Scribes Blog

Another Author Sells One Million Kindle Books

2011-09-21T10:41:00.001+02:00

Fantasy favorite George R.R. Martin has joined a short list of authors who have sold more than one million Kindle e-books in Amazon's Kindle store, the online retail giant said Monday.

In recent months, the individual books in Martin's multi-novel fantasy epic, A Song of Ice and Fire, have vaulted to the top of best-seller lists with the release of the fifth book in the series, A Dance with Dragons, and the successful first season of HBO's Game of Thrones, based on the first of a planned seven novels set in the fantasy realm of Westeros.

"Groucho Marx once said, 'I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member,' but even Groucho might have made an exception for the Kindle Million Club," said Martin, a one-time television writer who worked on Beauty and the Beast and the revamped Twilight Zone.

"It's a real thrill to be inducted into this one. There are no dues, no meetings, and I'll be in some wonderful and exclusive company. But really, all the credit here goes to the people who made it possible—to Amazon, my publishers, my editors, and most of all, my readers. I owe this to everyone who ever read one of my books and recommended it to a friend. Thanks, and keep reading. The best is yet to come."

Martin joins an eclectic group of authors in Amazon's "Kindle Million Club," which includes the late Swedish crime novelist Stieg Larsson, young adult author Suzanne Collins, and English philosopher John Locke.

"George R.R. Martin's series is simply epic," said Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content, in a statement. "And an elaborate series like this is great on Kindle because you can turn the last page of book three at 10:30 at night, then buy book four and be on its first page at 10:31."

Here is the list of all 11 authors who have sold more than a million books made for Amazon's Kindle ereader in the Kindle store, along with some of their best-known works:

The Kindle Million Club

Lee Child—Killing Floor, Without Fail
Suzanne Collins—The Underwood Chronicles, The Hunger Games
Michael Connelly—Hieronymus Bosch novels, Mickey Haller novels
Janet Evanovich— Stephanie Plum novels
Charlaine Harris—Sookie Stackhouse novels (source for HBO's hit series True Blood)
Stieg Larsson—The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
John Locke—Two Treatises of Government, Some Thoughts Concerning Education
George R.R. Martin—A Song of Ice and Fire
James Patterson—Alex Cross novels
Nora Roberts—The Heart's Victory, Angels Fall
Kathryn Stockett—The Help

Who is next? Why not you?

Val Waldeck

Author of Kindle Publishing Made Easy

Famous rejections

2008-02-06T12:53:00.001+02:00

Many great writers have only become successful because they persevered. They faced rejection, discouragement, and deterrents. But they persevered

Margaret Mitchell got rejection letters from 38 different publishers before anyone finally deigned to publish her novel, Gone With The Wind. How many talented writers are there who gave up without ever making it into print because of misguided rejection?

Rudyard Kipling managed to sell one article to The San Francisco Examiner in 1889, but the paper then rejected any future submissions, saying, "You just don't know how to use the English language."

John Kennedy Toole, meanwhile, received so many rejection letters for his novel, A Confederacy Of Dunces, that he finally killed himself. Only the persistence of his bereaved mother led to the eventual publication of his novel and its receipt of the Pulitzer Prize in 1980.

Other famous authors whose works were initially rejected include Richard Bach – Jonathan Livingston Seagull (140), Stephen King – Carrie (30), Richard Adams – Watership Down (26), Thor Heyerdahl – The KonTiki
Expedition,(18) Laurence J. Peter – The Peter Principle (16), JK Rowling – Harry Potter books (12) and even Beatrix Potter – The Tale of Peter Rabbit (8). She finally published it herself.

Kenneth Taylor’s idea for the Living Bible was rejected by Moody Publishing House.
He published it himself from his own garage and within the first ten years over 50 million copies had been sold. It led to the establishment of Tyndale House, Publishers of the runaway successful “Left Behind” series.

So in the words of Winston Church, “Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”

From Nico Bougas of TODAY magazine.

Brand new technology?

2008-02-06T12:50:00.000+02:00

I AM SO EXCITED. In this age of technology, I've discovered a BRAND NEW device to help learn: Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge (BOOK.)

The BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: No wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover! Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere (even sitting in an armchair by the fire) yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works...

Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit process called binding which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.

Experts are divided concerning the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. This makes them thick and hard to carry--a criticism from the mobile computing crowd.

Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet.

The BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it.

The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, though like other display devices it can become unusable if dropped overboard.

The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish.

Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval. An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the BOOK has been closed.

BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous bookmarkers can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (PENCILS).

Portable, durable, and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the entertainment wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform.

Look for a flood of new titles soon.

Val Waldeck