Peek into the future on Hook'em & Book'em

Ready for the New Year? I am excited about what this year will bring our way. New books to read. New publishing opportunities. New friends. Let me share a little of what might be coming up.

Let’s start with reading. Now, I know some of you still prefer the traditional print novel where you can feel the texture, smell the print, and use that ol’ bookmark between the pages to signal just where you left off the next time you pick up that book. I still like the print version myself, although if I choose to buy a hardback novel for my library shelves, most likely it will be a Costco special of one of my favorite authors. Otherwise, it is eBooks for me. Everyone has their preferences.

For the less traditional folks, let’s talk about digital copies for a moment. Recently, my first Kindle reader bit the dust when my daughter accidentely leaned on the face of the reader and cracked the cover. I tried to read my digital books on my Samsung tablet, which was nice but not quite the same—particularly as I tried to categorize my novels and books for easy retrieval. So, I ordered the Kindle Paperwhite and just got it set up a week ago. Wow! Easy to read, the size of a paper back novel that easily fits in my pocket, and easy to organize the hundreds of novels and non-fiction books I have lingering in my Kindle Cloud in Amazon’s digital sky. I won’t bore you…uh, am I too late…with all the reading features, but I am once again a very satisfied reader

No matter your reading choice—Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kindle Fire, Kobo or print—there are marvelous opportunities in store for you. The publishing world is changing—for readers and authors.

Here on Hook’em/Book’em, we have a lot to look forward to over the coming year. For example, one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz, promises to return for a visit later this spring after his next novel is put to bed. And I hope that such authors as John Lescroart, James Scott Bell, and Tess Gerritsen, among many others—will rejoin us throughout the year to tell us what is happening in their corner of the publishing world.

I would like to expand our coverage of new and independent writers who are emerging among the ranks of authors that readers might want to know about. As the eBook world continues to find its place in this publishing environment, new indie writers and indie publishers are rising to prominence in this wild west frontier of the new digital age. What was true in 2009 is old news, and might not work in 2013. Join us as we learn about these changes coming up in the not-so-distant future.

I need to get back to our friends in law enforcement and the intelligence world to find out how fiction and reality come together in mystery/suspense/thriller novels. Everything from border searches to predator drones, from human trafficking to forensic science, will be examined through the eyes of my experts in the military, law enforcement, and the intelligence community. As I started to jot down ideas for a Gerrit O’Rourke sequel (release in 2014) I was interested in the predator drone technology and how that impacts our world today. After I finished my latest novel, Fatal eMpulse (A Gerrit O’Rourke Novel), I came across sources and information about the on-going war on terror that I thought might interest readers here on Hook’em & Book’em.

Which brings me back to my roots—law enforcement. I have been editing the final changes to Broken Allegiance (A Tom Kagan Novel), which will be released in 2013. This police procedural focuses on the struggle between gang officers and gangsters going on throughout our nation. This novel deals primary with the notorious Nuestra Famila prison gang in California, but its tentacles—like those of many prison gangs—extend into every state and federal institution throughout our nation, and on the streets of every city in American. As I edited this novel, it rekindled my desire to rejoin my friends in law enforcement and share with you some of the insight and work experiences cops face today.

Coming back to law enforcement issues is like coming home after a long trip abroad. In my last two international thrillers, I and my readers traveled all over the world and landed in some pretty exotic and dangerous locations. But now, it is time to come home. The Tom Kagan novels (yes, there will be more than one) and our friend, Travis Mays, will be joining us again as they travel through the twists and turns of investigations into murder, drug trafficking, and political corruption. After Broken Allegiance, I plan on putting together a sequel to Revenge, titled Blood Quantum (A Travis Mays Novel). Travis Mays and his girlfriend, Jessie White Eagle, and her father—Frank, chief of the Nez Perce Tribal Police—once again join forces over one of the hottest issue facing the Indian nations today, a concept called blood quantum. After two long years, I and my readers get to travel back to this beautiful Idaho reservation along the Clearwater River. Travis and his friends find themselves in trouble once again as tribal and BIA politics erupt in murder and deception.

Come with us as we explore—on Hook’em/Book’em—all of the above ideas and opportunities as well as try to keep up with changes exploding within the publisher world. 

Here are a few topics:  

• Expansion of digital inroads by traditional publishers.
• New developments and opportunities within the indie publishing community.
• Social networking, publicity and marketing. 
• Finding out about some of the new and promising authors emerging in this ever-changing community of writers, readers, and publishing outlets.

I trust that something mentioned above will pique your interest. And, I welcome any other topics of interest that our readers might want to explore. This coming year is going to be exciting. I hope to be able to share some of that with you here on this blog. Thank you for your faithfulness to to Hook’em/Book’em. Happy New Year!

Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony

What’s Santa Hiding Under Your Tree?

