Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that AmazonEncore, one of Amazon’s publishing imprints, will be introducing ten new books this fall: “A Scattered Life” by Karen McQuestion; “Sweet Farts: Rippin’ it Old School” by Raymond Bean; “The First Assassin” by John J. Miller; “Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch” by Richard Hine; “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail” by David Miller; “Mercury Falls” by Robert Kroese; “Shaken” by J.A. Konrath; “The Grove” by John Rector; “Final Price” by J. Gregory Smith; and “MetaGame” by Sam Landstrom. The AmazonEncore editions of these forthcoming novels will be available in print format at www.amazon.com and as wireless digital downloads in less than 60 seconds from the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). For more information on AmazonEncore and upcoming titles, visit www.amazon.com/encore.
“Fall is always an exciting time in the publishing world, and we’re happy to be able to introduce readers to the ten new books AmazonEncore will be publishing this season,” said Jeff Belle, Vice President, Amazon.com Books. “Our fall titles range from original manuscripts to books originally published on Kindle using Kindle’s Digital Text Platform, but we think that all the books have one common theme: we’ve identified them as books that we think our customers will enjoy discovering.”
“A Scattered Life” by Karen McQuestion has already attracted the praise of author Delia Ephron, who calls the book “an emotional and engaging novel about family.” Throughout one pivotal year in the life of three women—free spirit Skyla Plinka, her neighbor Roxanne, and her intrusive mother-in-law, Audrey—each will learn what it means to love unconditionally. McQuestion’s essays have appeared in Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, the Denver Post, the Christian Science Monitor and several anthologies. Originally published through the Kindle Digital Text Platform, “A Scattered Life” is the first self-published Kindle book to ever be optioned for film. McQuestion lives with her family in Hartland, Wis. “A Scattered Life” will be published on August 10.
Raymond Bean’s “Sweet Farts: Rippin’ it Old School” is a novel for middle-grade readers and a follow-up to “Sweet Farts,” in which 9-year-old Keith Emerson discovers the cure for the common fart when he invents Sweet Farts, chewable tablets that alleviate the smell of gas. Now a 10-year-old in charge of his own company, running a science lab, and a self-made millionaire, Keith faces a new series of problems in this book, the least of which is his little sister’s flatulence. Author Raymond Bean lives in New York and teaches fourth grade. “Sweet Farts: Rippin’ it Old School” will be published on August 3.
Journalist John J. Miller’s “The First Assassin” is a riveting historical thriller set in Washington, D.C., at the dawn of the Civil War. In 1861, when a wealthy southern secessionist sends an assassin to murder Abraham Lincoln, the president’s security chief begins a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that could save a country on the brink of war—or cost America her only hope for survival. New York Times-bestselling author Brad Thor has written of “The First Assassin”: “Packed with fascinating information, superb characters and sublime plot twists, ‘The First Assassin’ is one of the most exciting thrillers I have read in a long, long time. This is historical fiction at its best.” John J. Miller is a journalist who writes for the National Review, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. The author of several books of nonfiction, “The First Assassin” is his first novel. Miller lives with his family in Prince William County, Va. “The First Assassin” will be published on September 14.
“Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch” by Richard Hine—former vice president of Marketing and Business Development for the Wall Street Journal—is an examination of the highly competitive and economically challenged world of the newspaper business and the life of one man faced with the possibility of job (and marriage) extinction. Publishers Weekly calls his novel “one part ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ and two parts Sophie Kinsella.” In addition to numerous jobs in magazine publishing, Hine has also been a ghostwriter and, under his own name, has published more than 20 short pieces of fiction in such publications as London Magazine and the Brooklyn Review, one of which was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Hine currently lives in New York City. “Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch” will be published on October 12.
In 2003, David Miller, a 41 year-old engineer, left his job to backpack 2,172 miles from Georgia to Maine. His story is told in “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail,” a contemporary account of hiking on the Appalachian Trail. The book provides a vivid description of the Appalachian Mountains, the small towns threaded together by the trail and people met along the way. Miller currently lives in Titusville, Fla. “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail” includes photographs of Miller’s journey, and will be published on October 18.
Robert Kroese’s “Mercury Falls” is a comedic novel about a jaded religion reporter who teams up with an anti-establishment angel and a reluctant antichrist to thwart the impending apocalypse and save the world. Originally self-published using Kindle’s Digital Text Platform, “Mercury Falls” is a brilliant and bizarre morality play for the 21st century. Kroese is a writer and software developer who lives in Ripon, Calif. “Mercury Falls” will be published on October 26.
Bestselling author J.A. Konrath’s “Shaken” is the seventh book in the Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series that includes “Whiskey Sour,” “Bloody Mary,” “Rusty Nail,” “Dirty Martini,” “Fuzzy Navel” and “Cherry Bomb.” Konrath has also written under the names Jack Kilborn and Joe Kimball. He has published over a dozen books using Amazon’s Digital Text Platform, and has been featured in numerous articles and blog posts as an author who is making a living off of Kindle. Konrath currently lives in the Chicago area. “Shaken” will be published as a Kindle book on October 26 and as a physical book in February 2011.
In John Rector’s gritty noir novel “The Grove,” farmer and alcoholic Dexter McCray wakes up from a blackout to discover the body of a teenage girl in the cottonwood grove bordering his cornfield, and he can’t be entirely sure he’s innocent. With no memory of the previous night, he begins to investigate the crime himself, only to be joined in his investigation by the dead girl herself. John Rector is a prize-winning writer of short stories and is the author of “The Cold Kiss,” optioned for a feature film now in development. Rector resides with his wife and children in Omaha, Neb. “The Grove,” which was originally self-published using Kindle’s Digital Text Platform, will be released on November 2.
J. Gregory Smith’s novel “Final Price” introduces Shamus Ryan, a car salesman whose customers have treated him with disdain. In what he considers acts of justifiable revenge, Shamus begins a systematic series of killings that rocks his town of Wilmington, Del. and sets two detectives on a frantic chase to stop the serial killer. Smith is a former public relations professional who worked in DC and Delaware, where he now lives and writes full time. “Final Price” was awarded 2010 Delaware Press Association Prize for Fiction and will be published on November 2.
In Sam Landstrom’s speculative sci-fi adventure, “MetaGame,” the landscapes of cyber culture bleed into what the future might hold. More than a dark prediction of massive online role-playing games, Landstrom examines globalization, corporate hegemony and technological trends in genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Landstrom studied molecular biology at the University of Washington before working at a DNA sequencing lab that helped sequence the human genome. He currently lives in the Seattle area and works in the software industry. “MetaGame” is his first book and was originally self-published using Kindle’s Digital Text Platform. It will be published on November 9.
Announced in May 2009, AmazonEncore is a program which identifies exceptional books and emerging authors using information on Amazon.com, such as customer reviews and sales data. Amazon then works with the authors to introduce or re-introduce their books to readers through marketing and distribution into multiple channels and formats, such as the Amazon Books Store, Amazon Kindle Store, and national and independent bookstores via third-party wholesalers. AmazonEncore is a brand for titles published by Amazon Content Services LLC.
Galleys of these titles are available for media and can be obtained by e-mailing encore-pr@amazon.com.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.
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Forward-Looking Statements
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