By Stephen Windwalker

Consider us stirred, not Shaken.

Back on May 17, when Kindle Nation covered Amazon’s announcement that suspense author Joe Konrath had decided to jump ship on traditional publishers and take the seventh book in his Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series direct to the Kindle via the AmazonEncore publishing imprint, we had no idea that Amazon would reach out to Kindle Nation and select our humble blog to be directly involved in the book’s release. But we’ve been working hard for three years now to help connect great readers with great writers through the Kindle platform, so it is very nice to be recognized both by Joe and by Amazon’s Author Services folks.


They have asked Kindle Nation to accept an exclusive that, over the next 12 days, will allow our readers to read the first 75 per cent of the new Konrath novel, Shaken, before it is released to the public. To our knowledge it’s the first time Amazon has done anything like this with a single blog, and it is a real tribute to the importance that the company places on you, our readers, and the influence that you have in choosing which authors climb to the top of the Kindle bestseller lists. 

Plus, it should be lots of fun.

Here’s the statement that Amazon’s Sarah Tomashek released to us today:

Whether you’ve read one of his Jacqueline Daniels thrillers before or not, the upcoming release of Shaken by writer J.A. Konrath is sure to be a hit with detective fiction fans.  Although it comes as the seventh book in the Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels line up (described by readers as a grittier version of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series), Shaken is chronologically the first book in the series, taking readers to the beginnings of Jack’s career.  As the author puts it: “if readers haven’t tried any of my thrillers before, this is a great place to start.”  

The series has been praised by reviewers as well as authors like Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, and Kay Hooper, but more importantly, Konrath’s writing has been gobbled up by Kindle customers.  And now, exclusive to Kindle Nation, you can read Shaken before anyone else with the release of new teaser chapters each week leading up to the publication date.  AmazonEncore, the publisher of Shaken, has already released the first 3 chapters as a free download on Kindle, but starting Friday, we’ll be releasing substantial advance chapters to give you all but the last pages of the book before its release.  And don’t worry, for only $2.99, you’ll be able to finish the book on October 26th. 

So, thank you, Amazon, and thank you, Mr. Konrath.

Just to make sure, you know what to expect, here’s the way this will play out on the following dates:

• NOW — (PART 1) — If you haven’t done so already, click here to download the first 3 teaser chapters of Shaken directly from Amazon to your Kindle or Kindle App. These have been available for several months already, but you will want to make a point of reading them first.
• FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 3 pm Eastern — (PART 2) — Kindle Nation Daily will release the next 10,000 words of Shaken online and, for thousands of Kindle edition subscribers, directly to your Kindles
• FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 3 pm Eastern — (PART 3) — Kindle Nation Daily will release the next 13,000 words of Shaken online and, for thousands of Kindle edition subscribers, directly to your Kindles
• MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 3 pm Eastern — (PART 4) — Kindle Nation Daily will release the next 15,000 words of Shaken online and, for thousands of Kindle edition subscribers, directly to your Kindles
• TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 — The complete Kindle edition of Shaken will be released for $2.99 in the Kindle Store. If you pre-order the book before the release date it will be sent wirelessly to your Kindle so that the final pages, along with the rest of the book, are waiting for you when you wake up Tuesday morning!

Just to explain one thing: if you’d like to be able to read these advance chapters on your Kindle, all you need to do is click here for a free 14-day trial subscription to Kindle Nation Daily, which should cover the period between now and October 26.

That’s the set-up. You can probably tell I’m a little excited, and I hope you will forgive the lame “stirred, not shaken” joke in the opening line above. After all, I know as well as you do that James Bond is no “Jack” Daniels.



Finally, for a little background, here’s the story we ran back on May 17 when Amazon and Joe Konrath first announced that Shaken would be published direct to Kindle, with a paperback to follow early in 2011:

Bestselling Kindle Nation Featured Author J.A. Konrath Jumps Traditional Publisher’s Ship to Bring His Next Novel Directly to Kindle Through AmazonEncore

• Pre-order Shaken, Konrath’s Kindle exclusive for just $2.99 here
• Check out previous novels in Konrath’s Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series here
• Read Konrath’s story “The Screaming” from our Free Kindle Nation Shorts series here

Joe Konrath was a favorite of mine before there was a Kindle, but we’ve become comrades in the ongoing effort to make the Kindle platform a place where readers and authors can connect directly around terrific writing. We’ve regularly featured Konrath’s books in our free and bargain book alerts, and he was a featured author in our Free Kindle Nation Shorts series one year ago this month with his story “The Screaming.”

With that history, I am especially pleased to share the great news, just released by Amazon’s press office, that Konrath will release the next book in his Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series directly to the Kindle through AmazonEncore program. Shaken will initially be available as a Kindle exclusive beginning in October but is already available as a pre-order at the very appealing price of $2.99.
The hardcopy release, in an Amazon Encore paperback, will follow in February.

Here’s the guts of Amazon’s news release this morning:

AmazonEncore to Publish Bestselling Author 

J.A. Konrath’s Upcoming Book

 

Amazon’s publishing imprint to release the next book in J.A. Konrath’s Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series, “Shaken”
SEATTLE, May 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) –Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that AmazonEncore, Amazon’s publishing imprint, will release the newest book in bestselling author J.A. Konrath’s Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series, “Shaken.” The AmazonEncore Kindle edition of “Shaken” will be available in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) in October, and the print version of the book will be available in February 2011. For more information on AmazonEncore and upcoming titles, visit www.amazon.com/encore.

“J.A. Konrath’s Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Daniels series is one built on a memorable female lead who is always surrounded by a lively cast of characters and action,” said Jeff Belle, Vice President, Amazon.com Books. “Readers have come to expect Konrath to up the ante with each installment, and ‘Shaken’ delivers the thrills. It’s finely crafted, full of high spirits and accessible to new readers but rewarding for longtime fans.”

“Shaken” is theseventh book in the Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series. Chicago cop Jack Daniels has chased–and caught–dozens of dangerous criminals over the course of her career. But she’s about to meet her match. When Jack wakes up in a storage locker, bound and gagged, she knows with chilling certainty who her abductor is. He’s called “Mr. K,” and more than 200 homicides have been attributed to him. Jack has tangled with him twice in the past, and both times she managed to slip away. Now Jack will finally have the chance to confront the maniac she has been hunting for more than 25 years. Unfortunately, it won’t be on her terms. In less than two hours, Mr. K is going to do to Jack what he’s done to countless others, and Jack is going to learn that sometimes good guys don’t win.

J.A. Konrath is the author of the Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels series that includes “Whiskey Sour,” “Bloody Mary,” “Rusty Nail,” “Dirty Martini,” “Fuzzy Navel” and “Cherry Bomb.” All six titles are available to purchase in both print and Kindle format on Amazon.com. 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 (DTP), and has been featured in numerous articles and blog posts as an author who is making a living off of Kindle.

“My Kindle readers have been incredibly faithful fans and I’m excited to be able to release the Kindle edition of ‘Shaken’ several months before the physical version is available to purchase,” said Konrath. “Since it’s easier, faster and cheaper to create an e-book than it is a physical book, Kindle owners will get to read the seventh Jack Daniels before everyone else. The ability for authors to reach fans–instantly and inexpensively with a simple press of a button–is the greatest thing to happen to the written word since Gutenberg.”

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, www.Audible.com, and national and independent bookstores via third-party wholesalers. AmazonEncore is a brand for titles published by Amazon Content Services LLC.