No Kindle Required for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch Owners to Pre-order Bestselling Author J.A. Konrath's Next "Jack Daniels" Mystery Novel for Just $2.99!

• Pre-order Shaken, Konrath's iPad-compatible 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 an iPad-compatible 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.