OK, $5 would be a great start. I will be grateful forever. And my pregnant translator (not my wife) will be able to stock up on chocolate-covered gherkins.

Greg Scowen
IndieGoGo Spanish Helmet Project

Comparing The Spanish Helmet with NZ 2011 Top Ten Fiction

Nielsen produce lists of top selling books in New Zealand. You can find this information on the Booksellers NZ website.
I took the list of the top 10 selling NZ fiction for adults and compared the statistics, rankings, reviews, and likes of these on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Goodreads (a popular social network for book lovers) with the same for The Spanish Helmet.

The Spanish Helmet Rankings

When compared with the top 10 New Zealand books…

Amazon.com

• #4 ranking of sales in paperback
• #2 ranking of sales in Kindle format
• #2 ranking of sales overall
• #3 highest review score

Amazon.co.uk

•  #8 ranking of sales in paperback
• #1 ranking of sales in Kindle format
• #1 ranking of sales overall
• #1 equal highest review score

Goodreads.com

• #1 highest review rating
• #5 highest count of reviews, likes (adds), and ratings

How Did this Happen?

There are few reasons for this crazy success. One is probably responsible for all of the others. I chose to self-publish instead of allowing a traditional publishing house to take on my work and price it out of the market while failing to manage the biggest sales channels on earth.

Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk are by far and away the most important sales outlets for novels. It’s a sad fact that a NZ novel that doesn’t appear on these sites is most-likely only going to sell in New Zealand. And that means a handful of copies. A runaway NZ success sells about 10,000 copies over it’s lifetime. There are exceptions, and one that stands out is the work of Lloyd Jones. It is his novels that top me on nearly every list and I have huge respect for that.

However, one of the top ten novels wasn’t present on either Amazon site. Two of the novels had never sold a copy or been ranked on either site. The pricing of the NZ novels was mostly far too high to compete on Amazon.

Kindle Ignored to Author’s Peril

The saddest part is that many NZ authors are missing out on Kindle sales. Those who are published on Kindle the priced are too high to make an impact.

On the Amazon.com, 6 of the top 10 NZ novels were on Kindle, yet sales of The Spanish Helmet are estimated to be over 10 times higher than the next ranked novel and the rank as second most sold doesn’t look to be broken soon.  The review scores help here too.

It is worse on the Amazon.co.uk site, which is hard to comprehend because the average UK reader has much more comprehension of NZ ways than a US reader. Only 2 of the top 10 NZ novels are on Kindle in the UK. That is a tradgedy.

Thanks to All Readers

I would, therefore, like to offer my heartfelt appreciation to all of the readers who have brought The Spanish Helmet to the place where it is today. I look forward sharing more stories with you in the future.

Alternate History Delivers

The Spanish Helmet
By Greg Scowen (Whare Rama Books, $20 for an autographed copy by post) Reviewed by Jillian Allison-aitken

New Zealand author Greg Scowen has come up with an interesting concept for his conspiracy thriller The Spanish Helmet: what if the officially accepted history of New Zealand is wrong?

A mysterious Spanish helmet sitting in our national museum, a large pohutukawa tree in La Coruna, Spain, and a 16th-century Spanish expedition are the basis of a conspiracy thriller and an alternative history of New Zealand.

Dr Matthew Cameron comes to New Zealand to investigate an archaeological discovery: findings that point to a New Zealand history where the Spanish were here before the Dutch and the Celts made it here before the Maori.

Dr Cameron follows a trail of clues scattered throughout the country, and is thrust into something of a treasure hunt that challenges our country’s history. Five centuries earlier, Francisco de Hoces was lost in the Pacific Ocean and ended up shipwrecked in New Zealand. The story of modern-day Dr Cameron is interspersed with that of Captain de Hoces.

This book is written to appeal to an international audience, so at times it can read a little like a travelogue but despite that, it’s still quite an interesting read.

I’m always a fan of thrillers but not always so enamoured of the conspiracy thriller genre, but this one is quite readable.

There are plenty of twists and turns and it will certainly get you thinking. At times the dialogue felt a little one-dimensional but this is a debut novel and it felt easier and more natural by the end of the book.

