This is such an incredible resource for all of us. There are so, so many books published and it takes a lot of times to wade through all of them. This collection is just a treasure and a true time saver also. Thanks so much for putting this together. There are so many titles that I will be adding to my ever growing shelf of books to read.
Dorie Schultz, Bookseller, Book World
Like Potato Chips, But Better For You. The books in these collections are so far down the pipeline that most don’t have sample options available yet. The only way to get an early look at them is to look here. And, often the samples in the Buzz Books are longer than the Amazon samples anyway. So, since it’s a freebie and an easy download there’s no risk.
In addition, the book opens with an introductory essay briefly reviewing what else of interest is on the horizon. It addresses literary fiction, debuts, commercial fiction, general non-fiction, and memoirs, which is a nice heads up. The actual excerpts are organized as Fiction, Debut Fiction, and Non-Fiction.These are substantial books from main stream publishers. So, the easy-browsing angle, the appealing selection, the freebieness, and the early bird access all combine to make this a nice no-risk choice.
Joel Smith, Goodreads reviewer
Buzz Books has a reputation for highlighting must-reads. It is an honor to have ABOVE included in such a robust line-up.
Isla Morley, Author
I thought the ebook sampler was VERY well done. Nice range of projects, good lengths for the excerpts, thorough metadata, and easily downloadable. I read it on my phone on the way to BEA both Tuesday and Wednesday, and I thought it was genius. Please pass along my sincere compliments to the team involved – it’s just the way I like to see publishing use technology.
Katie Adams, Editor, W. W. Norton
I think this is going to be a standard part of big book promo going forward. It’s an inexpensive way to reach precisely the right audience.
Seth Godin, author and publishing/marketing expert
“What is so good about this is that for the first time, readers will be able to sample a favorite author’s next work or discover the richness of a debut novel before the book is published in print, and before any coveted galleys are handed out at BookExpo America…. Even better than a summer beach read, it offers us a chance to see what we may wish to read for the remainder of this year and beyond. It’ s a highly recommended 5-star read.”
John Williamson, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
What an incredibly useful resource! It was great for those of us that could not travel to BEA.
Halle Eisenman, Librarian, Savannah, Georgia
5 Stars PLUS!!! Well I finally got through this “FREE” monstrous 709 page book this week! Whew!
I found some GREAT books to read! I marked them all here on Goodreads, and happily I did! I did request MANY books, and some were granted access right away, and three of which I am still waiting to hear about. I would say I probably requested about 10 books or so in total. I am VERY GLAD I did! There are some amazing books to read!
Laurie Carlson, Lauriehere Blog
A perfect guide for booksellers to aware of upcoming new titles. Appreciate the categorization of different types of titles (Fiction, Debut Fiction, Nonfiction and Young Adult). I’m looking forward to read the next release of this wonderful guide.
Regina Foo, Goodreads librarian
Additional Feedback from Buzz Books Readers
This is a wonderful compilation of excerpts for upcoming release titles… The excerpts are long enough to give industry professionals (librarians/book sellers, etc) a taste of each novel to see if it is the right fit for the type of literature they are looking for…
I am starting to look forward to Buzz Books excerpts almost as much as I anticipate the Publisher’s Weekly Spring and Fall Preview issues. This 2014 Spring/Summer edition is packed with 40 excerpts of forthcoming books from a variety of publishers. Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Random House, Simon & Schuster and more are represented here. They are good-sized samples, longer than the usual Kindle sample which seems to run about 5% of the book. And while the bulk of the samples are from fiction titles, they’ve included about half a dozen nonfiction excerpts, which I read through completely. They also devote a large section to young adult samples.
In addition to the excerpts, which are listed in the table of contents so you can look them over on the Look Inside feature before deciding to download, the introduction and first chapter alert you to many more titles in addition to those excerpted in the volume. So while you can’t read a sample of Glenn Greenwald’s new book, at least you know that he’s coming out with one in March. Also look for Ruth Reichl (her first novel) and Geoff Dyer, the Freakonomic writers, Timothy Geithner, and more.
I really enjoyed this book, which features excerpts from 30+ highly anticipated books from major publishers that will be published in Fall 2012. I read it before going to Book Expo America in NY this week and found it very helpful in determining which booths I wanted to visit and which books to add to my reading list this fall. I found several books I’m excited about reading.
This is an amazing concept and I am happy to say that it is free! I pre-ordered more than 10 books that I got a glimpse of – I am excited to read the full books!
First of all, it was free. Secondly, it lists all the books that the publishing world expects will take off with readers in the upcoming months. What’s not to love? Oh, and it’s on my Kindle Fire so I can jump around and read what I want when I am looking for the next perfect read.
This is a superb find!
I really enjoyed the excerpts from some of the hot BEA buzz worthy books. This makes it so easy to share with others what the up and coming books are and get a taste of what to expect.
What a great idea! It’s pretty cool to see a Barbara Kingsolver tease, even if it doesn’t go out as a Netgalley. I especially applaud the high quality of this galley.