Suvudu
Encyclopedia
Suvudu is a genre site created by Random House, Inc., to provide additional content, such as author interviews, chats, chapter previews, reviews, previews, and news around science fiction, fantasy, comics, graphic novels, and video game guides and books published by Random House, Inc.
, across all of its imprints.
, Spectra
, Pantheon Books
, and Random House Children's Books are frequently featured.
In its introductory post, Suvudu stated it would be a "website catering to news from all sci-fi and fantasy creative media—books, audiobooks, gaming, manga, comic books and movies! Content will include podcasts, videos, reviews, interviews and original blog posts, all brought to you by some of the best talents in the sci-fi, fantasy, graphic novel and gaming industries."
While the site is a property of Random House, Inc., and features titles published by that company prominently, Suvudu has featured authors and works from other publishing companies. Suvudu's staff is almost entirely in-house, featuring Random House employees across several disciplines, including editorial, art, publicity, and web production. Suvudu also uses content from a handful of freelance bloggers as well as posts by authors.
In February 2009, Suvudu was named one of MediaBistro's Six Stellar Publishing Company Blogs. In naming the site, MediaBistro wrote:
reviews under the feature headline "365 Days of Manga." When launched on September 16, 2009, Thompson wrote that the feature would be "the online continuation of (his book) Manga: The Complete Guide
!" The feature is planned to run one year and will encompass many different types of manga. The reviews are generally short, running only one paragraph, and conclude with each featured manga title being assigned a star value with a maximum of four stars possible for work deemed to be of the highest quality.
Additionally, Suvudu has recorded and posted readings from several authors including Terry Brooks, Steven Erikson
, Brian Sanderson, Naomi Novik, R.A. Salvatore, Jacqueline Carey
, and Dan Simmons
.
, Rich Text Files
, and PDF files. Partnering with Random House in this effort, prices were also reduced to free on Amazon (for Kindle
readers), Sony (for Sony Reader
s), and Barnes & Noble (Nook
).
Over time, the Free Library also began to include original short fiction, including fiction from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as the result of a partnership between the two entities. On January 8, 2010, Suvudu and the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction announced their new partnership saying:
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, across all of its imprints.
Background & History
Suvudu was launched on July 18, 2008, with the intent of featuring science fiction, fantasy, comics, graphic novels, and gaming titles and authors across all of Random House, Inc.'s, divisions and imprints. Authors and titles from Del ReyDel Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...
, Spectra
Bantam Spectra
Bantam Spectra is the science-fiction division of Bantam Books, which is owned by Random House.According to their website, Spectra publishes "science-fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative novels from recognizable authors" Spectra authors have collectively won 31 such awards in the fields of...
, Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.-Overview:...
, and Random House Children's Books are frequently featured.
In its introductory post, Suvudu stated it would be a "website catering to news from all sci-fi and fantasy creative media—books, audiobooks, gaming, manga, comic books and movies! Content will include podcasts, videos, reviews, interviews and original blog posts, all brought to you by some of the best talents in the sci-fi, fantasy, graphic novel and gaming industries."
While the site is a property of Random House, Inc., and features titles published by that company prominently, Suvudu has featured authors and works from other publishing companies. Suvudu's staff is almost entirely in-house, featuring Random House employees across several disciplines, including editorial, art, publicity, and web production. Suvudu also uses content from a handful of freelance bloggers as well as posts by authors.
In February 2009, Suvudu was named one of MediaBistro's Six Stellar Publishing Company Blogs. In naming the site, MediaBistro wrote:
- "For science fiction and fantasy fans, Random House's Suvudu has grown into a fan-focused website with a fairly active comments section--a rare sense of community for a publisher blog."
Types of Content
Suvudu offers several different types of content regularly, including live author chats, author interviews, and feature articles.Live Author Chats
Authors who have appeared are:- Kelley ArmstrongKelley ArmstrongKelley Armstrong is a Canadian author, primarily of fantasy works.She has published sixteen fantasy novels , set in the world of the Women of the Otherworld and the Darkest Powers series, also two crime novels in 2007 and 2009...
- Suvudu Live Chat: Paranormal Roundtable
- Christopher PaoliniChristopher PaoliniChristopher Paolini is an American author. He is best known as the author of the Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance...
