Dramatic changes in eBook trends

Self-published book hits number one spot

Another win for a hybrid author

Hunger Games trilogy zooms on price drop

Average price of eBooks drops yet again


Digital Book World reports dramatic changes in the trends this last week.

For the first time ever, a self-published title has hit No. 1 on the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller list, occupying a position once held by Fifty Shades of Grey, Gone Girl and other mega best-selling titles.

The book, Wait for You, is authored and published by Jennifer L. Armentrout under the pen name J. Lynn, which she calls her “alter-ego.” Armentrout has published books with Hyperion, Harlequin and several others in addition to self-publishing; that is, she’s a hybrid author.

Wait for You went on sale Feb. 26 and immediately started inching up the best-seller list. Propelling it to the No. 1 spot was a price promotion executed by Armentrout and without the aid of a retailer promotion like a Kindle Daily Deal. The book was $0.99 for three days last week. It’s now selling for $2.99.

Another astounding development on the list this week is The Hunger Games Trilogy at No. 5. The entire three-book set is now selling for $5.00 — the same price as just the first book and less than the other two.

And the price of eBooks dropped again.  The average price of a best-selling ebook dropped again, to $7.61 from $7.86 last week. It’s flirting with the all-time low, achieved less than a month ago — $7.56.

James Cook's signature

Documents reveal signs of Captain Cook's greatness

From the New Zealand Herald

By Amelia Wade

Photo / Sarah Ivey

 

Captain James Cook's signature tells much about his character, says a historian.

Rare personal letters and draft journals from the explorer show he even worked on it and rehearsed it before it became his impressive scrawl.

"His signature is so obviously a signature of a great man," said Paul Brunton, emeritus curator of the State Library of New South Wales, which owns the historical collection.

The documents also reveal that after his first landing at Gisborne, Cook regretted that a number of Maori lost their lives.

This was deleted from the final copy of a report.

"I can by no means justify my conduct in attacking and killing the people in this boat who had given me no just provication [sic] and was wholly igernorant [sic] of my decision and had I had the least thought of their making any resistance I would not so much as looked at them," Cook said in a draft journal written between October 9 and 11, 1769.

Cook was under orders to treat the communities in the South Pacific with restraint, so he wanted to explain his first encounters with Maori after landing at Poverty Bay.

Another hybrid author succeeds

An interview with Marie Force

 

More authors who have published traditionally and are now finding success self-publishing are coming out of the woodwork to talk about their experiences.

The latest is Marie Force, the best-selling author of 25 romance titles, including many from Harlequin. (She hit the Digital Book World Ebook Best-Seller list last week at No. 9 on the $3.00 to $7.99 list.) In an interview in answer to the question of what is the most important key to her success, she said, "self-publishing is the single most important key to my success."

What about all that work over at Harlequin? That was then and this is now. And now, publishers are less interested in Force's works - yet, she has found readers who still are interested. She has revived old works and self-published them digitally and she is now writing new works.

As the folks at Digital Book World go on to say, publishers should listen to what authors like Force have to say. First, they can point the way to more profitability (read: selective revival of back-list titles, for instance). Second, they can help publishers understand what to do to be more attractive to authors.

 

And, as I pointed out in a recent post, publishers should also revise royalty rates for digital editions.  It is just too attractive right now for authors to flee the traditional publishing arrangement.

 
 



 



Harlequin losing out on eRomance

eRomance a Hit, but ...

As anyone who has scanned through Kindle lists and eBestseller lists must be very aware, romance is one of the categories that has seen very strong ebook adoption.

As the folks at Digital Book World muse, eRomance makes sense when you think about it.  The books are a very quick read. Certain authors are hugely popular, and their readers can't get enough of them. And -- as with the infamous Fifty Shades -- the "plain brown wrapper" of the eReader cover is less embarrassing than the raunchy graphic that may on the cover, so the reader is more likely to be happy to read in public.

Just one problem, as they say.  Harlequin, the largest and most prominent publisher of romance books in the world, might be getting left behind. It reported results yesterday and the net is that its ebook revenue growth failed to make up for print losses.

