Saturday, January 29, 2011

Planet iPad Daily Free Book Alert, Saturday, January 29: Ruth Downie's Medicus Explores the Salacious Side of the Roman Empire, plus ... A page turner recommended for middle school boys and girls, especially those 'reluctant readers' Secrets Of The Magical Medallions (Today's Sponsor)

Planet iPad Daily Free Book Alert, Saturday, January 29: Ruth Downie's <i><b>Medicus</b></i> Explores the Salacious Side of the Roman Empire, plus ... A page turner recommended for middle school boys and girls, especially those 'reluctant readers' <i><b>Secrets Of The Magical Medallions</b></i> (Today's Sponsor)

Medicus, topping our freebie list today, is must reading for fans of mystery and history.  Set during the Roman occupation of Britain in 118 A.D., it follows an army doctor (medicus) investigating missing brothel girls in a puzzler that "explores the salacious side of the Roman Empire" (Publisher's Weekly). Medicus will so enthrall that you will find it hard to resist buying the next 3 in the series.  Plus we tantalize further with another 200+ Free Books...



But first, a word from ... Today's Sponsor
Of the 15 reviewers for this book, at least 3 publish info about books for middle school children.  Several noted "Secrets" is a perfect choice to entice reluctant readers to discover how exciting a book can be.

The Treasure Hunters Club Book 1
by Sean McCartney
5 Stars -  15 Reviews

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Lending:  Enabled

Here's the set-up:
A Treasure Hunting Legend... 
Four Ordinary Kids... 
Two Magical Medallions... 
Pursued By An Ancient Evil... 
In One Extraordinary Adventure. 

Join the Treasure Hunters Club as they look to unlock the Secrets of the Magical Medallions. 

...Some Secrets Are Better Left Alone.

When Tommy Reed received a medallion from his famous treasure hunting uncle "Diamond" Jack Reed he didn't think much of it. 

Now an ancient evil is pursuing his every move and his treasure hunting club friends, Shannon McDougal, Jackson Miller and Chris Henderson are on the run.

They must unlock the secret to the medallion before evil can hunt them down.


The Reviewers:

Finding treasure isn't always a good omen. "The Secrets of the Magical Medallions" follows the treasure hunters club as they find powerful, magical medallions. They soon realize that when you find power, there is always someone out to take it, and the four kids in the club find evil hot on their tales. A fun adventure for younger readers, "The Secrets of the Magical Medallions" is a choice pick. --Midwest Book Review


The idea of an adventure that combines Hardy Boys Mysteries with Indiana Jones and National Treasure was the author's inspiration to get reluctant readers to enjoy novels. Hooray for targeting this often overlooked audience! McCartney has mixed mystery and magic in a tale that reaches beyond the backyard. He wisely chose to create a slim volume; the 160 page book will be readily picked up by reluctant readers.--V.S. Grenier, Editor of Stories For Children Magazine 

f you have kids who enjoy action-packed reads, they're in for a wild ride with this first book in the Treasure Hunter Club series. The Secrets of the Magical Medallions has been called a mix of The Hardy Boys and Indiana Jones with a little piece of the movie, National Treasure, thrown in. I loved reading The Hardy Boys as a kid and the Indiana Jones movies were some of my favorites so I had high expectations for this book. To author, Sean McCarthy's credit, he nails it here. This is an excellent adventure story. It's really fast paced and will keep readers anxious to get to the next page.   Book Dads



Click hereto download Secrets Of The Magical Medallions: or a free sample to your Kindle, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, 
Android-compatible,
 PC or Mac and start reading within 60 seconds!

UK Kindle customers  NOTE The book is not listed (yet) as Kindle eBook: For the paperback, Click here: Secrets Of The Magical Medallions:


Each day's list is sponsored by one paid title. We encourage you to support our sponsors and thank you for considering them. 

Authors and publishers interested in learning more about sponsorship? 
Just click on this link for more information.

Free Contemporary Titles in the Kindle Store 

HOW TO USE OUR NEW FREE BOOK TOOL: 

Just use the slider at right of your screen below to scroll through a complete, updated list of free contemporary Kindle titles, and click on an icon like this one (at right) to read a free sample right here in your browser! Titles are sorted in reverse chronological order so you can easily see new freebies!



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Ebook Lovers Flocking To What May Be Largest Poll On Ebooks; Nearly 2000 Have Already Taken Part In Large Poll Of Ebook Readers; Early Results Online NowPoll Closes Monday

What's shaping up as no doubt the largest survey of people who read ebooks is closing in on 2,000  respondents, and the poll is still open to everyone--regardless of what device they use to read ebooks.


The online poll closes at midnight on Monday, January 31, when Stephen Windwalker begins tabulating results.   He is publisher of several popular bogs covering the ebook industry, including Planet iPad and Kindle Nation Daily.


Though short at 15 questions, the survey allows for significant detail in result interpretation.  An early look at results to date indicates the survey is getting a good picture of

  • what devices ebook lovers use to read on, 
  • how readers feel about the various players in the publishing industry, from authors to major publishing houses, 
  • how resistant readers are to higher ebook prices.
  • and quite a bit more.