- Christopher Paolini and Terry Brooks Live Chat, including a follow-up Q&A with additional questions from the chat: Chat follow-up: Christopher Paolini answers your questions
- Terry BrooksTerry BrooksTerence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
- Christopher Paolini and Terry Brooks Live Chat, including a follow-up Q&A from his chat with Christopher Paolini with additional questions from the chat: Chat follow-up: Terry Brooks answers your questions
- Terry Brooks Live Chat
- R.A. Salvatore, author chat
- Eoin ColferEoin ColferEoin Colfer is an Irish author. He is most famous as the author of the Artemis Fowl series, but he has also written other successful books. His novels have been compared to the works of J. K. Rowling...
, author chat - Naomi NovikNaomi NovikNaomi Novik is an American novelist. She is a first-generation American; her father is of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, and her mother is an ethnic Pole. She studied English Literature at Brown University, and holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Columbia University...
and Scott WesterfeldScott WesterfeldScott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
, Naomi Novik and Scott Westerfeld Live Chat - China MievilleChina MiévilleChina Tom Miéville is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" , and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, author chat - Peter Brett
- Peter Brett & Robert Redick Author Chat
- Suvudu's Live RPG
- Robert V.S. Redick, author of The Red Wolf ConspiracyThe Red Wolf ConspiracyThe Red Wolf Conspiracy is the first book of The Chathrand Voyage fantasy series written by American author Robert V.S. Redick. It was published by Gollancz Books in Britain and Canada in February 2008, and by Del Rey Books in the United States in 2009...
, Peter Brett & Robert Redick Author Chat - Dave RomanDave Roman-Career:Roman is the co-creator of Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden , a Harvey Award-nominated webcomic. He also co-created Teen Boat , an Ignatz Award-winning webcomic. Both were with artist John Green....
and Raina TelgemeierRaina TelgemeierRaina Telgemeier is an American cartoonist whose works include the autobiographic webcomic Smile , which was published by Scholastic Press's Graphix imprint as a full-color graphic novel in February, 2010....
, Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier Author Chat - David Anthony DurhamDavid Anthony DurhamDavid Anthony Durham is an American novelist, author of historical fiction and fantasy.Durham's first novel, Gabriel's Story, centered on African American settlers in the American West. Walk Through Darkness followed a runaway slave during the tense times leading up to the American Civil War...
, author chat - Daniel Wallace, author of many Star Wars Essential Guides, and Jason Fry, co-author of Star Wars Essential Atlas
- Jason Fry and Dan Wallace Live Chat
- Harry Connolly, author chat
- Nina MatsumotoNina MatsumotoNina Matsumoto is a Japanese-Canadian comic book artist and writer, also known as "space coyote", and most known for creating the comic book series Yōkaiden for Del Rey Manga...
, Eisner Award winning artist and author, author chat - Diana Rowland
- Suvudu's Live RPG
- Suvudu's Paranormal Roundtable
- Ari MarmellAri MarmellAri Marmell is an American novelist and freelance role-playing game writer.-Novels:His first novel, Gehenna: The Final Night, was published in 2004 by White Wolf Publishing...
- Suvudu's Live RPG
- Carolyn CraneCarolyn CraneCarolyn Crane is the American author of the Disillusionists urban fantasy trilogy. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and Milwaukee, attending Arrowhead High School in Wisconsin. She received a BA from the University of Minnesota in 1991 and currently lives in Minneapolis with her husband and...
- Suvudu's Paranormal Roundtable
- Lucy A. SnyderLucy A. SnyderLucy A. Snyder is an American science fiction, fantasy, humor, and nonfiction writer. Born in South Carolina, she grew up in San Angelo, Texas as a result of her father being stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base and graduated from Angelo State University. She moved to Bloomington, Indiana for...
- Suvudu's Paranormal Roundtable
- Jenna BlackJenna BlackJennifer Bellak is an American author of paranormal romance novels, urban fantasy, and young adult fantasy novels under the pen name Jenna Black. She published one novel under her married name, Jennifer Barlow and at least two short stories under her maiden name.-Biography:Jenna Black was raised in...
- Suvudu's Paranormal Roundtable
- Alex Prentiss
- Suvudu's Paranormal Roundtable
365 Days of Manga by Jason Thompson
Author and blogger Jason Thompson posts daily mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
reviews under the feature headline "365 Days of Manga." When launched on September 16, 2009, Thompson wrote that the feature would be "the online continuation of (his book) Manga: The Complete Guide
Manga: The Complete Guide
Manga: The Complete Guide is a 2007 encyclopedia written by Jason Thompson and published by Del Rey which provides basic details and short reviews of over 1000 Japanese manga titles that have been translated and released in English in North America...
