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Let's face it...if you're a New York publishing house with thousands of dollars at your disposal to throw at marketing your ebook titles (and, quite frankly, that money is thrown at marketing the print versions and ebook sales happen as a result), is it any wonder that the bestselling ebooks of 2004 are all pretty much from the same three or four big publishers? Likewise, do you really get an accurate picture of everything that sells well for a given year when you only ask three or four retail outlets for their numbers? We here at KnowBetter don't think that paints a very accurate portrait, so we decided to go to the sources themselves: the publishers. We emailed every publisher that has listings on KnowBetter (and some who don't) and asked them to tell us their bestselling title of 2004. Below is that list (in no particular order) from a variety of independent publishers (and one notable exception) from Abintra Press to Zumaya Publications and everything in between. You're likely to discover a publisher, author or title on our list that you've never heard of, proving once again that sometimes bigger isn't always better, and large publishers aren't the only ones with bestselling titles. Who knows? You may just discover something you'll think should be a bestseller in itself. |
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The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown, Random House
While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci--clues visible for all to see--yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion--an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret--and an explosive historical truth--will be lost forever.
Adobe
Palm Reader
MS Reader
Mobipocket
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The Lives Of Ghosts And Other Shades Of Memory
Loren W. Cooper, Silver Lake Publishing
A group of immortals play with the history of mankind. A sentient ship gazes longingly at the world it created. A trained killer receives an unwanted gift from an old friend. This collection of stories expertly blends aspects of both science fiction and fantasy into a haunting journey through the world of "if only" and "might have been."
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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Hot Property
Karen Leabo, BooksForABuck
On her thirtieth birthday, professional shopper Wendy Thayer thinks her life is finally coming together. Sure her boyfriend dumped her, but she's not sure what she saw in him in the first place. Her business, helping others add class to their life by being a combination shopper, fashion coordinator, interior designer, party organizer, and pet-walker is growing rapidly and she even gets to feel good about some of the people she's helping. But when the police accuse her of transporting stolen goods, accepting and laundering illegal money, and being involved in a huge art theft, her business and her personal life are both threatened. Who, after all, would hire a known thief as their trusted shopper? At first, Dallas Police Detective Michael Taggert simply wants to arrest the woman, put her in jail, and throw away the keys. Sure his body responds to her in all the right ways, but she's a shopper--and he's still recovering from his ex-wife's way with a credit card. As he gets to know her, though, Taggert realizes that Wendy wants to find the real thief as much as he does. His grudging respect switches up into high protective gear, though, when Wendy is attacked. And the gap between respect and love isn't too huge to cross when the intensity is turned up. Of course, falling in love with a chief suspect is definitely on the police department no-no list. ONLY $1 DOWNLOAD!
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz
Melvin Foster, Zumaya Publications
How much impact can one thoughtless act have upon your life? Unfortunately for Alan Borman, he doesn't discover the answer to that question until after he's been murdered. That's when he discovers the intricate web that connects our every thought and action to the people we encounter. It's when he learns the heavenly accounting system that's far more intricate than he'd ever imagined. Fortunately for Alan Borman, it's still not too late to make amends. Assigned to Interrogation Room 989G, he attempts to solve his murder from the "other side."
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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The Role Players
Dorien Grey, GLB Publishers
Dick and his lover, Jonathan, finally manage to take a vacation, and it is, to some extent, a sentimental journey for Dick—it is to New York City, the site of former adventures, and where his former lover is now settled in with a new lover, Max, who happens to be involved in a theater company. So Dick and Jonathan fly in for opening night, but also arrive soon after one of the original cast is murdered—gunned down with a shot in the back, and ending up face down in a vacant lot. It seems Dick can’t even have a vacation without playing his usual role of sleuth, and there is also a different kind of role playing as well...
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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Ascorbate: The Science Of Vitamin C
Steve Hickey and Hilary Roberts, Lulu.com
The relationship between vitamin C and health is controversial. Double Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling, argued that ascorbate could prevent or cure heart disease, stroke, cancer and infections. Conventional experts disagreed, disparaging supplements in favour of fruits and vegetables. This book presents a new model, describing the action of vitamin C in health and disease. It demonstrates conclusively that the establishment has misinterpreted the evidence, potentially resulting in epidemic levels of avoidable disease. The dynamic flow model explains the current results and points the way for future experiments.
Adobe
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3rd World Products, Book 1
Ed Howdershelt, Abintra Press
Ed had learned a long time ago that when things seem too good to be true, they usually are, but when the spaceship showed up over the Florida coast and he met one of the aliens--tall, blonde, lovely, and indisputably female--it was a lesson he had to keep reminding himself to remember. What exactly did the Amarans want or need from Earth, her inhabitants and, specifically, Ed, and why were a couple of intelligence agencies suddenly interested in a semi-retired former mercenary?
