Novelist Stephen King has made headlines for the second time over his decision not publish an eBook edition of Joyland.

In May 2012, King revealed that his Hard Case Crime book would not have a digital edition: “We’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one,” he said. As the Junte 2013 publication date neared this week, King told The Wall Street Journal:

I have no plans for a digital version … Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one.

Science fiction novelist Hugh Howey topped our Self Published Bestsellers List this week with two collections from his Wool series rising on Amazon.

To help GalleyCat readers discover self-published authors, we compile weekly lists of the top eBooks in four major marketplaces for self-published digital books: Amazon, B&N, Apple iBookstore and Smashwords. You can read all the lists below, complete with links to each book.

If you want more resources as an author, try our Free Sites to Promote Your eBook post, How To Sell Your Self-Published Book in Bookstores post and our How to Pitch Your Book to Online Outlets post.

If you are an independent author looking for support, check out our free directory of people looking for writers groups.

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Instead of a treehouse, one father with an avid young reader built his daughter a reading nook in a tree.

We’ve embedded his photograph above–would you love a treehouse reading nook this summer? The proud parent posted about his creation on Reddit:

It’s about 7 ft off the ground. All the weight is supported by the bolts in the main trunk and the thick branch opposite the platform. I boxed around that support branch so as to minimize strain as the tree inevitably grows. The steel cables are most definitely overkill backup support, but they don’t seem to be needed even at 3x her weight … She was away at a friends for most of it. I had the joists and half the decking done when she got home. It was fun to have her sit up on the finished part if the deck and space / position the boards before I secured each one. The whole process went surprisingly quickly.

I love this word so much, I had it illustrated for us. Abibliophobia: the fear of running out of reading material. twitter.com/SmartBitches/s…

— Sarah Wendell (@SmartBitches) May 20, 2013

Do you suffer from abibliophobia? I know I do.

Over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, author Sarah Wendell posted an illustrated definition for the word that means “the fear of running out of reading material.”

Last week, we introduced you to the Japanese word “Tsundoku,” which is the “act of leaving a book unread after buying it.” Perhaps this is the dark side of abibliophobia, but I don’t want to be cured…

The Doors co-founder and author Ray Manzarek has passed away. He was 74 years old.

We’ve created a Spotify playlist below, linking to his music, interviews and work with poets. The rock keyboardist wrote a few books, including The Poet in Exile: A Novel and his Light My Fire memoir. You can read Entertainment Weekly had this obituary for the rock star:

As a member of the legendary rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Angeles and effectively ended with the death of frontman Jim Morrison in 1971 … [he] wrote a best-selling memoir about his experiences, Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors, in 1998. The Doors sold more than 100 million albums worldwide on the strength of hits like ”Hello, I Love You,” “Riders on the Storm,” “Light My Fire,” and “Break On Through to the Other Side.”

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Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar. To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.

The Monogamy Memoirists Meet Their Match event will feature a book slam, signing, and rooftop cocktails. Check it out on Monday, May 20th at the Roger Smith Hotel starting 6:30 p.m. (New York, NY)

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Bowker launched the Self Published Author site today, sharing advice for indie authors about topics ranging from an overview of self-publishing platforms for your book to writing back cover copy.

Bowker is the US agency that writers and publishers must use to register for an International Standard Book Number (or ISBN) for their book. The new site shares some useful advice about why an ISBN matters and how to get your ISBN. Here’s an excerpt:

If you are publishing a book, you are a publisher. You don’t need a corporate entity to purchase ISBNs. You can purchase them under your own name, or create a name for yourself as a publisher – e.g. “Laura Dawson Publishing”. This name does not need to be registered in any way … There is no such thing as an e-ISBN. ISBNs are ISBNs – some identify physical products in the book supply chain, others identify digital products in the book supply chain. Vendors who ask for information about your e-ISBNs are using incorrect terminology – they simply want the ISBNs of your digital products.

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The Glossary has created a short film incorporating an abridged version of David Foster Wallace‘s “This is Water” commencement speech.

We’ve embedded the project above–what do you think? Follow this link to listen to the address in its entirety.

Wallace originally delivered this speech in 2005 during Kenyon College’s graduation ceremony. Little, Brown and Company reprinted it in a 2009 book entitled This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life.

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Author and Rock Plaza Central musician Chris Eaton traveled far beyond writers to find blurbs for his new book, Chris Eaton, a Biography.

In today’s edition of the Morning Media Menu, Eaton shared advice for making a genuine appeal to a writer, artist or musician when searching for blurbs.

Press play below to listen on SoundCloud. We’ve collected a few excerpts from the interview…

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2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson won the Nebula Award for best novel this year.  Aliette de Bodard took the best short story award for “Immersion”–read the complete story at Clarkesworld.

Below, we’ve collected free samples of all the nominees and winners–the best science fiction books of 2012. Many of these stories are available to read for free online. These are marked “COMPLETE” among the links.  Here’s more about the awards:

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Founded as the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 by Damon Knight, the organization began with a charter membership of 78 writers; it now has over 1,500 members, among them many of the leading writers of science fiction and fantasy.

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