What’s All The Fuss About Amazon?.
What’s All The Fuss About Amazon?
Posted: April 6, 2013 in Books in general, Morcan Books & FilmsTags: Amazon, ebooks, Foodreads, kindle, kindle books, morcan books
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The fallout continues after Amazon’s bombshell announcement, but the news ain’t all bad
Posted: April 5, 2013 in Books in general, Morcan Books & FilmsTags: Amazon, amazon books, Goodreads, kindle ebooks, kindle thriller
This week’s bombshell announcement that online retail giant Amazon is buying book review site Goodreads has received a mixed reaction from authors. The naysayers claim Amazon is undermining and destroying publishing as we know it and the buyout of the world’s leading site for readers and reviewers is yet another example of the online retailer snuffing out the competition.
When you think about it, the marriage between the two was probably inevitable given Amazon’s undisputed ranking as the king of online sales and Goodreads’ spectacular growth with members registering 23 million reviews already.
For a snapshot of the debate that’s currently raging, visit Goodreads’ discussion pages at http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/413 It makes for interesting reading.
For what it’s worth, here’s my spin on it…
It’s not all gloom and doom. In fact, I predict the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages.
I’m prepared to take Goodreads founder and CEO Otis Chandler at his word when he says –
We plan to continue offering you everything that you love about the site—the ability to track what you read, discover great books, discuss and share them with fellow book lovers, and connect directly with your favorite authors—and your reviews and ratings will remain here on Goodreads. And it’s incredibly important to us that we remain a home for all types of readers, no matter if you read on paper, audio, digitally, from scrolls, or even stone tablets.
Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler
As a Kindle user and reader I especially like his promise:
For all of you Kindle readers, there’s obviously an extra bonus in this announcement. You’ve asked us for a long time to be able to integrate your Kindle and Goodreads experiences. Making that option a reality is one of our top priorities.
Bestselling author Jonathan Gunson sees the positives, too, in an excellent article in BestsellerLabs.com …Gunson says –
Every book you sell on Amazon is now likely to show up in the buyer’s Goodreads account, within easy view of 16 million readers, on an ever increasing scale, automatically. This will substantially increase the visibility of your books.
This also means that both Amazon and Goodreads deserve increasingly focused attention in your own book marketing efforts.
But it’s even more important to remember that your writing should remain the central focus, because it will eventually transcend all of these temporarily disruptive changes.
Jonathan Gunson
It remains to be seen exactly what this will mean, or how visible those links will be. Either way, with the acquisition of Goodreads, the Amazon universe has just expanded significantly, and maybe the light of opportunity for authors with truly good books just grew a little brighter too.
For the full article go to: http://bestsellerlabs.com/
Dear Follower, What do you think of Amazon’s buyout of Goodreads? Good or bad? Leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you.
Happy reading! -Lance
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Book 3 in ‘The Orphan Trilogy’ takes readers from the exotic isles of French Polynesia to the frozen wastes of Greenland
Posted: April 3, 2013 in The Orphan UprisingTags: action, action adventure, action and adventure, action thriller, adventure, Amazon, amazon books, assassins, box set, cia, coming of age, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory, conspiracy thriller, contemporary fiction, contemporary romance, fbi, fiction, genetic engineering, international thriller, kindle, kindle thriller, nsa, orphanage, orphans, pentagon, secret societies, south pacific, spy, spy mystery, spy thriller, techno thriller, the cia, the fbi, the nsa, the pentagon, the white house, travel, trilogy, white house, world literature
The Orphan Uprising (The Orphan Trilogy, #3) starts in the Marquesas Islands where Nine, the ninth-born orphan, and his beautiful French wife Isabelle now live with their young son Francis. When Omega Agency operatives kidnap the boy, Nine embarks on a frantic rescue mission that takes him to hell and back…
High in the hills above the bay, Nine had started running as soon as the men began chasing after Francis. By the time they’d bundled the boy and their inflatable into the floatplane, Nine was already down at sea level and sprinting toward the waterfront. His lungs were burning and his legs felt like lead, but he ignored that. All he could think of was Francis.
Nine’s mission to find and rescue Francis takes him from the Marquesas Islands to nearby Tahiti…
From Tahiti, the ninth-born orphan travels to his birthplace, Chicago…
From Chicago, the former Omega operative flies to Switzerland then crosses the border into Germany’s Black Forest…
From Germany, the ninth orphan’s desperate search takes him to remote Thule Air Base, in Greenland…
From Greenland, Nine travels to Zaire and then the Congo, in deepest Africa.