Author Greg Scowen lives in Switzerland with his family, where he works as a web developer for Switzerland’s largest library, the Eth-bibliothek. He also has a Southland connection, having lived in Otatara and Otapiri Gorge in the past.

The Spanish Helmet

By Greg Scowen

Reviewed by Elizabeth Winter

Take a mysterious Spanish helmet held in Te Papa, a large pohutukawa tree in La Coruna, Spain, which locals believe to be 400 to 500 years old and a 16th century Spanish expedition, and you have the makings of a conspiracy thriller and an alternative history of New Zealand.

Dr Matthew Cameron, professor of history and archaeology, is invited to New Zealand by his friend Warren to endorse an archaeological discovery.  He meets his estranged father and discovers he has been researching the theory that the Spanish discovered and populated New Zealand around 1536.

Matt is intrigued by this so he and his new friend Aimee set out to look at possible connected sites around the country and to pick up his father’s research  from Nelson. But as they travel New Zealand, who is the Maori following them?  And what part does the Department of Cultural Identity and National Information Security Office have in Matt’s investigations?

Fransisco de Hoces and his crew sail from La Coruna in July 1525 in the ship San

Lesmes, part of a Spanish fleet of seven.  The San Lesmes loses the rest of the fleet and eventually makes landfall in New Zealand, where the Spaniards explore the coastline and make contact with the Maori.

The modern story is interspersed with the Spanish captain’s journal. In a blending of fact and fiction, as both strands of the book come together, you begin to see

That the author has a plausible plot.

Having heard about the Spanish iron helmet found in Wellington harbour, I was curious to read this novel, and it did not disappoint.

The story sometimes slips into more of a travelogue, but nearer the end more action and a few twists enliven it again.

As a debut adventure novel, set in familiar places, it is a good read.  The Spanish expedition, helmet and pohutukawa tree can all be found through Google if you want to read about the facts which form the basis of the novel.

——–

The Spanish Helmet is available from Amazon.com in Kindle ($2.99) and paperback ($11.99) formats.

New Zealand has a large influence on my work. I started writing because I had a story to tell, the story of The Spanish Helmet. This is New Zealand’s story. Admittedly, I wanted to inject some Switzerland into it too, so part of The Spanish Helmet is set over here.

You say The Spanish Helmet is New Zealand’s story. Are you suggesting that there is more to the book than fiction?

A lot more. Originally, I came across some theories suggesting that New Zealand history needed revising. On first glance, I thought is was all quackery but a deeper look revealed some interesting questions. Being a researcher and working for a massive academic library forced me to look into the theories further. When I realised how much work needs to be done to determine New Zealand’s true history – or even if what we think is wrong – I was enraged. I decided to enrol in a masters program in archaeology and was going to return to New Zealand on it’s completion and start digging for myself.

Did you complete your masters?

In the end I realised that academic writing wouldn’t be the best way to reach the average Kiwi. So I started to write a novel. That is how I got to where I am now. I’m completing a masters in library management instead. My life really does revolve around information and books.

How much of the theory in The Spanish Helmet do you believe?

It isn’t so much a case of believing the theory, rather it’s about believing there are questions. The iron helmet at Te Papa, the European skull found in the Wairarapa, the Crosshouse, stones in the Waipoua Forest – these are all artefacts or places that should make us ask questions. I don’t know who discovered NZ first, no-one does. I just think it’s time we make some real effort to find out.

Aren’t you concerned about coming across as racist or a conspiracy lunatic?

Not at all because I am neither. If you read The Spanish Helmet you’ll quickly see that Dr. Matthew Cameron distances himself from the racist views of a handful of people that discuss these themes in New Zealand. Likewise, I have hopefully made my own opinions clear – of the way these issues are discussed and handled by both the conspirators and the authorities – through my narrative.

Now that you have told your story will you continue writing? Do you have more questions or conspiracies lined up?

To the first question, definitely. I have the bug now. I can thank the story of The Spanish Helmet for setting off my career in writing. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to continue with writing along the lines of The Spanish Helmet. My next book is also a thriller but it doesn’t have the historical fiction aspect nor any conspiracy. It does, however, involve a religious sect and may touch a few nerves within the religious community, particularly in some corners of the Pentecostal church movement.

