The following ebooks are free to download from wowio.com (you will need to login to see the freebies):

The Anxiety Relief Program by Dennis Radha Rose

Herbs for Healthy Skin by Cindy L A Jones

Ice and a Curious Man by Renee Angers

Here are the top 20 bestselling titles published by Mushroom eBooks, sold from 1st July 2010 to 31st December 2010:

1    Tutankhamun and the Daughter of Ra by Moyra Caldecott
2    Hatshepsut: Daughter of Amun by Moyra Caldecott
3    The Call of the Sword by Roger Taylor
4    The Fall of Fyorlund by Roger Taylor
5    The Waking of Orthlund by Roger Taylor
6    Into Narsindal by Roger Taylor
7    Akhenaten: Son of the Sun by Moyra Caldecott
8    The Delian Cycle by Alan Burt Akers
9    The Return of the Sword by Roger Taylor
10    Farnor by Roger Taylor
11    Valderen by Roger Taylor
12    Dream Finder by Roger Taylor
13    The Mary Jane Mission by Daniel Wyatt
14    Scorpio Invasion by Alan Burt Akers
15    Intrigue of Antares by Alan Burt Akers
16    Scorpio Assassin by Alan Burt Akers
17    Scorpio Ablaze by Alan Burt Akers
18    Scorpio Reborn by Alan Burt Akers
19    Whistler by Roger Taylor
20    Scorpio Triumph by Alan Burt Akers

Many thanks to everyone who has supported Mushroom eBooks and our authors by buying the books and writing reviews. We couldn’t do it without you. Please keep up the good work!

The Vallian Cycle ebook will now not appear on Fictionwise until 28th February, due to an error on my part when uploading the files. It is available now on the other ebook stores listed on the right.

This will have a knock on effect for The Jikaida Cycle ebook, which will not appear on Fictionwise until 7th March. The Jikaida Cycle should be available on all other ebook stores on its publication date of 28th February.

All subsequent titles will appear on Fictionwise on their publication dates.

I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Martyn

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of activity at Mushroom eBooks for the last few months. There has been a lot going on in other parts of the business as well as major events in my personal life.

I have a busy publishing schedule planned for 2011, which I will post in a couple of days when I have finalised a few things, so hopefully there will be something of interest to all you Mushroom eBooks customers, whatever your particular interests.

The big hope for the year is that I can complete the Dray Prescot series, but I am still missing a couple of manuscripts that are preventing me from proceeding. I will be making a concerted and sustained effort to obtain those manuscripts as soon as possible. I am also hoping to begin publishing other Ken Bulmer series and standalone titles. Let me know in the comments what you would like to see published.

There is a new title from Roger Taylor coming in the summer, which will be great news for his many fans who have been waiting for over a decade for something new from this brilliant fantasy author. More details soon.

The second book in the excellent “Sons of the Mariner” series by Suzanne Francis will be here in March, and we will be introducing a series of cartoon books from Doug Pike. Also, a rather unusual vampire novel will be appearing soon from Anthony Burns.

We will be introducing new ebook formats, too, including ePub and Apple iBooks, and updating some of our older books to work better and look better in current ebook reading devices.

Back soon…

The prices of all Mushroom eBooks titles on Scribd have been reduced by at least 30%, so now might be a good time to catch up with all those books you were going to buy…

Many many thanks for your support and custom over the year, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and an excellent 2010.

Renai LeMay has published a great interview with Roger Taylor over at Keeping the Door. Here’s my favourite bit:

When I speak to fantasy fans about your work, a common comment is that it has more “heart” or is “more human” than a lot of other fantasy series out there. What would be your reaction to this statement, and where do you think that sense of “heart” came from in your work?

That’s really good to hear. Ironically, one – well, me, anyway – has only limited control of how stories unfold, but it was always my very clear intention to have ‘ordinary’ people in them. Superheroes can be fun, but it’s ‘plain folk’ in extraordinary circumstances that make for real drama. I can remember when I read The War of the Worlds, it was as if Wells had placed one of those towering fighting machines in the little square at the end of the row of houses where I lived – it gave me the shivers. Very ordinary, very vivid – great stuff.

Pamela Buckmaster, speaking on behalf of Ken Bulmer’s (Alan Burt Akers) family, has asked me to send their apologies for the delay in making available the final few Dray Prescot books (volumes 46 to 52) for publishing. This is due to ongoing illness in the family, and the difficulty of finding the manuscripts, which have been moved about a lot over the years and are therefore difficult to locate. They are confident that the manuscripts will be found, but ask for our patience for a few more months.

I am sure we all wish the family well and hope for a speedy recovery.

Please leave your comments below and I will pass them on to Pamela.

Mushroom eBooks are now available on Scribd. You can buy the books there, and also preview them — up to 40% of each book is available for preview.

You will find that prices for Mushroom eBooks on Scribd are typically lower than most ebookstores, although you may still get a better deal at Fictionwise.

About Scribd, Inc.

Scribd is the world’s largest social publishing company with more than 60 million readers each month. Scribd is changing the way people discover, share and sell original writings and documents on the Web. Its innovative document reader technology, iPaper, enables anyone to easily upload PDF, Word, PowerPoint and other document types and share on Scribd.com or embed on thousands of other websites. Scribd is backed by Charles River Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Paul Graham’s Y Combinator, the Kinsey Hills Group and several prominent angel investors. For more information about Scribd, visit www.scribd.com.

Suzanne Francis, author of The Song of the Arkafina series, was interviewed a couple of days ago by Kim Smith, for her podcast Introducing Writers on Blog Talk Radio.

It was a very interesting discussion of Heart of Hythea, Suzanne’s writing style, how she structures her writing time, and lots of other things.

The second volume in the Song of the Arkafina series by Suzanne Francis is now available in paperback under our imprint Bladud Books from all good bookstores, both online and offline.

Ketha’s Daughter returns us to the world we were introduced to in Heart of Hythea where we follow the adventures of Katkin’s daughter, Gwenn Faircrow.

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

Queen Katrione Arkafina ably rules the kingdom of Beaumarais, but she has had less success with her boisterous daughter, Gwenn, born under the sway of a brutal Goddess. Keth Dirane has given Gwenn awesome strength and almost complete invulnerability, but manipulates her cruelly in return. Now, to further her own ends, she convinces Gwenn she must seek revenge for an old betrayal.

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Gwenn runs away. After she allies herself with some marauding coastal raiders, captained by Gunnar Strong Arm, she has the army she requires. Now, as the dreaded warrior Faircrow, Gwenn will steer the Fynära inexorably towards her former home — the City of Isle St. Valery.

Paperback: 316 pages, ISBN 978-1-84319-809-3.

Ketha’s Daughter is also available as an eBook.