From Africa, the now frantic former operative flies to Las Vegas and visits the nearby Nellis Air Force Base.
From Las Vegas, Nine flies to his final destination, the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.
Click on the cover of our novel below to access and read the first few chapters – to establish whether The Orphan Uprising is a novel you’d like to read.
To order The Orphan Uprising (The Orphan Trilogy, #3) go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFC66DM/
For more info about The Orphan Trilogy, go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/SterlingGateBooks
Happy reading! -Lance & James
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First 10 reviews for ‘The Orphan Uprising’ are all 5-stars
Posted: March 27, 2013 in The Orphan UprisingTags: action, action adventure, action and adventure, action thriller, adventure, Amazon, amazon books, assassins, box set, cia, coming of age, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory, conspiracy thriller, contemporary fiction, contemporary romance, fbi, fiction, genetic engineering, international thriller, kindle, kindle thriller, nsa, orphanage, orphans, pentagon, secret societies, south pacific, spy, spy mystery, spy thriller, techno thriller, the cia, the fbi, the nsa, the pentagon, the white house, travel, trilogy, white house, world literature
Our recently released conspiracy thriller, The Orphan Uprising (The Orphan Trilogy, #3), has now received 10 reviews on Amazon – all 5 stars!
In this explosive conclusion to The Orphan Trilogy, the ninth-born orphan’s dramatic story resumes five years after book one, The Ninth Orphan, ends.
Here’s what the latest reviewer, Jacqueline Jackson, of Bensalem, PA, USA, says in her review:
The third book in The Orphan (Trilogy) series continues the intriguing adventures of the main character, Nine. This novel follows Nine across several continents in his quest to live free and expose the deceptions perpetrated by “the Omega Agency”. A great read for anyone who enjoys espionage.
For all this book’s reviews go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFC66DM/
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Reviewers give ‘The Orphan Trilogy’ a big thumbs up
Posted: March 25, 2013 in The Orphan TrilogyTags: action, action adventure, action and adventure, action thriller, adventure, Amazon, amazon books, assassins, box set, cia, coming of age, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory, conspiracy thriller, contemporary fiction, contemporary romance, fbi, fiction, genetic engineering, international thriller, kindle, kindle thriller, nsa, orphanage, orphans, pentagon, secret societies, south pacific, spy, spy mystery, spy thriller, techno thriller, the cia, the fbi, the nsa, the pentagon, the white house, travel, trilogy, white house, world literature
Reviewers are giving our recently released kindle box set, The Orphan Trilogy (The Ninth Orphan / The Orphan Factory / The Orphan Uprising), high praise indeed.
In the latest 5-star review published on Amazon today, US reviewer Linda Townsend describes the trilogy as “highly addictive”. Here’s her full review…
Bottomline: Awesome set of books… thrills galore… highly addictive and recommended.
I have reviewed each book in this trilogy. Each book was unbelievably better than the one before … They were all excellent.
The trilogy is the story of Nine, one of 23 orphans, who have been bred and trained by Omega, an international clandestine organization, to be elite operatives from birth for Omega’s nefarious new world order purposes.
The Morcans have a unique way of writing that makes the reader feel as though they are right there as the suspense builds and the action occurs. There are multiple locales thru-out the series… all obviously extensively researched. My heart went out to Nine and many of the other characters who were just pawns in Omega’s master scheme.
When I started reading this series, I was leery as this was not the genre I normally reach for when looking for something to read. However, now, after reading Fiji: a Novel and the three books in their Orphan Trilogy, any book by the Morcans is now a must-read for me.
Bottomline: Awesome set of books… thrills galore… highly addictive and recommended.
Books one, two and three in The Orphan Trilogy can be purchased individually on Amazon – and the kindle box set (3 books in 1) can also be purchased on Amazon at this link:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BGGM05U/
Happy reading! -Lance & James
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Here’s a cordial invitation to follow us on Twitter…
Posted: March 22, 2013 in Books in general, Morcan Books & Films, Morcan filmsTags: Amazon, amazon books, bestsellers, films, Hollywood, kindle ebooks, kindle thriller, morcan, morcan books, morcan films, Morcan novels, movies
For our ‘Shameless Marketing’ post of the month, we’d like to invite all Tweeters (Twits?) to follow us on Twitter.
Our Twitter ID is: @SterlingGate (named after our publishing co., Sterling Gate Books).
