Amazon Publishing Acquires 47 Books from Award-Winning Mystery Author Ed McBain

Amazon.com has announced that Amazon Publishing has acquired the publication rights of 35 titles in the 87th Precinct Series—including THE CON MAN and THE MUGGER by author Ed McBain. These books will be published by the Thomas & Mercer imprint in print, digital and audio formats starting in Fall 2011. In addition to the 87th Precinct titles, Thomas & Mercer will publish 12 titles in McBain’s Matthew Hope series starting in Spring 2012. These 12 books will be published in digital and audio format, with most of the 12 available in print format. This is the first time any of these books have been available digitally for readers. Jane Gelfman of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc. represented the estate of Ed McBain in this deal.

“One of the things we think Amazon Publishing can do is offer signature authors a new life for great backlist titles. Our agreement with the McBain estate is a perfect example of this approach.”

Ed McBain was a pseudonym of Evan Hunter, who passed away in 2005. McBain won the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement from the Mystery Writers of America in 1986, and he was the first American to receive the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain’s Cartier Diamond Dagger award. He is the author of the popular 87th Precinct and Matthew Hope series. With more than 100 million books sold worldwide, McBain was praised by critics and fellow writers. “The wit, the pacing, his relish for the drama of human diversity [are] what you remember about the McBain novels,” the Philadelphia Inquirer once said of his writing. People Magazine simply observed that “Ed McBain is, by far, the best at what he does. Case closed.”

“McBain is a master of the mystery genre and we are thrilled to be able to repackage, publish and promote his unrivalled body of work,” said Philip Patrick, Head of Rights & Licensing, Amazon Publishing. “One of the things we think Amazon Publishing can do is offer signature authors a new life for great backlist titles. Our agreement with the McBain estate is a perfect example of this approach.”

“Evan was always an innovator and I am thrilled that these books will be available again for his countless fans as well as a new generation of readers,” said Dina Hunter, widow of Evan Hunter.

Announced in May 2011, Thomas & Mercer—named for streets that flank the Amazon headquarters in Seattle—is the mystery and thriller imprint of Amazon Publishing. Thomas & Mercer books are available to English readers in Kindle, print and audio formats at www.amazon.com, as well as at national and independent booksellers. For more information on Thomas & Mercer and upcoming titles, visit www.amazon.com/thomasandmercer. For more information about all imprints of Amazon Publishing, visit www.amazon.com/amazonpublishing. Thomas & Mercer is a brand used by Amazon Content Services, LLC.

Self-published thriller writer joins Kindle Million Club - what does it mean?

Crime and thriller writers continue to dominate the select but growing membership of the Kindle Million Club - authors who have sold more than one million e-books on Amazon Kindle - but the latest entrant is noteworthy for another reason; John Locke is a self-published thriller writer, and the first self-published author to join the likes of big-name print and e-book bestsellers Lee Child, James Patterson, Stieg Larsson and Michael Connelly in the Kindle Million Club. Is this a momentous day in publishing? Does it underline the opportunities provided to modern-day authors via online publication?

Amazon.com announced yesterday (NZT) that thriller writer Locke, whose books are released through the online retailer's Kindle Direct Publishing, has sold just over 1 million e-books, many of them priced at 99 cents. The 60-year-old Louisville businessman-turned-thriller writer's novels include VEGAS MOON, WISH LIST, and A GIRL LIKE YOU. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his online success, his latest book is a non-fiction one, HOW I SOLD 1 MILLION EBOOKS IN  5 MONTHS. I would be curious to see what Locke has learned from his experiences, and how they could be applied by other writers.

To me, online and e-book publishing brings both opportunities and challenges for budding and established authors. Just like the traditional publishing world, some authors will make it big, and many won't - and this distinction won't always be a pure meritocracy. Good and great authors will be relatively overlooked, and other lesser authors will seem to have 'undeserved' levels of success, in the eyes of some. Although the better the book you write, the better your chances will be, writing a good book in of itself won't guarantee big sales - if readers aren't aware of your writing, or aren't enticed to give it a go, it will be difficult to build a strong and growing readership. Online publishing allows authors to make their books more widely available (eg Kiwi authors who aren't published in print in the US or UK can be available for readers in those countries if they have e-book versions of their Australasian-published titles), but at the same time this very trait of the technology makes it very easy to 'get lost in the flood'. There are literally millions of books out there - so how will readers come across yours?

