The Cursed, The Seventh Sword and A Handful of Men, by Dave Duncan

Fantasy fans of Dave Duncan will be pleased to know that 8 titles are now back in print. The Cursed, a novel, and two series, The Seventh Sword (all 3 books), and A Handful of Men (all 4 books), are in paperback as well as E-Book editions as of September. Dave is a prolific and wonderful Canadian writer, and in the opinion of his many readers, a master of swashbuckling and magical adventure fantasy.

The Cursed
Reluctant Swordsman, The (Book One of The Seventh Sword)
Coming Of Wisdom, The (Book Two of The Seventh Sword)
Destiny of the Sword, The (Book Three of The Seventh Sword)
Cutting Edge, The (Book One of A Handful of Men )
Upland Outlaws (Book Two of A Handful Of Men)
Stricken Field, The (Book Three of A Handful Of Men)
Living God, The (Book Four of A Handful of Men )

IDPF Reports E-Book Sales Climbed 43% This Year, So Far

According to the latest statistics reported by the IDPF (here), the momentum of new ebook titles added by major publishers this year and the popularity of the Kindle and Sony Reader have had a big effect on E-Book revenues in the publishing industry.

"Trade eBook sales were $4,900,000 for June 2008, an 87.4% increase over June 2007. Calendar Year to Date Revenue is up 43%." - IDPF, Sept. 4, 2008

Looking back a bit farther, in the last 2 years the E-Book sector has doubled its revenue; more publishers and more titles have come into the marketplace creating a huge surge. This is what we at E-Reads are proud to see. For many years it seemed E-Books were a sleepy little industry, but the boom in consumer awareness has come from a lot of publishers seeding the growth by adding more and more mid-list and back-list titles, with digital versions finally coming out of the shadow of their print counterparts. Popular proprietary platforms like the Kindle and Reader have assisted publishers in making the decision to invest more in digitization and good DAW (Digital Archive Workflow) practices, because the big names of Sony and Amazon carry a lot of weight in boardroom decision making.

Knowing that the E-Book tide continues to swell, has that given you more confidence to try ebooks or buy a new reading device?

- Michael

While There's No New Kindle Until Next Year, Sony Goes To Europe

The excitement for the next generation Kindle, fueled by lots of speculation at Wired.com, was quickly doused with some cold, wet reality from Amazon spokesman Craig Berman. Even though he didn't deny Frog Design were up to something special for the Kindle 2.0, he's quoted as saying "a new version will come out sometime next year at the earliest," in a recent interview with Dow Jones.

So, that leaves another key player in the ebook device market, Sony, some nice wiggle room in the months leading up to the holiday season. Sony has yet to make any announcements about what might be coming down the pipe, but they have just started expanding into Europe, most notably by partnering with Waterstone's, one of the UK's biggest book retailers.

From September 2008 onwards Waterstone’s will be selling the Reader itself in over 200 of their High Street bookshops. And the product is available to pre-order for September delivery now via their online store. - From Sony's Website, here.

It's very likely that this is just the tip of the iceberg for Sony's competitive march against the Kindle. Of course, E-Reads wishes them both the best of success, so we're currently prepping many more titles to be released in both Kindle format through Amazon and as Sony ebooks (and Reader compatible ePub) this fall, supplementing the over 450+ titles we have currently available at the Sony Connect eBook Store and Amazon.

- Michael

The Zombie Apocalypse Arrives!

David Wellington first released his zombie trilogy of novels to the internet by publishing them serially through his own website, in the classic cliffhanger tradition. Since then, more of his thrilling, classic monster inspired fiction (zombies, mummies, sorcerers, werewolves, vampires) have been picked up by Random House, bringing his monster-mash writing to a wider audience. Now, E-Reads is proud to release the first e-book editions of Wellington's zombie trilogy, Monster Island, Monster Nation, and Monster Planet, just in time for Fall 2008 and Halloween. Wellington's zombie apocalypse broadly stretches out from New York City across the world, a nightmare for humanity. If you've ever gotten chills from the dark humor of Romero's Night of The Living Dead or 28 Days Later, or the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, you won't be able to put these books down.

Are Editors Necessary? Part 1

There's been a lot of talk lately about the decline of editing. These are fighting words.

The problem with evaluating this allegation is that everything editors do today is invidiously compared to the accomplishments of that quintessential master, Maxwell Perkins. Every such typo we come across in a published book is a rebuke to the hallowed memory of that figure who has been depicted as gracious, patient, erudite, nurturing, precise, demanding, polite, and modest, a man whose love of authors was exceeded only by his love of good and well-made books. Let's assume that he truly did possess all of the virtues ascribed to him, and more if you wish. I have no desire to desecrate either his memory or his achievements.