Other publishers are facing this at this juncture in the ebook revolution. However, in Harlequin's case the gap is wider. The rise of self-published romance ebooks (they hit the DBW Ebook Best-Seller list nearly every week) has provided competition that Harlequin/Mills and Boon have never had to battle before, and they are hurting.

Let's have a look at what Harlequin offers. According to a famous Harlequin author I once interviewed, the royalties on print books (which were all that were available, back then) were 2% of the cover price and each author was limited to four books per year per pen name.  That's fine, if you sell 20 million copies (as this author had, at the time of the interview), but it was a long, long wait for new authors to make that kind of money, if they ever did. Now, wannabe romance writers have the very attractive alternative of self-publishing on Kindle -- the usual price set (by the author, not Amazon) is $2.99 and the royalty rate is 70%.  Obviously, Harlequin/Mills and Boon would have a job to compete with that -- and are currently being sued by their current authors over ebook royalties. 

The company is certainly not folding their tents, however, struggling gamely, instead.  In Dec. it formed an ebook partnership with Cosmopolitan magazine and earlier this week it made its ebooks available for purchase by libraries through Ingram.

Is that enough? We shall see ... but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. Could we be witnessing the slow demise of a giant?

Horatio Nelson's surgeon

Medical medals for sale at Bonhams

The Art Daily reports that these gorgeous medals are up for auction.

Even more interesting are the quoted extracts from letters written by Admiral Nelson and the original owner of the medals, ship's surgeon Sir George Magrath. 

Nelson's opinion of Magrath was of the highest order, as illustrated by his letters to Lady Hamilton, sent from HMS Victory on 27 May 1804.

"My dearest Emma,

Yesterday, I took Charles Connor on board, from the Phoebe, to try to do what we can do with him. At present, poor fellow, he has got a very bad eye, - and, I almost fear, that he will be blind in it - owing to an olive stone striking his eye; but the Surgeon of the Victory [George Magrath], who is by far the most able medical man I have ever seen, and equally so as a Surgeon, [says] that, if it can be saved, he will do it........".

Three days later, when writing to Dr Baird (Commissioner for Sick and Wounded Seamen), Nelson included this passage in a letter; "...The Pain in my head, nor spasms, I have not had for some time. Mr Magrath, whom I admire for his great abilities every day I live, gives me excellent remedies...."

George Magrath was born in County Tyrone in 1775 and he began his naval career on 2nd January 1794 as Surgeon's 3rd Mate to H.M.S. Theseus. He served close on three years on Theseus and spent time in the West Indies, where he contracted Yellow Fever, which led to the loss of vision in his left eye.

In spite of this handicap, he was promoted to Surgeon and after four months recuperation, he joined H.M.S. Adamant.

After some years aboard Adamant and other vessels, he was appointed Flag Medical Officer for H.M.S. Victory, joining on the 31st July 1803 to serve with Lord Nelson "... by whom I had the special honour of being personally selected... from the commencement of his Command".

Sadly, Margrath’s sense of triumph was short lived. In 1804 there was an outbreak of yellow fever in Gibraltar, killing almost 6,000 people. Nelson left Margrath in charge of the Naval Hospital to try and limit the spread of the deadly disease – and sailed off to his date with destiny, at Trafalgar.

Magrath wrote: ".....when superceded and cut off from re-joining my Patron, Lord Nelson, who had sailed for the West Indies, by which I lost not only my situation (which as Flag-Surgeon was due by right of service) in which my C in C had placed me, but had the additional mortification of not sharing in the glory of the Battle of Trafalgar, which would have infallibly led to promotion, which was conferred on the Surgeon, who was appointed to act in my place in Victory".

His replacement was William Beatty.
 Four medals awarded to Horatio Nelson’s personal surgeon, Sir George Magrath, will be offered at Bonhams next sale of Coins and Medals on March 27th in Knightsbridge.

Estimated to sell for £9,000-12,000, the medals were awarded for Margrath’s work as Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets for the Royal Navy.

They include; The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B., Military Division breast badge in gold and enamel; The Royal Guelphic Order, K.H., Knight's breast badge in gold and enamel; Naval General Service 1793-1840, two bars, Camperdown, Copenhagen 1801 (Geo. Magrath, Surgeon.); Portugal, Order of Christ, Knight Commander's neck badge in gold and enamel.

