Read an interview with Suzanne Francis, author of Heart of Hythea and Ketha’s Daughter, the first two books of the “Song of the Arkafina” series, over at The Long and the Short of It.

I am pleased to announce that Mushroom has signed up with WOWIO to offer some of our titles for free. The books are advertising supported, which involves two or three ads placed at the beginning and end of the book — there are no adverts placed to interrupt the reading experience at all. Mushroom receives a small remuneration from Wowio for each download, which we split with the author. Unfortunately, Wowio is only available in North America at the moment, but is hoping to make the service available internationally in the future. The books are available in PDF format, which can be read on desktops and laptops with Adobe Reader or other PDF viewers, and on some portable devices, such as the Sony Reader and Palm, using appropriate software.

We currently have titles by Roger Taylor, Moyra Caldecott and Dennis Radha-Rose available, and they provide an opportunity to sample these authors with something more substantial than the usual two or three chapters.

About WOWIO

What is WOWIO?

WOWIO is our passion. A passion for books. A passion for reading. A passion for removing barriers and expanding access to the written word. Ultimately, it’s passion for FREE BOOKS + FREE MINDS.

Our Goals

Our business goal is to build a unique and viable company that creates valued relationships between readers, sponsors, and publishers.
Our community goal is to dramatically expand access to written works by eliminating the economic, geographic, and logistical barriers while also ensuring fair compensation for publishers.

A Win-Win-Win Community

Authors and artists work hard to create their books and should receive fair compensation. WOWIO introduces sponsors as the primary source of compensation. Readers get books for free. Sponsors get opportunities to establish valued relationships with readers. Authors, artists, and their publishers get fair compensation. It’s a win-win-win for the WOWIO community — where each group willingly gives a little to get something in return.

Respect for Readers

As book fanatics, we revere the sanctity of books and the purity of the reading experience. Therefore, our inclusion of sponsors in the WOWIO community does not mean ads are indiscriminately placed in books. Instead, WOWIO appoints a sole sponsor who willingly covers the cost of the book in exchange for an opportunity to establish a meaningful connection with an appreciative reader. It’s about sponsors earning a reader’s respect by honoring their reading experience.

Respect for Sponsors

Traditional advertising shouts its message whether anyone wants to hear it and whether or not it is relevant. By contrast, WOWIO sponsorships are targeted by readers’ own pre-selected preferences — delivering messages that are more relevant. With WOWIO, it’s about sponsorships being a tool for awareness, rather than intrusion. It’s about readers having a say in the messages they see. And it’s about a mutual respect between sponsors and readers that results in unprecedented brand loyalty.

Respect for Publishers

Authors, artists, and their publishers are at risk in today’s digital world. Their passion and hard work is often trivialized by those seeking free access above fair compensation. WOWIO works to undermine this piracy by creating a sustainable micro-economy where books are free and their creators still get compensated. It’s simply about readers respecting the work of authors and artists by supporting the sponsors who pay them.

About WOWIO

WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally download high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.
WOWIO opened on the World Wide Web in August 2006. It is a privately owned company with headquarters in Houston, Texas.

I am pleased to announce that we have signed three books from Daniel Wyatt, author of “The Falcon File” series.

The first is The Mary Jane Mission, which was originally published by Random House, and we are hoping to publish this next Monday (fingers crossed). The Last Flight of the Arrow will be published on August 4 December 15, and The Cotton Run will appear on November 10 in January 2009.

I will post more information as soon as I have it.

I have been asked a number of times if the entire 52-book saga of Dray Prescot by Alan Burt Akers will be available as a single download after they are all published…

It will.

Pricing has not been confirmed yet, but it will probably only be slightly cheaper to buy the complete set of ebooks than to buy them individually. I can confirm that the available formats will include PDF, Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader (.LIT), and Rocket/eBookwise (.RB). I can’t confirm other formats at this time.

I am working on a couple of free extras to include in the bundle, and a CD version may be published.

The likely publication date is November 2008.

Happy New Year!

The Amazon Kindle ebook reader has been available for a couple of weeks now. It has had mixed reviews, although the trend seems to be that the negative reviews are from people who don’t own the device, and the good reviews are from people who do own it.

All Mushroom eBooks titles are available for the Kindle from the Amazon.com store, most with around a 20% discount at the moment.

Alternatively, Fictionwise have announced that all their multi-format titles now have a Kindle format option. If you have already bought a Mushroom eBooks title from Fictionwise, simply go to your Bookshelf at Fictionwise.com and download the Kindle format file (or you can choose to have it emailed directly to your Kindle).

If you own the Mobipocket version of a Mushroom eBooks title, you can download it to your Kindle, either via USB from your computer, or by emailing it directly to the Kindle.

Mushroom eBooks on Kindle

We are very pleased to have concluded an agreement with Moyra Caldecott to publish two new books and to republish two books that have been out of print for a while.

The new books are:

The Breathless Pause – thoughts and poems

Multi-dimensional Life – A writer on the process of writing

Adventures by Leaf Light and Other Stories

The new editions are:

The Green Lady and the King of Shadows

Mythical Journeys, Legendary Quests – The Spiritual Search

All of these titles will become available through April and May, and I will post more details as they are published.

More good news about Alan Burt Akers’ Dray Prescot books…

We have concluded an agreement with Kenneth Bulmer’s agent, Pamela Buckmaster, to publish omnibus editions of the first 18 Kregen novels. The current plan is to publish the following books:

The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle

The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Havilfar Cycle I

The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Havilfar Cycle II

The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Krozair Cycle

The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Vallian Cycle

This will take us up to book 18, and if they are reasonably successful we will consider publishing the remainder of the series in paperback also. Also, if there is enough interest and demand, we may be able to publish hardback editions, too. We expect the books to be available during April and May.