By Mark Young

Christmas shoppers are thronging to stores for last minute presents to surprise family and friends. Even in these uncertain economic times, the spirit of giving seems to be alive and kicking. One of the hotter items this season—actually the last three seasons—continues to be eReaders. Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony and others are jockeying for position to be the hottest number on the shelf.

It seems consumers in large numbers have finally begun to understand what these gadgets are all about. As people get used to the idea of books in digital, portable form, mor eReaders are selling. Several factors have caused this astounding rise in sales: affordability of eReaders, mobility of devices, competitive prising, storage capacity, and a growing awareness of where this market is headed. Everyone seems to be interested in learning about this new age of publishing.

Last week, I took my youngest daughter to a basketball practice and carried my Kindle to catch up on my reading while I waited for her. As I pulled the digital reader out, a woman sitting next to me saw the device and began asking questions. She had never seen an eReader in person. I showed her how simple it was to operate, how eye-soothing the e Ink is to read, and tried to demonstrate the device’s capabilities. The woman became a believer in just a few minutes. She wanted to know where to buy it  for her son. She left for a few minutes and returned. "I just spoke to my husband on the phone. Can he come over and see how this thing works?" 

Santa was going to be making another stop at that household—if there are any Kindles left to buy before Christmas.

People do not seem to balk at the prices, even in these hard economic times. At a price tag starting at $139 for a Kindle to the top of the price range for an iPad ( $400-$900), these movable libraries seem to be selling faster than a Ponzi scheme.

The Kindle continues to be a Christmas sell-out gift. As of November 17, the Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi were already sold out for customers living outside the U.S. and UK. In previous Christmas seasons, the Kindle sold out in 2007 and 2008. In 2009,  Amazon's digital reader remained available throughout the holiday season for the first time. Don’t hold your breath for Christmas 2010. Stock is dwindling fast. Amazon is holding on to its remaining stock to sell exclusively in the U.S. and the U.K.

How well is Kindle selling? Amazon has always been a little shy about revealing numbers, but the company’s  “Official Kindle Team” sent this out to their readers last Monday: “Thanks to you, in the first 73 days of this holiday quarter, we’ve already sold millions of our all-new Kindles with the latest E Ink Pearl display. In fact, in the last 73 days, readers have purchased more Kindles than we sold during all of 2009.”

At least one Kindle competitor—Barnes and Noble—seems to be enjoying a healthy buying spree of its own. In a recent Publisher’s Week article, Barnes & Noble Chairman Len Riggio said, “B&N is manufacturing Nook Colors at a rate of 18,000 per day and it is loading up a 747 every four to five days to bring devices to the U.S. from China.” He acknowledged that B&N might not be able to keep enough in stock to meet the need of holiday shoppers.

What about Apple’s iPad? Although this is like comparing apples to oranges—the iPad tablet to the Kindle or Nook eReaders—Apple seems to be holding its own. Writer Mike Shield on the AdWorks web site reports that “global sales of computer tablet devices like the iPad will exceed 80 million by 2012, according to a new report from eMarketer. The research predicts that after 15.7 million tablet devices are purchased in 2010, in just two years sales will balloon by 418 per cent to 81.3 million units worldwide.” Shield adds, “After introducing the wildly popular device just this past April, Apple is expected to sell 13.3 million iPads in 2010 … By 2012, sales should reach a staggering 56.1 million units.”

Additional competitive muscle flexed when Amazon and Barnes & Noble announced this year that they planned to expand or launch publishing platforms for indie authors and publishers.

Amazon’s digital foray—using print publishing sites such as CreateSpace and AmazonEncore— and its Digital Text Platform for eBooks caused ripples throughout the publishing industry over the last couple of years. This company reportedly garners seventy percent of all eBook sales. As one of the largest online book sources, Amazon claims its eBook sales have already surpassed hardcover sales earlier this year, and they expect digital book sales to exceed other print markets in the near future

Jeff  Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, told a Publisher Weekly reporter  last July, “We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle—the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price.” Bezos added, “In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format.  Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books.”

To garner a part of this digital publishing market, B&N announced last May they are “extending its deep and longstanding tradition of supporting authors and publishers with PubIt! … an easy and lucrative way for independent publishers and self-publishing writers to distribute their works digitally through Barnes & Noble.com and the Barnes & Noble eBookstore.”

Meanwhile, Google added its own muscle  to the competitive eBook fight by launching their Google eBookstore where readers can browse a collection of three million titles. Customers can make purchases from this growing bookstore, keep those books in their own eBook library, and read from an array of digital devices—laptops, netbooks, tablets, and e-readers (except for Kindle). Free apps for Apple and Android devices will also be available. A Google press release states that customers will be able to “access your eBooks much like you access Gmail or photos in Picasa—using a free password-protected Google account with unlimited eBook storage.”

And so goes the digital publishing war in 2010.

All this to say, “What is Santa sticking in your stocking?” As prices lower—and before stocks are depleted—maybe your very own Santa is out there right now snatching up a digital present to stick under your tree. Which eReader are you hoping to see under the tree Christmas morning?