Sounds intriguing. Can you tell us more? Will it be set in New Zealand too?

Switzerland. The whole story takes place in Switzerland but the parallel to NZ is very complete. Other than that, I can’t give anything away except to tell you that Dr Matthew Cameron is not featuring in this book. Instead, readers will be introduced to a new character who I hope to take into a series of thriller/mysteries.

Why did you decide to self-publish? Couldn’t you find a real publisher?

A real publisher? I guess you mean a traditional publisher. I sent an early draft out to only three publishers and they all came back with the expected response, that they don’t have the ability to take on work right now. The traditional publishing industry is having a hard time. Demand for eBooks and indie books (like mine) combined with the current financial state of the world is forcing publishers to cut back on new projects. The result is that these publishers aren’taking risks on newcomers. They stick with their safe existing authors.

It didn’t bother me at all because while I was waiting for their responses I discovered the amazing possibilities of print-on-demand books the Kindle. I was able to set up everything myself without any serious effort and had my shiny new paperbacks ready in no time. Even I have been astounded by the quality of the finished product. Bookstores in Switzerland have agreed that it is up to the standard of their other content and display The Spanish Helmet alongside novels from other best-selling authors.

Where is the best place Kiwi readers can buy your book?

In New Zealand, the best paperback options are:

Whitcoulls - http://www.whitcoulls.co.nz/book/the-spanish-helmet/25865355/

or my printer, CreateSpace  - https://www.createspace.com/3625003

or from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Helmet-Greg-Scowen/dp/1463558481/

or a NZ favourite, the Book Depository (free delivery) - http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Spanish-Helmet-Greg-Scowen/9781463558482

eBook version:

Kindle  - http://www.amazon.com/The-Spanish-Helmet-ebook/dp/B00537SKMA/

Thanks for your time. We wish you all the best.

It was my pleasure, thank you.

All of these excerpts are licensed with a Creative Commons NZ license and are available in the full document hosted at the NZETC website.

It was widely believed in England, at the opening of the nineteenth century, that the Dutch might not have been the first non-Polynesian discoverers of New Zealand. Indeed, some of the highest British authorities were convinced that sailors belonging either to Portugal or to Spain—or, perhaps, to both of those countries—had gazed upon the striking headlands and pretty bays which adorn the mid-eastern section of the North Island coast over two hundred years before Cook stepped ashore, in 1769, at Boat Harbour (Poverty Bay) and nearly a century before Tasman, in 1642, sighted the rugged western coast of the South Island.

Alright, so we quickly establish that the Spanish have been spoken of. So naturally there has been plenty of research into this important possibility. Nah, not in New Zealand.

Not a great deal that is fresh has been written on this important subject for many years, mainly because the search for new material would involve much time, expense and difficulty. Hocken and McNab—two of the Dominion’s most gifted historians—held that further research might reveal that the true story of the discovery of New Zealand has yet to be told. Unhappily, neither gained an opportunity to elucidate what both seem to have rated a first-class historical mystery.

Very unhappily. But wait a second… Hocken and McNad really were very important historians, their research should surely have been followed up. Why wasn’t it. Let’s look at what Hocken had to say:

In Transactions of the New Zealand Institute (1894) at p. 616, Hocken says:

“Doubtless before Tasman, there were voyagers who had visited New Zealand…. We are justified in thinking that there are buried in the old archives of Portugal and of Spain journals which, if found, would give an earlier account of New Zealand than those which we consider our earliest…. The iron-bound chests of Portugal and of Spain are the probable repositories of these treasures, or they may have been emptied into the Papal and monkish libraries … and may lie covered with the accumulated dust of centuries.”

OK. This gives us something to go on. The article goes on to discuss the Jean Rotz map of 1542, which both Hocken and McNab cite as shadowing a strong possibility that New Zealand was know to the Europeans. McNab goes further to say that evidence suggests that the country had even been seen previously to Cook on more than one occasion (which would exclude Tasman).

