My latest novel, Harry Seven, is now available on Amazon (ebook only – the paperback will follow in a few weeks.) For this week only it is available at the special introductory price of 99 cents ($4.99 or equivalent after that).
As my fourth novel I’m confident it’s my best yet. I really feel like I know what I’m doing now, rather than feeling my way forward through a process of trial and error.
Buy now at:
Amazon.com Amazon.com.au Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com.ca
This coming weekend (starting Friday 16 January US Pacific Time), I’m running a Kindle Countdown deal on Newton’s Ark. The price will be reduced from the normal $2.99 to $0.99 (£2.99 to £0.99 in the Amazon UK store).
If you are wondering whether it is worth your time or less than a buck of your money (seriously?) I summarized some of the reviews in this recent post for your convenience.
Unfortunately Kindle Countdown deals are only available in the US and UK stores at the moment. Hopefully Amazon will extend this to the other stores soon. My Aussie readers will be used to it though – being treated like second class citizens in a digital world that really ought to be the harbinger of a unified global marketplace. It will happen, eventually.
As anyone who follows the business news probably knows, Amazon is in the middle of a major contract dispute with Hachette, one of the big five traditional publishers.
I’ve been watching this battle with great interest. I’m no disinterested observer, but firmly in the Amazon camp, not because I’ve been drinking the Bezos kool-aid, but because I can clearly see where my interests as an author lie.
Like the fox, the traditional publishers know many things, many of which are turning out to be wrong, but hey, it used to work, so we’ll just keep doing it, and whine like little children about how the world owes us a living, and don’t worry about screwing the consumer and authors along the way.
Amazon, like the hedgehog, knows one big thing, which is that long-term success comes from delivering maximum value to customers. To do that, they need to offer a better product (or range of products) at a more competitive price, and offering authors a much better deal is part of that strategy.
As an unknown author I get about as much marketing support from Amazon as I would from a traditional publisher, which is to say none. But every other aspect of the deal offered by Amazon is superior:
For all these benefits you’d think I’d pay some price, but my royalties are many times what they would be with a traditional publisher. It truly is a no-brainer.
Meanwhile, the scions of the publishing establishment, at places like the New York Times, and a favored few fabulously successfully authors are rushing to defend the status quo. Hachette has not shared one cent of the greatly increased profits it makes on ebooks with its authors, yet somehow these people want us to believe it has the high ground in this dispute. If their world was any more incestuous and self-serving, I think I’d throw up!
I’m running a free promotion on Newton’s Ark on Amazon on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 September (free promotions start and end midnight US Pacific Time – I guess because Amazon are based in Seattle).
Since the relaunch, Newton’s Ark has been consistently getting very complimentary four and five star reviews (good for an author’s ego!) Here’s what some of the recent reviewers have said:
“This was an intriguing concept. I didn’t know what to expect since my husband downloaded it to my Kindle and I had no idea what it was about. That being said, once I realized what the Ark was all about I couldn’t stop reading it.” – RRB (Manassas, VA)
“What a wild concept! The way it was written makes it seem entirely plausible …” – Frank (Hollister, CA)
“Simply fantastic, it for me was difficult to put down … Mr. Hill, thank you for what you have accomplished with this, please continue.” – Joe (Pompano Beach)
“This book is phenomenal… a really good sci fi read, and the author incorporates a ton of believable military imagery… he knows his stuff…” – Eric Cost
“Footfall meets P.K.D. While reading I could (in my mind) see inspirations by authors like Larry Niven, David Brin, and Philip K. Dick, but never felt like the author was not owning their own style and stories.” – David Martin
“I’ve got to stop reading end of the world books…but this book’s introduction was so exceptional I had to read it!” – Jennifer Peper
“Good story, interesting ideas, believable characters and its well written. What’s not to like? I’ll be reading the second part of the trilogy very soon.” – Jack (Castellon, Spain)
“Most self-published authors should never be allowed to put finger to keyboard. D.A. Hills’ book Newton’s Ark is the rare, enjoyable exception … The characters are real, the setting true to life and the story is believable. What more could you ask from an author?” – Daniel Cox “Doc” (Las Vegas)
“A very interesting series. Well written and very thought provoking …The books, in short are an exploration of humanity, in all it’s wonderful diversity. Good, bad and bland … Really looking forward to book 3. Please hurry Mr Hill!” – Druidgate on Amazon.uk
Great news today for my Australian readers, Amazon has just opened an Australian Kindle store.
That means my books are now available for purchase in Australian dollars. Not only is the price lower (e.g. AUD3.99 for Fuller’s Mine vs USD3.99) you can avoid paying the credit card companies another 3% in foreign exchange fees, and I get a 70% royalty rather than 35%. Talk about a win-win.
Here’s the links to the books on the Aussie store:
Note that the new prices may take a day to flow through.
Amazon have just announced a new program known as Kindle MatchBook which allows publishers to offer Kindle versions at a discounted price to customers who have purchased a hard copy version of the book.
For past and future buyers of the paperback edition of Newton’s Ark, the Kindle edition will be available for free.
The same deal will apply to the sequel, Fuller’s Mine, due to be released this month.
How much? You can’t be serious!
For a short while the ebook version of Newton’s Ark will be available for the ridiculously low price of 99 cents (£0.99 plus VAT in the UK, EUR0.99 plus VAT in Europe, ￥100 in Japan).
The new price is already in effect on Amazon and should flow through to iTunes and Barnes and Noble in the next few days.
The paperback version of Newton’s Ark should be available via Amazon in Europe from tomorrow for £5.99 or €6.99.
US pricing for the paperback is $7.99.
If you’re really worried about price though, the Kindle edition is a bargain at $2.99 (or the equivalent in pounds or euros). Interestingly, I make a bigger royalty on a $2.99 kindle edition than I do on a $7.99 paperback.
That makes it hard to see how traditional publishers can justify asking almost as much for the Kindle version (and sometimes more!) than for the hard copy. e-books should be considerably cheaper, not only because they are much cheaper to produce and distribute, but also because they are more restrictive (you can only lend them once ever, if at all, and you can’t resell them) which ought to mean more sales. The disruption of the publishing market has really only just begun.
I am in Australia visiting family and while I’m here I’ve been into a few book stores. Shocked is the only word I can use to describe my reaction to the price of books here. Take, for example, Caleb’s Crossing, the latest book by Geraldine Brooks (I haven’t read it but I loved People of the Book). It is available on Amazon.com for $10.88 in paperback and $16.17 in hardback; it’s nearly $25 (in paperback!) in the book store here.
For all Australian readers, I would say if you don’t have a Kindle buy one. Now. Forget about walking the dog. Forget about feeding the kids. Jump on Amazon.com now and buy a Kindle. Caleb’s Crossing and lots of other great books are only $9.99 on Kindle (and even the ‘expensive’ books are $12.99). Not to mention there are lots of books like mine available at the ridiculously cheap price of $2.99.
This post brought to you by author D.A. Hill
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