may not have much time for these.