Amazon's new searchable fantasy fiction categories--good news for readers and writers!

Good news for fantasy fiction readers and writers!

Amazon has recently expanded their search categories within the fantasy genre. Before, there were only about five fantasy subcategories, so glutted with listings that they weren’t useful. Now there are exciting collections of theme and character subcategories. The new labels sure tempt me. My thought is that other readers will feel the same.

Here's the new list of themes for fantasy:

 And the searchable list for fantasy character types:

What does this ultimately mean for the publishing industry? Readers will be better able to find the type of fantasy fiction they’re looking for. More finding should equate to more buying, which makes authors happy. More books sold benefits Amazon. It’s a big win—win—win!

~ ~ ~ Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Read her ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS for adventurous epic fantasy romance: Book One, SEEKING A SCRIBE, Book Two, HERITAGE AVENGED, Book Three, LOST VOLUMES, and Book Four, STAUROLITE.. For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.

I Break for Book Sales

I'm in bargain book heaven right about now. Amazon's Kindle store is having an e-book sale called the Big Deal. Hundreds of titles have been marked down to $3.99 or less and my Kindle is filling up fast.

There's some great speculative fiction in there, including a few of my faves: Mark Hodder's The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, Nicole Peeler's Tempest Rising, Leanna Renee Hieber's The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, and Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Scion. There's even the Quirk Classics series of re-invented stories on sale for .99c, which means I finally got my (digital) copy of Android Karenina.

I've really been stocking up on random non-fiction because I'm a research fiend who's interested in almost every subject out there. Here are a few gems I just could not pass up for the price:

From Girl To Goddess - The Hero's Journey re-examined from the female perspective.

How To Do It: Guides to Good Living for Renaissance Italians - For the 16th century Martha Stewart.

Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them - Biographical tour of physics laws. Yes, I am that geeky.

The Words You Should Know to Sound Smart - If there's one thing I love as much as books, it's words.


The other reason my wallet will soon be much lighter and my shelves more crowded is the unfortunate bankruptcy of Borders. My local store is expecting to close shop in eight to ten weeks and it looks like most locations are liquidating all merchandise till the end.

It's hard to be excited about the upcoming deals when I feel a bit like a vulture preparing to strip someone's bones. I worked for Borders for several years in my early twenties, and I can say from experience that they were a company that took care of its employees better than most retail chains. The training and experience I learned during my time with Borders was invaluable and I truly sympathize with its employees.

But the fact is that it's happening, and I plan to take multiple trips to Borders over the next few weeks and blowing my budget every time. One thing I can't have too many of is journals, so that's something I'll definitely be looking for.

What do you hunt for when it comes to book bargains? Any thoughts or reflections on the end of Borders?