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By David Rothman

Dear AuthorSome of the most honest and useful commentary on e-books, including serious thoughts on DRM and e-formats, comes from the Dear Author site devoted mainly to romance novels.

No stereotypes. We’re even in Geek Girl territory since Jane Litte, one of the Dear Author blog’s two mainstays, does a little PHP. More importantly, Jane loves and cares about e-books, and while never hesitant to give a consumer perspective, she seeks out publishing insiders to get their side. Recently, for example, Jane interviewed Claire Israel of Simon & Schuster and Ann Allessi of HarperCollins.

So in our new incarnation, we’re especially pleased to add Jane to the list of TeleBloggers.

Including an explanation of the “Dear Author” name, here are a few details from Jane—who lives in the Midwest with her husband Ned and a young daughter:

I’m an avid reader who generally goes for pulp fiction although I’ve been known to read a biography now and again. I became interested in e-books back when Adobe Reader was about the only format choice and only on your laptop. Now I’ve cut the ties to my laptop and enjoys reading in every traditional and non traditional reading nook with my trusty IPAQ and occasionally with the Sony Reader. My Dear Author blog offers up reviews stylized in the form of letters to the authors and Sunday articles about the e-reading technology with a decidedly consumerist slant.

My favorite novel of all time? Many of my childhood favorites have remained with me as regular re-reads: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Gene Stratton-Porter’s A Girl of the Limberlost. My favorite romances would include Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels, Jennifer Crusie’s Welcome to Temptation, Nora Roberts’ Carnal Innocence. Nonfiction? Does Jerry Seinfeld’s Seinlanguage count? If not, I love John Feinstein and his sports books. A Good Walked Spoiled is my favorite of his books. Thomas Friedman’s World is Flat. David McCullough’s John Adams. John and Abigail Adams had one of the most marvelous romances recorded in the epistolary format.

Detail: If any offended author has homicidal thoughts in the wake of a DA review, then he or she will have to do a little research. “Jane Litte” is a pseudonym.

 
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