Plenty to think about, and Locke's success will certainly inspire many. I'd love to read your thoughts on the evolution of e-publishing, and what it might mean for writers of all stripes.

New Zealand author offers free e-book of his upcoming novel

Trawling (or 'trolling', for you American readers) around the Internet today, looking for more hitherto-undiscovered-by-me New Zealand crime, mystery, and thriller books and authors, historic and contemporary - it's a regular hobby of mine - I stumbled across another Kiwi-based author who has been published primarily online; Steve Malley.

Malley (pictured left) is an expatriate American now living in New Zealand. Describing himself as "Tattooed, pierced and dreadlocked", he is a writer, graphic novelist and professional artist. His debut thriller, CROSSROAD BLUES, was published in Amazon Kindle format last year. It is also available from the Smashwords website, in a variety of e-formats. Here's the blurb:

"An aging country star with a serial killer in his entourage.

A mysterious drifter with the Blues in his heart and the road for his home.

A beautiful Irish girl bent on revenge.

A modern Noir thriller...

Kane is a drifter, a musician with the Blues in his heart and the road for his home. Maeve is tattooed and dreadlocked, a beautiful Irish girl steeling herself for revenge. The night they meet, Kane takes a stand that pulls him into the orbit of wealthy and perverse has-been country star Boogie Jack Terrabonne, the band of thugs Terrabonne calls an entourage and their murderous and terrifying leader, Harlan Winters. Trying to save Maeve from herself may cost she and Kane both their lives...Crossroad Blues is a thriller, a suspense novel, a modern-day Western largely set in the Otago region of New Zealand. It's a story of sex and violence and revenge, a has-been country star with a serial killer in his entourage, backpackers and drifters and living the Blues.

Crossroad Blues is Noir with a dark heart, a story of men whose choices have damned them and a young woman determined to avenge her best friend, even at the cost of her own life. Even at the cost of her soul. It also has all the elements of a classic Western: a wicked landowner, brutal henchmen, a thoroughly modern saloon girl in trouble and a lone stranger every bit as decent as he is tough. Imagine Shane as written by James M. Cain or Joe R. Lansdale. Or one of the novels of Andrew Vachss written by James Lee Burke."

It would have to be pretty damned good to deserve the 'James Lee Burke' comparison, but given that that it's a very affordable US$2.99-US$3.99, depending on the format/website, I thought it was well worth giving CROSSROAD BLUES a go, to see what this young AmeriKiwi has going on, in terms of his thriller writing. So I bought a copy this afternoon - I'll let you know what I think in due course. It could fall very short of James Lee Burke and still be very good, after all.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

Malley's second thriller, POISON DOOR, will be released next month. And for the next few days, the author is offering free e-book copies to anyone who emails him. The only catch is that you need to agree to give the book a review - good, bad, or indifferent, he doesn't care (well, he probably does, but at least he's not being pretentious about it) - somewhere on the Internet. Even if you don't have a blog, you could review the book on sites like Amazon or Good Reads, etc. So that's a pretty good deal, I think. Here's the blurb:

"Sarah Crane is one tough cop. In a country where police don't carry guns but criminals do, she has to rely on the strength of her wits and the skill of her bare hands. Faced with a series of brutal murders and the disappearance of young women no one else seems to miss, she'll stop at nothing to get to the truth. In troubled young Michelle, Sarah sees a reflection of her own dark past.

Tommy Knowles is a vicious killer. From a London orphanage to the shores of New Zealand, he has risen from life on the streets to control this small country's heroin trade. Now his own success has led him to the edge of disaster. To secure the weapons he needs in the fight for his life, Tommy will trade as many innocent lives as necessary to secure his survival.

Michelle Swanston is fourteen and in danger. Safer on the Christchurch city streets than she is in her own home, Michelle's night wanderings take her into a hell worse than any she ever imagined. With no way of knowing who she can trust, no one else she can rely on, this terrified young girl is determined not to go down without a fight..."

You can visit Malley's website here, and his blog Full Throttle and F**k It! here.

So, do you think you might take him up on his offer? What do you think of the marketing tactic for a young up-and-coming author? Comments welcome.