Three Amazing Sisters, Portrayed by an Amazing Chronicler of China

In its own quiet way, The Soong Sisters by Emily Hahn has become one of E-Reads' bestselling nonfiction books, and even a cursory look at the story of these three extraordinary individuals will tell you why it compels us decades later. And though the release of this writeup is timed to tie to the Beijing Olympics and the soaring rise of China to a dominant place among the world's superpowers, it's not because China is in the news that we recommend this book to you.

Through inheritance or marriage the girls were among the wealthiest and most influential in China in the 1930s as the clouds of two wars -- first between China and Japan, then the Second World War -- roiled over Asia. Politically, the sisters had been divided between nationalism and Communism and for many years the two supporters of nationalism - Ai-ling and Mei-ling - did not speak to their Communist sympathizer sister Ching-ling. All that changed when the Japanese brutally invaded and occupied their country. It is worth a few moments of your time to read the Wikipedia entry summarizing their story. It's worth a few hours of your time to read the inspiring The Soong Sisters.

The Soong Sisters is the second book by Emily Hahn published by E-Reads, the other being China to Me, about which I have written so enthusiastically elsewhere in these pages (see A Missouri Feminist Captures Shanghai). And there are more books to come by one of the most remarkable women of the Twentieth Century.

The Multiple Book Deal - It Should Only Happen to You! (Or Should It?) - Part 1

For many writers the term "multiple-book deal" conjures images of byzantine negotiations conducted in a crowded conference room by a battery of literary agents, lawyers, accountants, and publishing executives, of telephone-number advances and thick contracts replete with state-of-the-art jargon about best-seller escalators, book club passthroughs, and topping privileges. The tyro author who would be overjoyed to get even a one-book contract must view such deals as relevant only to the gods in some literary Valhalla. What pertinence do these John Grishamian, Dan Brownian, Nora Robertsian transactions have to the humble and brutish lives of nickel-a-word galley slaves?

The truth is that many more multiple-book contracts are proffered to writers than most people imagine, and most of them are no more complicated than one-book contracts. To learn more, click here.

A Handheld Savior of the Newspaper Business

Eric Pfanner reports in the New York Times that a company called France Telecom has introduced a portable device to read newspapers online. By tapping a link with a stylus, you can bring up headlines and articles identical to the paper version. The company is exploring ways to monetize the news delivered online, a problem that is giving newspaper publisher fits.

A number of publications have gone in with France Télécom on an experimental basis. We're not sure how the French public will take to it. Spill latte on your newspaper and you can chuck it in the trash. Spill it on your electronic reader, that's another thing altogether.

Click here to read more

RC

Netbooks - Low Memory, Low Energy, Low Price -- Perfect!

Ultraportable PC's are a consumer's dream, but big-ticket computer manufacturers are very nervous about the emergence of this new breed of modest-sized, modestly priced computers that cater to users who don't demand much more from their machine than easy access and reliability so they can surf the Net and check their emails. In the New York Times, reporter Matt Richtel writes,

Industry analysts say that the emergence of this new class of low-cost, cloud-centric machines could threaten titans like Microsoft and Intel, or even H.P. and Dell, because the giants have built their companies on the notion that consumers want more power and functions built into their next computer.

Ultraportables may threaten the titans but they're welcome news to e-bookers.

Read more about Netbooks.

RC

John Norman Introduces Volumes 1-3 of His Bestselling Gorean Saga

Introduction to The Gorean Saga Volumes 1-3
By John Norman
#1 Tarnsman of Gor
#2 Outlaw of Gor
#3 Priest-Kings of Gor

The Gorean series, to the best of my knowledge, is the longest, most complex, most carefully worked out single-world series in the history of science fiction, or, if you prefer, adventure fantasy. On the other hand, the Gorean series has grown, like a forest, in “foreign lands.” It is not really science fiction, as that genre is normally understood, nor is it adventure fantasy, in the usual way that genre is understood. It transcends genres and its ships beach on unusual shores. For better or for worse it is an “Original,” and it bears all the interest of a new literary form, and risks all the perils of the same.

To read John Norman's complete essay, click here.

JANET DAILEY'S BESTSELLING HEIRESS BACK IN PRINT

Heiress, the Janet Dailey novel breakout bestseller, is available once again. E-Reads has just issued it as a trade paperback, where it can be purchased on amazon.com. It's also available as an e-book download.

In Heiress, two sisters meet at the funeral of one of the most prestigious men in the country, Dean Lawson, their father. Abbie Lawson, the dutiful genteel daughter bred in the lap of luxury and, Rachel Farr, a mistake born of a passionate love affair, are almost identical in appearance but are worlds apart. Only one daughter can be the heir to the endless oil fields and magnificent thoroughbreds. A fierce competition has arisen between the women, not only for the inheritance but also for the proof of a father's love. They should have been devoted to each other as friends and sisters, but they have become the most embittered of enemies. The Texas men they love watch as the rivals tear themselves apart to become Dean Lawson's heiress.

E-Reads publishes over fifty classic Janet Dailey Romances including the Americana Series, one novel set in every state in the union.


RC

Something Extra from Janet Dailey

Janet Dailey fans will be glad to see the print edition of Something Extra reissued. It's also available as an e-book download.

In Something Extra, Jolie Antoinette Smith wants to marry the man of her dreams. But when she meets that man in the form of brash and confident Louisiana native Steve Cameron, he quite clearly wants something different. Jolie's sensitive soul and passionate heart are now at odds--and she wishes she had never found true love!

E-Reads publishes over fifty classic Janet Dailey Romances including the Americana Series, one novel set in every state in the union.

RC

Writers-for-Hire

If one were to compose a Bill of Rights for authors, ownership of copyright to their works would certainly be close to the top of the list. We hold self-evident the truth that if a person produces an original book-length work, he or she is entitled to proprietorship under the law, and to full benefit of its commercial exploitation.

Are there occasions when it's right and proper to give up copyright to your work? The answer may surprise you. Click here to read more.

E-READS LAUNCHES FLEET OF DESTROYERS

E-Reads has just posted books 25-50 in Warren Murphy's bestselling Destroyer series. You can either download them as e-books or buy print editions from amazon.

In time E-Reads will issue more Destroyers as well as action adventure thrillers featuring other Warren Murphy heroes.

- RC

Harlan Ellison's Shatterday: Not Just a Book - an Event

Shatterday, the revolutionary classic from one of science fiction's most highly regarded authors assembles 16 coruscating stories combining science fiction, horror, and fantasy with ironic humor, sardonic social criticism, and intense self-revelation. From "Jeffty is Five," the tragedy of an innocent child wrenched out of an idyllic past, to humanity's encounter with dangerously seductive aliens in "How's the Night Life on Cissalda?" and "Shatterday," the dark allegory of an identity-stealing doppelgänger replacing his inferior twin, this incendiary collection alone authenticates its legendary author's claim to Grand Mastery.

On the basis of Shatterday The New York Times Book Review proclaimed, "The spellbinding quality of a great nonstop talker, with a cultural warehouse for a mind," and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction described Ellison as "the quintessential science fiction short story writer of his time." And Science Fiction Review says, "You have to read Shatterday, feel it, experience it. It is an event."

The trade paperback edition is published by Tachyon.

Shatterday is in the vanguard of a fleet of more than thirty Harlan titles that E-Reads' plants to reissue in the coming year.