Here’s samples of our latest Tweets posted today:
Sterling Gate Books@SterlingGate
Historical adventure Fiji: A Novel has lust & violence befitting of the era. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=210035 … … #FijiTimes #Fiji #Amazon #kindle #Suva
Sterling Gate Books@SterlingGate
Coming-of-age spy thriller novel The Orphan Factory is one of the highest rated books on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15757228-the-orphan-factory … … #weblit
Sterling Gate Books@SterlingGate
The Best Trilogies/Book Series ever as voted by Goodreads members http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/10685.Best_Trilogies_Book_Series_EVER_#17377036 … … #GoodReads #books #Listopia
Sterling Gate Books@SterlingGate
The Best Conspiracy Novels ever written as voted by Goodreads members http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2407.Conspiracy_Fiction#17377036 … … #Goodreads #conspiracytheories #books
Sterling Gate Books@SterlingGate
Best violent action novels…Books that have a whole lot of bloody good action! http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8941.Best_violent_action_novels#17372919 … … #novels #books #goodreads
Sterling Gate Books@SterlingGate
Best Action-Adventure Books as voted by Goodreads members books http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/514.Best_Action_Adventure_books#17372919 … …
Feel free to join us on Twitter -Lance & James @SterlingGate
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Be in to win trade paperback copies of ‘The Ninth Orphan’ and ‘Fiji: A Novel’
Posted: March 19, 2013 in Fiji: A Novel, The Ninth OrphanTags: action, action adventure, adventure, Amazon, amazon books, Bilderberg, cannibalism, cannibals, christianity, conspiracy thriller, fiction, fiji, Fiji: A Novel, historical, historical fiction, historical romance, history, international thriller, jack reacher, james michener, james morcan, jason bourne, kindle, kindle ebooks, kindle thriller, love, mens adventure, mk ultra, novel, pacific, romance, south pacific, the ninth orphan, the orphan trilogy, thriller, travel, world literature, yamashita, yamashitas gold
Copies of The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy #1) and Fiji: A Novel trade paperbacks will be posted out to the winners of a competition underway now on the global literary site Goodreads.com
Competition for The Ninth Orphan giveaway ends April 6 PST.
The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy, #1) byJames Morcan, Lance Morcan
How do you catch a man who is never the same man twice?
That is the question posed in The Ninth Orphan, a top-rated international thriller novel and the first book in The Orphan Trilogy.
An orphan grows up to become an assassin for a highly secretive organization. When he tries to break free and live a normal life, he is hunted by his mentor and father figure, and by a female orphan he spent his childhood with. On the run, the mysterious man’s life becomes entwined with his beautiful French-African hostage and a shocking past riddled with the darkest of conspiracies is revealed.
Enter to win via this link: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/47606-the-ninth-orphan
Competition for the Fiji: A Novel giveaway ends April 15 PST.
Fiji: A Novel byLance Morcan, James Morcan
Fiji is a spellbinding novel of adventure, cultural misunderstandings, religious conflict and sexual tension set in one of the most exotic and isolated places on earth.
By the mid-1800’s, Fiji has become a melting pot of cannibals, warring native tribes, sailors, traders, prostitutes, escaped convicts and all manner of foreign undesirables. It’s in this hostile environment an innocent young Englishwoman and a worldly American adventurer find themselves.
Enter to win via this link: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/47608-fiji-a-novel
Be in to win!
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Thirty 5-star Amazon reviews a milestone for book one in ‘The Orphan Trilogy’
Posted: March 18, 2013 in Morcan Books & Films, The Ninth Orphan, The Orphan TrilogyTags: action, action adventure, action and adventure, action thriller, adventure, Amazon, amazon books, assassins, box set, cia, coming of age, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory, conspiracy thriller, contemporary fiction, contemporary romance, fbi, fiction, genetic engineering, international thriller, kindle, kindle thriller, mi6, nsa, orphanage, orphans, secret societies, south pacific, spy, spy mystery, spy thriller, techno thriller, the pentagon, the un, the white house, travel, trilogy, un, world literature
The Ninth Orphan resonates with reviewers
Our conspiracy thriller, The Ninth Orphan (The Orphan Trilogy, #1), has passed another milestone, notching up its 30th 5-star review on Amazon.
The reviewer describes this novel as “Very exciting reading…leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat.”