A year ago, when most ebook reading was done on Amazon's Kindles, most survey respondents were Kindle owners.  Since then, with the Amazon Kindle Store throwing open its mountain of ebooks to nearly all popular devices, results will no doubt reflect a broader picture of America's fascination with ebooks.


In just the last year, new toys to read ebooks on have appeared:  iPads, android and apple smartphones, and more recently tablet computers like the Samsung Galaxy.  Kindle Store books can be read on them all, by way of easy-to-use apps.  


Amazon announced last week its ebook inventory is now over 810,000.  The company said  ebook sales have surpassed the previous leader--paperbacks--in sales totals.  


Amazon is now selling about 115 ebooks for every paperback sold.  Ebook sales are triple that of hardbacks


To take part in the survey, and see early results in all the detail you want,  click here.


Windwalker is publisher of Planet iPad.  Here is the text of his recent email to the world of ebook reading:


The Winter 2011 Kindle Nation Citizen Survey will close at midnight Monday night, January 31, but we need to hear from you first! (And, of course, we'd love to hear from every other Kindle customer you know before then, too, if you'd like to help us spread the word by forwarding this email to a friend or two.)
Why does it matter? Because things are changing quickly in the ebook world, and as a Kindle customer you are in a position to help shape that change.
By taking just a few moments to answer 15 questions, you can send a message to the decision makers in the publishing, bookselling and ebook worlds. You
can influence ebook prices, selection, features, and more, because our survey is already demonstrating more clearly than ever that readers are making their own decisions to set prices and determine what they will read rather than following the lead of gatekeepers.
And if that weren't enough, based on what survey participants have been telling us, there's a good chance you'll have fun!
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Friday, January 28, 2011

Planet iPad Daily Free Book Alert, Friday, January 28: Two Brand New Freebies in <i><b>Spinward Fringe: Origins</b></i> and <i><b>A Child al Confino</b></i>, plus ... Two ships at sea flounder in a storm.  One is rescued.  One sinks unnoticed, hiding a cargo of secrets. <i><b>Dismember</b></i> (Today's Sponsor) A stirring memoir from the edge of the Holocaust and a fictional broadcast from the Spinward Fringe are today's latest additions to 200+ Free Book Alert listings....

But first, a word from ... Today's Sponsor

A true-life ship rescue by the Coast Guard stands as backdrop for this fictional thriller of a ship that sank in secrecy, and remained a mystery--until now.


by John Urban
5 Stars  -  3 Reviews

Text-to-Speech:  Enabled
Lending:  Enabled

Here's the set-up:

On February 18, 1952, a five-hundred-foot oil tanker named the Pendleton snapped in half as it battled sixty-foot seas in a winter storm off Cape Cod. The rescue of the Pendleton ranks as one of the most heroic events in the history of the United States Coast Guard. That much is true. 

In a work of fiction, A Single Deadly Truth tells that another ship sank that same night, just a few miles from where the Pendleton went down.  The ship's sole survivor remained committed to taking the story, and the ship's location, to his grave. Until now. 

A Single Deadly Truth features a thirty-five year old college professor and part-time harbormaster named Steve Decatur.  He spends summers living aboard an old wooden sailboat in the town of Harbor Point, Massachusetts. When Decatur's friend, a lobsterman and diver named Chris Blanchard, is found dead off Cape Cod, Decatur is called on to retrieve the man's boat. Along the way, there's growing evidence that Blanchard's death was a murder, not an accident. 

To the end, Decatur remains persistent in uncovering the truth.  In doing so he uncovers a much larger crime.

author


Like his protagonist, John Urban has worked as a college professor and he sails the waters of Southern New England on an old wooden sailboat that he restored. He is a regular contributor to the blog Write On The Water.  His short stories have appeared in the anthologies Seasmoke and Deadfall.

The ocean was his desired destination from an early age. As a boy living a landlocked life in Western Massachusetts, nights were dedicated to reading about boats and watching Flipper and weekends were spent boating and fishing, April-to-October, on Long Island Sound. 

Thoughts of a career at sea ended early after a stint at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, but the circle of life has come around some years later in the form of the fictional world of Steve Decatur. 

Urban lives just outside Boston and spends his summers near the waters edge of Buzzards Bay and Rhode Island Sound. A Single Deadly Truth, published on Amazon Kindle, is Urban's debut novel. A second Steve Decatur mystery is due out in 2011. For more information: www.johnmurban.com

Click hereto download A Single Deadly Truth or a free sample to your Kindle, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, 
Android-compatible,
 PC or Mac and start reading within 60 seconds!

UK Kindle customers: Click here to download A Single Deadly Truth


Each day's list is sponsored by one paid title. We encourage you to support our sponsors and thank you for considering them. 

Authors and publishers interested in learning more about sponsorship? 
Just click on this link for more information.

Free Contemporary Titles in the Kindle Store 

HOW TO USE OUR NEW FREE BOOK TOOL: 

Just use the slider at right of your screen below to scroll through a complete, updated list of free contemporary Kindle titles, and click on an icon like this one (at right) to read a free sample right here in your browser! Titles are sorted in reverse chronological order so you can easily see new freebies!
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