Well, don’t read the New York Times article on the role of book packagers in creating those books that young girls read like candy. The packager in question, Alloy, also plays a central role in the Kaavya Viswanathan plagiarism scandal. So, yeah, a lot of books are the product of authorial imagination as gently sculpted by a kind-yet-ruthless editor before being polished by the sharp minds of marketing. Then there are the popular series such as “Gossip Girls” that come more from the corporate mind and are executed by a string of fairly anonymous authors. Think of it as the

You know how the ones you love will push your buttons with little or no effort? That describes Jill Monroe to a “T”. She can, with a single email, get us worked up. By, oh, forwarding us link to “The Magic Formula: How To Plan, Write, Sell, and Promote Your Romance Fiction Novel”. No joke. Just three days of writing and you’ll have a publishable novel. We’re not big on the swearing, but, honestly, bullshit.

Anna Genoese, she of Tor and Anna Louise’s blog, has written of those things that makes our black little heart race: an article on how books do (or don’t) make money. You know it’s a going to be good when the first thing you read about is P&L statements. All we can say is that we hope there’s a royalty calculation in there somewhere…just for fun! Seriously, she lays out the whole thing: all those little costs that people forget about (ah, freight, we know you well). The cover wars — a bad cover can cost you in pre-ordered copies.