To see the full review – and all Amazon reviews of The Ninth Orphan – go to:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056I4FKC
Fast-paced, totally fresh and original, filled with deep and complex characters, The Ninth Orphan is a controversial, high-octane thriller with an edge. Merging fact with fiction, it illuminates shadow organizations rumored to actually exist in our world. The novel explores a plethora of conspiracies involving real organizations like the CIA, MI6, and the UN, and public figures such as President Obama, Queen Elizabeth II as well as the Clinton, Marcos and Bush families.
Tackling genetic selection, mind control and secret societies, The Ninth Orphan exposes a global agenda designed to keep the power in the hands of a select few. The novel’s antagonists are members of a shadow government acting above and beyond the likes of the White House, the FBI, the Pentagon and the NSA. Could something like this ever take place? Or, is it already taking place right now?
The Ninth Orphan is available as a kindle ebook and trade paperback via Amazon. (Visit the link above).
All three books in The Orphan Trilogy (The Ninth Orphan, The Orphan Factory / The Orphan Uprising) can be purchased as a kindle box set via Amazon. Go to:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BGGM05U/
Happy reading! –Lance & James
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TV interview provides update on Morcan books and films
Posted: March 14, 2013 in Fiji: A Novel, Morcan Books & Films, Morcan films, The Ninth OrphanTags: central tv, lance morcan, morcan, morcan books, morcan films, novels, tv, tv central, tv interview
Here’s a television interview I recently did on Central TV News talking about my process of writing novels and screenplays. My segment kicks in at the 10 minute mark, so skip forward to that point on the You Tube video: http://lnkd.in/QMP_zi
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The Kiwi-Bollywood Connection
Posted: March 14, 2013 in Morcan Books & Films, Morcan filmsTags: australian films, Bollywood, Bollywood films, films, james morcan, morcan, morcan films, romantic comedies, romcoms
NZ actor in Bollywood films
Two quirky romantic comedies explore Hinduism, Christianity and multiculturalism.
Voxy.co.nz Wednesday, 6 March, 2013 – 15:59
James Morcan
Hot off two soon-to-be released Indian-Australian feature films, New Zealand actor James Morcan is looking forward to a well-deserved break.
Not only did Morcan play starring roles in Love You Krishna and My Cornerstone, he also wrote the screenplays which incorporated English and Hindi.
Both films were produced and directed by Indian-Aussie filmmaker Stanley Joseph, of World Pictures Australia, and were inspired by many of Joseph’s own experiences as an Indian migrant in Australia.
They are quirky romantic comedies exploring Hinduism, Christianity and multiculturalism.
In Peter Jackson style, the films were shot simultaneously – a decision which Morcan says nearly broke the production team. “Shooting two movies at once is an extremely rare undertaking and everybody in our incredibly talented crew was stretched to the limit. To be honest, we almost bit off more than we could chew,” says Morcan.
“I probably only averaged three or four hours sleep a night over the last few months,” Morcan (34) says from his residence in Sydney, Australia. “There was literally no time to think. But in a strange way that’s kind of freeing for an actor as you don’t get too cerebral about the process.”
Morcan was actively involved in every single scene of the shoot, working in front of and behind the camera, and wearing multiple hats. “That sort of on-set involvement was tough but necessary to complete the mammoth task. And I learnt so much about the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. In fact, it was like going to film school.”
As for his roles in the films, Morcan is remaining tight-lipped. “Let’s just say I play an enigmatic role in both stories. Other than that I cannot say too much about my characters as they involve big twists in each film. If I mentioned who I actually play in either movie, it would ruin the surprise for the audience.”
Morcan’s previous films have screened at cinemas in Italy, Australia and France. His career highlights include roles in the Australian independent feature film The Pawn and acting alongside Russell Crowe in Ben Hur: The Stadium Spectacular, at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. He was also executive producer of the recently released New Zealand feature film Desired, which premiered at Cannes Marche du Film in France.
Aside from his film work, Morcan is also a novelist and co-writes with his Bay of Plenty-based father Lance Morcan. The pair have written four published books including the controversial thriller series The Orphan Trilogy and the historical adventure Fiji: A Novel. Their production company, Morcan Motion Pictures, is also developing feature film adaptations of the novels.
Love You Krishna and My Cornerstone were shot in Mumbai, India and NSW, Australia and are currently in post-production. They are expected to be released internationally later this year.
-For full article go to: http://www.voxy.co.nz/entertainment/nz-actor-bollywood-films/5/149302
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Morcan Books & Films 