Ebook Freebie and More Interesting Stats

Last month my ebook publisher suggested putting my first Alex Bellamy mystery, Taxed to Death, on the 90-day Kindle select program. Having read about other authors’ experiences, I thought sure, why not? After all, the book would likely gain more exposure. Well, as of this morning, there has been nearly 900 downloads, and some sales of the sequel, Fatal Encryption. In less than 48 hours, new life has been breathed into a book that was published several years ago. While this new breath might be short lived, it’s a delight as this story is still close to my heart. Taxed to Death has received pretty good feedback over the years, especially from young people.

My protagonist is a 26-year-old Revenue Canada auditor, who finds himself trying to solve his colleague’s murder. In Fatal Encryption, a more somber, less confident Alex is between jobs and dealing with family issues, girlfriend issues, and trying to figure out his next career move. Perhaps young people like it because they can relate to Alex’s problems.

So, for this weekend, and again on August 12^th, plus Sept. 2 and 3^rd, Taxed to Death is available free for anyone interested. You can find it at  

http://www.amazon.com/Taxed-Death-Bellamy-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B001RIZEJG/ref=

Continuing on the topic of ebooks, an insightful article from Reuters shows that ebook sales are still on the rise. In fact, for the first time ever, ebooks outsold hard covers in 2011. In 2010 ebooks represented 6% of net book sales. In 2011, that figured jumped to 15%. Anyone want to hazard a guess what the figure will be by the end of this year? The largest category to see a jump in sales was adult fiction which, according to a survey, jumped from 13% to 30% of total net publishers’ sales. It seems pretty clear which way the wind is blowing these days. You can read more about these and other figures at http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/18/books-ebooks-idUSL4E8II5LB20120718