Multi-Format
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The Collage
Rene Natan, Liaison Press
A cleverly masterminded plot entraps young heiress Allison Summer in a web of deceit and violence--slowly but without mercy. Even if surrounded by a multitude of people, beautiful Allison is alone in her struggle, not knowing whom to trust: not her father, not her husband, not even the handsome man who pledges his love to her... A nosy reporter makes Allison's life difficult, a mysterious fire destroys her home, a killer seemingly coming from nowhere knocks on her door, while an accusation of murder hangs over her head. Overcome by guilt and disheartened by the loss of loved ones, Allison suffers in solitude, hoping for better times. But when the life of the man she loves becomes at stake, Allison musters her strength and takes control of her destiny. And she will not stop until the innocent is free and the guilty secured behind bars.
Multi-Format
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Dalton Quayle And The Temple Of Deadly Danger
Paul Kane, Creative Guy Publishing
Return again to the chase with intrepid detective and adventurer Dalton Quayle and his mate, er ... partner, er ... very close friend and nothing more, Doctor Humphrey Pemberton, as they again match wits, (or at least very strong words) with villains and scoundrels all across the globe. In this next adventure, Quayle and Pemberton race against time to recover the stolen Stones of Bukardi Brueaza before they can be used in a nefarious ceremony to summon the hideous (and overly ripe) Rimbulus creature, which would allow its summoner to take over the world, and cause quite a lot of other mischief besides. Meet an entirely new cast of supporting characters, (friends, enemies, casual acquaintances, and those wholly indifferent) among them the bullwhip- and hamfist-brandishing Harrison Wrong, and the evil Professor Siphilati. Gasp in awe and wonder as Quayle outwits deadly (and suspiciously familiar) traps and pitfalls, all the while managing to refrain from smacking the befuddled Pemberton. DQTDD has more pop culture references than a Warhol gallery showing and before you can say, "Please for the love of God, no more, my belly," Master of the Farce Paul Kane will have you laughing out loud and embarrassing yourself on the bus. IMPORTANT: Do not read while drinking milk.
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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A Strange Valley
Darrell Bain, Double Dragon Publishing
A clerk working in the census bureau discovers a series of anomalies in the population of a small city located in the Ozark Mountains. Intrigued, the clerk continues to investigate. He finds that, on average, the population of the city and surrounding valley, are a little smarter, less religious, more thrifty, marry less, have a higher level of education, are more sexually liberated, have fewer illnesses and many other positive traits. The city also refuses government money for schools and roads, has little crime and no sign of racial unrest. None of these factors would mean much taken alone, but together, they spell out a population that is distinctly skewed from the normal. Surprisingly, hardly anyone in the valley realizes that most of them are different from the average. They simply think they live in a good place among good people. Then the investigation starts...
Multi-Format
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Less Than A Shadow
David Chacko, ActionTales.com
When Alfred Rydell, a noted journalist, is murdered in Istanbul, his wealthy family has questions and they demand answers. Jason Ender is ordered by the State Department to find them. And he's just the man to negotiate the huge labyrinthine city that gave Byzantine its name. What secret had the journalist uncovered that cost him his life? Why does the shadow of the Turkish Mafia cling so closely to every move Ender makes? More important, is this man capable of dealing with the pending chaos that threatens to rearrange the map of the Middle East in a single night?
Adobe
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Lavender Lady
Carola Dunn, Belgrave House
Hester Godric's grandfather was in trade, but her stepmother had taught her to be a lady--before leaving Hester with four half-siblings to raise. The victim of a carriage accident lands in her home to recover, but does not reveal that he is the Earl of Alton. Hester learns his identity only when the whole family descends on London--and involves my lord in a variety of scrapes.
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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The Nursing Home Fugitive
Georgiann Baldino, Sminkworks
A stroke has robbed Clive Parisi of his short-term memory. To function he records everything that happens in a journal and paints his long-term memories with vivacity and passion. Equipped with these two new skills and minus a critical old one, he runs away from the nursing home, embarking on a journey that narrates the universal experience of getting old and declares that the aged can retain human dignity in the face of diminished capacity and the stress of illness. This hopeful and humorous book insists that someone can, despite overwhelming outside influence, decide what will become of him, mentally and spiritually.
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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The Tenth Ghost
Jennifer St. Clair, Writer's Exchange
When ten-year old Jacob Lane's parents mysteriously vanish, she is sent to Darkbrook, the only school of magic in the United States. While there, she stumbles upon a series of mysterious deaths. Nine students have died in the past one hundred years. Nine ghosts haunt the halls of Darkbrook. Will Jacob be the tenth ghost, or will she be able to stop a witch's reign of terror with the help of her friends?
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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Beyond The Horizon
D. Lee and Kammy Bonias, Books Unbound
He is a warrior from a distant star, sent here to claim Earth. He didn't expect to find the one person his soul had searched the stars for. She is a reporter, born with an adventurous spirit. Being thrust in the middle of a galactic war was more adventure than she had dreamed of.
Unencrypted Multi-Format
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