McNab Teases Us

McNab adds the following quote that beckons a tantalising treasure hunt (not for gold, mind, but for evidence):

I believe that the information will one day be unearthed, and I further believe that I know where it will be found, but it will be only after a search that might last for years.

Let’s hope that something can be found. Is there anyone searching in Spain or Portugal, by chance? Let me know.

The tree in question is a large pohutukawa that the locals believe to be 400-500 years old. That would fit in well with a discovery by Francisco de Hoces in 1526, don’t you think?

The original Landcare Research press release about the tree can be found here: http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/news/release.asp?Ne_ID=33Since I don’t trust NZ government agencies to adequately maintain a permanent URL, I am archiving a copy of this release herewith:

Famous tree sparks debate on discovery of New Zealand

Media Release: Thursday, 20 September 2001

A pöhutukawa tree at ´the end of the world´ has stirred up debate on whether the Spanish were the first Europeans to reach New Zealand, ahead of the Dutch and the British.

 

Dr Warwick Harris – and an intriguing pöhutukawa tree on the other side of the world

The giant pöhutukawa is a big attraction in the Spanish north-west coastal city of La Corunna, capital of the province of Galicia. This province was thought until the time of Columbus to be at the end of the world.

La Corunna’s mayor has chosen the tree as the city’s floral emblem, and many locals believe it to be 400 to 500 years old. However, because the tree is a New Zealand native, this could mean that the Spanish sailed to New Zealand before Captain James Cook in 1769, or Abel Tasman in 1642. A Spanish helmet found in Wellington harbour about 1880 is one clue that the Spanish were here earlier.

Landcare Research botanist Dr Warwick Harris has recently returned to New Zealand after a tour that included an invitation to talk about New Zealand native plants in La Corunna. He caused a flurry of local media coverage when he stated his belief that the tree could not be more than 200 years old.

“No-one knows exactly how the tree got to La Corunna, and it has not been scientifically aged.

“However, I have the romantic idea that it was brought into Spain by the British during the Napoleonic wars and can be linked to the heroic story of Sir John Moore.”

Moore took a small British army into Spain in 1808 to check the French invasion, but was forced to make a strategic retreat over mountains, pursued by Bonaparte himself and a huge army. Nevertheless, the British mission saved Spain from full occupation by the French. Moore eventually led his men more than 400 kilometres to La Corunna where British ships were waiting, but in the last phase of the evacuation his arm was blown off by a French cannon. He saw the end of the battle and died, and his hurried burial was immortalised in a famous poem by Sir Charles Wolfe.

Dr Harris says the history relating to Moore indicates it is likely there was a British garrison in La Corunna in the early 1800s. “At some stage the British must have recovered Moore’s body, and laid him in a tomb in what is now the Garden of San Carlos, created in 1834. Most likely there was a British involvement in the creation of the garden, and it is a romantic thought that the pohutukawa came to La Corunna at that time.

“We know that Captain Cook brought back plants from his first voyage to New Zealand, and within ten years there was commerce in those plants in England. We don’t know about pöhutukawa specifically, but we do know that the British were largely responsible for introducing New Zealand plants to Europe.”

Links to Christchurch

Dr Harris says the mayor of La Corunna, Dr Francisco Vasquez, is interested in forming a sister relationship with Christchurch, its antipodal city.

“If you drilled a hole through the earth from Christchurch, the nearest city you’d come out at is La Corunna.

“So the famous pöhutukawa is about as far away from home as it could possibly get.”

Pöhutukawa quite at home in Spain

While pöhutukawa struggle in some parts of New Zealand, Dr Harris says they thrive in the coastal regions of Galicia.

“Pöhutukawa there are not subjected to possums. The frost-free conditions in coastal areas suit them nicely. New Zealand cabbage trees are also common in La Corunna, as are flaxes.

“There’s actually some concern that New Zealand plants might become invasive, as have Australian Eucalypts, which create a fire risk.

“But as Galicia regularly has very dry summers, our natives probably wouldn’t spread from where they are planted to survive in the wild.”