 

Quarterdeck, March 2013

March, 2013--Highlights

George Jepson interviews author Helen Hollick.

 

By George!--George remembers Orvin Yeoman, his father-in-law, and a WWII US Navy corpsman.

Julian Stockwin writes about life aboard a man-of-war. This two-part series began in last month's issue.

Download the full newsletter here.

Kiri in Downton Abbey

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to feature in hugely popular series

New Zealand opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is joining the cast of Downton Abbey next season.

Another famous diva, Shirley MacLaine, will reprise her role as Martha Levinson, Lord Robert Crawley's freewheeling American mother-in-law, Carnival Films and Masterpiece on PBS said. MacLaine appeared in episodes early last season.

Te Kanawa will play a house guest. She will sing during her visit.

That will definitely be something to look forward to --- but I wonder if she is dieting in preparation?  The women in that program really are so terribly thin...

SPOILER ALERT.  I believe that American viewers are still bound up in Season Two.  Do not hit the link in the header if you don't want broad hints of the dramatic plot developments that lie ahead for you.

Dragon Boat Festival

DRAGON BOAT RACING IN WELLINGTON

I seem to be promoting my home city a lot at the moment, but the weather is truly beautiful.

And the Dragon Boat Festival is special

Dragon Boating is a unique blend of sport, culture and celebration

According to legend, in 400BC the Chinese Statesman and revered poet Ch'y Yuan drowned himself in the Mi Lo river to protest the corrupt regime of the Ch'u Dynasty.

Local fishermen raced out in their boats to save him, but were too late. To prevent his body being eaten by fish they beat their paddles furiously on the water and threw rice as a sacrifice to his spirit.
Today the Chinese people commemorate his death each year with the spectacular Dragon Boat Festivals that happen around the world.

In Wellington, it started out as a corporate challenge, but then it became a sport, and then it became Just Fun, and now it is international.

(Please note, New Zealand currently holds the trophy, not Australia.)

Dragon Boating involves 20 paddlers in one boat, a sweep who stands at the back to steer the boat and a drummer who sits on the front.  The race is held in Wellington Harbour,  right in the CBD.  Just 50 metres out from the shores of Frank Kitts Park, the course is a short walk from Civic Square, the City Library, Te Papa, or wherever you might be, downtown. All teams load from Aotea Lagoon.

(In case you are mystified, "CBD" means Central Business District.)

You are going to be here?  Wonderful.  Adult teams race on Saturday, 16th March, and school teams race the next day, Sunday 17th March.  There will be stalls, so you can shop your heart out, as well as watch the fun.

Traveling to New Zealand?

The "holiday while you're having a holiday" ferry service offers a free travel app

FREE Travel App for Apple and Android

 

 

Packed with fantastic local information, the Interislander Travel Guide tells you where you are and gives you information about places of interest as you approach.

The Interislander Travel guide contains points of interest covering the whole of New Zealand - over 800 of them, in fact. The guide will tell you about places to stay, provide local information on towns and cities, advise you on the best places to eat, and also point out places of cultural and historical significance.

The Interislander Travel Guide is perfect for any holidaymaker wishing to travel anywhere in New Zealand. Go wherever you like with your own personal travel guide in your pocket.

The Travel app is available FREE from the Apple App Store and on Google Play for Android.

Barnes & Noble struggling, weighed down by Nook

From Digital Book World -- which  reports that the third quarter earnings look awful.

Barnes & Noble booked $2.2 billion in revenue in its third-quarter ending Jan. 26, 2013, a decrease of 8.8% compared to the same period a year ago. The company also swung to a loss of $6.1 million versus a profit $52 million last year.

While the company’s bricks-and-mortar businesses — its nearly 700 retail stores and network of some 600 college bookstores — had a challenging quarter, Barnes & Noble was mostly weighed down by its flagging Nook digital division.

And, to see the full significance of this, bear in mind that Apple's share of the digital market is rising, being currently about 24%

Nook's revenue was down 26% on the same period last year, with a posted loss of $190 million.

But there is no way, it seems, that Nook will be abandoned. Instead, there will be cost-cutting measures.  Which, as DBW predicts, means lay-offs in staff.