Richard Curtis just doesn't happen to think that "Where are today's Maxwell Perkinses?" is a very good question. What questions should we be asking? Click here for some suggestions.

Violent Sagas of the Old West

It wasn't very long ago that the western was among the dominant genres read by men. Cowboys, the US Cavalry, pioneers, explorers, trappers and Indian fighters created by such stellar authors as Matthew Braun, Zane Grey, Elmer Kelton, Owen Wister, A. B. Guthrie, Jr., Terry C. Johnston and Louis L'Amour were the precursors of astronauts and other modern action adventure heroes. In few other categories could readers find men and women who personified the American dream and core values that forged our national identity.

The western fiction market is a fraction of what it used to be, but there is still a dedicated readership that finds thrills and satisfaction in tales of the West. Chet Cunningham's Pony Soldier Series exemplifies the genre at its very best if not its very most violent. The first novel, Slaughter at Buffalo Creek, introduces a grief-stricken Captain Colt Harding as he sets out to wreak revenge on the Indian who killed his wife and son. The problem is, he has to team up with some of the vilest men in the west. These are The Pony Soldiers.

E-Reads carries five books tracking their adventures.

- Richard Curtis

Apple Sleight of Hand Sets the Stage for Tablet Macs

Further to our discussion of Kindles as learning tools, if Apple can pull off a scheme to create a full-sized keyboard for a tablet device, they will be that much closer winning what I call the Premio Gordo: universal adoption of a tablet (or tablet-oid) computer by colleges.

According to Sam Oliver, writing in AppleInsider, a 52-page patent filed by Apple Inc. "illustrates a number of techniques that would pave the way for tablet Macs that display a near full-sized multi-touch keyboard and run an undiluted version of the Mac OS X operating system." In plain English, Mac users would be able type with both hands on the screen, an absolutely essential feature of any student computer.

- Richard Curtis

Kindle Sequel on the Way, But Will it Play on Campus?

(Pictured right: The Intel Classmate prototype)

Speculation on the next generation of Kindle (my wife refers to them in Yiddish as Kindeleh) is reaching fever pitch, such as this piece on cnet news by Adam Richardson and another on engadget by Thomas Ricker.

The prognostications seem to be focusing on student applications, and though Kindle 2.0 will probably be a bit bigger for collegiate use, my own opinion is that that is not where e-book readers have to go to win the premio gordo of universal college adoption.

At the dawn of the E-Book Era, circa 2000, I recognized that pocket-portable e-books would never succeed for student use. The reason is size. Textbooks and other illustrated books simply cannot be crammed into anything smaller than a screen close to the size of a laptop. That's why I advocated the tablet concept and design. Tablets have all the virtues of laptops PLUS touchscreen functionality. For students, reading books on an e-reading device is highly desirable but not as imperative as the ability to handwrite notes on their device's screen. Resistance to widespread adoption of e-textbooks is explored in an excellent article by Andy Guess in Inside Higher Ed, Next Step for E-Texts. "Whether — or when — e-textbooks become as ubiquitous as laptops or smartphones on campuses depends on several factors that continue to hinder widespread adoption. Observers of the nascent market point variously to available hardware, consumer demand and the dearth of content made specifically for digital formats," writes Guess.

Manufacturers are not unaware of these issues and have been developing a variety of readers, variously called netbooks, ultraportables, and mini-notebooks such as the Intel Classmate, that appeal to the specific needs of the student. No one has hit a home run yet, but there's a fortune waiting for the manufacturer that does.

- Richard Curtis

Seven Linda Winstead Jones "Fairy Tale" Novels Back in Print.

Check out Linda's page to see seven of her fans' favorites back in print both as e-book downloads and trade paperbacks:

Big Bad Wolf
Someone's Been Sleeping In My Bed
On A Wicked Wind
One Day, My Prince
The Seduction Of Roxanne
Cinderfella
Let Down Your Hair

When Is a Book Acceptable, and Who Says So?

The acceptability provision of a book contract can be summarized as follows: A publisher engages an author to write a book, stipulating in the contract that if the manuscript is not acceptable in the publisher's sole discretion, the publisher may reject it and require the author to repay in full the advance that was paid on signing the contract. Until that advance is repaid, the publisher will not release the author from the contract, thus restricting him or her from entering into a contract with another publisher for that (and perhaps any other) literary work.

Inherent in this provision are three potentially explosive elements. Click here to find out what they are.