!" The feature is planned to run one year and will encompass many different types of manga. The reviews are generally short, running only one paragraph, and conclude with each featured manga title being assigned a star value with a maximum of four stars possible for work deemed to be of the highest quality.
New Releases
Posted every Tuesday, to coincide with the publication schedules for Random House, this post gives an overview of the books that will be newly available that week. The post also includes relevant genre release news for other books, movies, DVD releases, and video games of note.What I Learned This Week by Betsy Mitchell
Betsy Mitchell, editor-in-chief of Del Rey books, contributes articles in this series relating various items and/or lessons related to her work. These have included details about forthcoming books and projects ("What Diana Gabaldon's Jamie Fraser really looks like!" http://www.suvudu.com/2008/09/what-i-learned-this-week-what.html), tips on writing and publication ("A good cover letter is hard to find (part 1)" http://www.suvudu.com/2008/09/what-i-learned-this-week-a-goo.html, "A good cover letter is hard to find (part 2)" http://www.suvudu.com/2008/09/what-i-learned-this-week-part.html, and "The Importance of First Sentences" http://www.suvudu.com/2009/04/what-i-learned-this-week-the-importance-of-first-sentences.html to name a few), as well as musings and ruminations on the science fiction and fantasy genres ("How hard it is to come up with a great title!" http://www.suvudu.com/2008/08/what-i-learned-this-week-how-h.html, "Why I Say No" http://www.suvudu.com/2010/01/what-i-learned-this-week-why-i-say-no.html, and "The Debate Over DRM" http://www.suvudu.com/2009/03/naomi-novik-author-of-the.html).Author Interviews and Readings
Suvudu routinely conducts author interviews, typically involving Random House authors, though occasionally including outside authors as well. Some interviews are quick, five-question pieces focusing on an author's latest project or writing advice, while others are more in-depth. Suvudu also uses personal video recorders to record video interviews with authors, typically at events such as author readings or conventions.Additionally, Suvudu has recorded and posted readings from several authors including Terry Brooks, Steven Erikson
Steven Erikson
Steven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian novelist, who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist....
, Brian Sanderson, Naomi Novik, R.A. Salvatore, Jacqueline Carey
Jacqueline Carey
Jacqueline Carey is an author and novelist, primarily of fantasy fiction.-Life:She attended Lake Forest College, receiving B.A.'s in psychology and English literature. During college, she spent 6 months working in a bookstore in London as part of a work exchange program. While there, she decided...
, and Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
.
Suvudu Free Story Library
Suvudu began a Free Library program on March 4, 2009. The program offered the first book in a series by Random House, Inc., authors for free in a variety of formats, such as StanzaLexcycle Stanza
Lexcycle Stanza is a freeware program for reading eBooks, digital newspapers, and other digital publications. The software supports the eBook formats EPUB, eReader, MS LIT, Amazon Kindle, Mobipocket, and PalmDoc, as well as general document formats HTML, PDF, MS Word, and Rich Text Format...
, Rich Text Files
Rich Text Format
The Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
, and PDF files. Partnering with Random House in this effort, prices were also reduced to free on Amazon (for Kindle
Amazon Kindle
The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 which uses wireless connectivity to enable users to shop for, download, browse, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media...
readers), Sony (for Sony Reader
Sony Reader
The Sony Reader is a line of e-book readers manufactured by Sony. It uses an electronic paper display developed by E Ink Corporation, is viewable in direct sunlight, requires no power to maintain a static image, and is usable in portrait or landscape orientation.Sony sells e-books for the Reader...
s), and Barnes & Noble (Nook
Nook
Nook may refer to a small corner formed by two walls.Nook may also refer to:*A slang name for a person reading; also known as a "book nook"*"Nook", a science-fiction TV series Lexx episode...
).
Over time, the Free Library also began to include original short fiction, including fiction from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as the result of a partnership between the two entities. On January 8, 2010, Suvudu and the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction announced their new partnership saying:
- “An agreement between the two allows Suvudu’s visitors access to one story from each issue of the magazine via Suvudu’s Free Library, which also offers full-length novels from the Del Rey, Spectra, and other Random House lists.”