What's Going On?

Did you know there was a revolution going on? Not the shooting wars in Africa and elsewhere, but one that's affecting everyone who reads. I'm referring to the e-revolution turning books into digital files.

How many of you have already joined the revolution? Do you have a Kindle or an iPad? How about a Nook or Sony Reader? These are the top four right now, with Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad leading the way—in a big way. Apple recently announced they had topped the 3 million mark for iPad sales while Amazon has lowered the price of the Kindle several times to stay competitive with the other e-readers.

Maybe you think, as I once did, that this was a passing trend. Who would want to read from a screen when they had the option of holding a real book in their hands, feel the weight and texture of the pages? Certainly, there will always be "real" books we can hold and pages to turn, but the publishing industry is learning some hard lessons the music industry learned several years back when the iPod and iTunes turned that industry on its head. Remember all those music stores? Coconuts, FlipSide, Tower Records, Musicland, Sam Goody? All gone.

The Association of American Publishers announced recently that sales of adult hardcover books for June were down almost 14 percent, while ebook sales were up an incredible 119 percent. Amazon recently reported that for every 100 hardcover books sold in June they sold 180 Kindle books. Authors Charlaine Harris, Stephanie Meyer, James Patters and Nora Roberts have each sold more than half-a-million books, and Stieg Larsson, author of the Millennium series that started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has become the first author to sell over one million Kindle books. Unfortunately, he's dead and can't enjoy the fruits of his labors.

Which brings me back to my original question—did you know there was a revolution going on, and are you part of it? Each of my Windrusher books are available as Kindle downloads, but I have no idea how many people are taking advantage of this. Let me know if you own one of these devices and if you've downloaded any of the Windrusher books. As for me, I don't own a dedicated e-reader, though I do have several books loaded onto my iPod Touch. I am considering either the Kindle or iPad. What are your recommendations?

A recent AP-Ipsos poll found that nearly a third of the men in this country and a quarter of the women admit to not having read a book in the past year. The typical person read about four books, and most of them were women and older folks who supposedly have more time.
This should give pause to those of us who toil at writing more books for people not to read. What it does is place more pressure on published authors to promote, promote, promote, or they may never find an audience for their books. While I do a goodly amount of promotion for my books, I've spent the last six weeks cloistered in my office trying to complete WINDRUSHER AND THE TRAIL OF FIRE.
My publisher, Ocean Publishing, plans to release it in the spring of 2008 and I've been working to get them the completed manuscript. Don't give up on me, Frank. It will be coming soon. I've seen some unexpected twists and turns arise as I've approached the end of the book. My hero will once again find the challenges before him are immense, but as usual he's able to rise to the occasion.
In the next few months, I might be able to give you more information about the book, but that will have to wait. One exciting bit of news, though, is that Andrew Robinson has agreed to do the cover art for book three. Andrew is the fantastic artist who created the cover art for the first two Windrusher books. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with.
Now that I see some light at the end of the writing tunnel, I've scheduled a number of appearances and signing events throughout the fall. You can always check my Appearances page on my website, http://www.windrusher.com/Appearances.html, but here are a few coming up soon. If you get a chance, please stop by and say hello.

• Barnes & Noble Mandarin Signing – Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. 11112 San Jose Boulevard. B&N will donate a portion of all sales to Mandarin High School.
• Barnes & Noble Daytona Beach Signing – Saturday, September 15 at 1PM to 4PM 1900 W International Speedway.
• Nease High School – Tuesday, September 18 at 9:30 a.m. A trio of regional authors will speak to a school assembly of IB students about writing, books, and the publishing industry. Joining Vic is Carol O'Dell and Allen Bohl.
• Amelia Island Book Festival – Friday, October 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Join Vic for the Writing Groups Panel at 10:30, and then again for his presentation, Let's Make a Scene, at 2:00 p.m. Check back later for specific location in downtown Fernandina Beach. Vic also hosts Books by the Beach at Sliders from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m