The article was reprinted on Scoop: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0109/S00020.htm
and was reported on in this NZ Herald piece: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=218169

500 Years Old or 200 Years Old?

The argument put forward in the release is that the tree is probably only 200 years old and that it came to Spain via the British.

In my mind, there should be a relatively simple (and harmless to the tree) technique to take a core ring sample or something to find out how old the tree is. Mabye a botanist or arborist could tell me about this?

UPDATE: Buchhaus.ch (the website of Lüthy) is also selling The Spanish Helmet. In fact, the price is so good that even I can’t beat it. Just CHF 14.20 with free economy delivery. Get your copy today.

It is my great pleasure to be able to advise my Swiss readers that The Spanish Helmet is now available at the Lüthy book-store in the Glattzentrum Shopping Centre, Wallisellen, Zürich (rrp. 16.90 chf).

Lüthy Buchhaus

The Glattzentrum is Switzerland’s biggest shopping centre and offers a special shopping experience. The Lüthy book-store has a floor area of 1,100 sqm. and  over 85,000 title.

Opening times: Mo-Sa 09.00 – 20.00

Address: Lüthy + Stocker AG, Untere Verkaufsebene (lower floor),
8301 Glattzentrum, Tel: 044 878 21 21, Fax: 044 878 21 22

So when you discover that you have a handful of misprints in your document and you want to clean them out (you want the best possible for your readers, right?) the last thing you want to have to do is go back and edit your original Word document and go through the whole EPUB conversion process.

Sigil to the Rescue

Thankfully, you don’t have to. I had this exact scenario today and after initial attempts to do this the slow way, I found a great piece of Open Source software called Sigil. Simply download, install, and open your EPUB. That’s it! Your EPUB is presented to you on the screen as a book broken into sections. You can go through and make your correections, click save, and everything is done.

No fancy editing, no setting up images again, no mess and confusion with multiple versions of your proofs. Just a simple editor that works efficiently and fast.

What the Sigil Website Tells You

Sigil is a multi-platform WYSIWYG ebook editor. It is designed to edit books in ePub format.

Now what does it have to offer…

• Free and open source software under GPLv3
• Multi-platform: runs on Windows, Linux and Mac
• Full Unicode support: everything you see in Sigil is in UTF-16
• Full EPUB spec support
• WYSIWYG editing
• Multiple Views: Book View, Code View and Split View
• Metadata editor with full support for all possible metadata entries (more than 200) with full descriptions for each
• Table Of Contents editor
• Multi-level TOC support
• Book View fully supports the display of any XHTML document possible under the OPS spec
• SVG support
• Basic XPGT support
• Advanced automatic conversion of all imported documents to Unicode
• Currently imports TXT, HTML and EPUB files; more will be added with time
• Embedded HTML Tidy; all imported documents are thoroughly cleaned; changing views cleans the document so no matter how much you screw up your code, it will fix it (usually)
• An actually usable user interface
• Native C++ application
• Bugs
• And a lot more…

—

I am a happy customer. Thanks to this little find I can get on with my next novel.

Where Should I Post It?

Unfortunately, finding a list of places to upload or your promote your book trailer isn’t as easy at it sounds. The lists I found were either out-dated or had a huge number or irrelevant links. Especially for authors not writing YA, Fantasy or Non-Fiction. So I created my own list. I have uploaded my own first trailer for The Spanish Helmet to many of the sites listed and my experiences to date are noted. Where possible, I have included a link to my book trailer on the video hosting sites. This might help you compare the quality of presentation. The same file was used on all sites and was uploaded in HD (1080p, that is 1,920 x 1,080 pixels).

Focus on YouTube or Spread It Around?

I argued with myself over this one too. On the one hand, it seems logical to just upload it to YouTube and then to point as many people there as possible, so it goes viral. On the other hand, any new set of eyes is a new set of eyes. So uploading to as many video hosts as possible can get you in front of more people. Add to that the old marketing rules of people need to see a brand multiple times before they remember it and you are on to a winner with multiple hosts.

To balance the two options out, I suggest uploading it everywhere but picking one host as your main host and then still only pointing other people there. I do this with YouTube.

A Living List

I intend to keep this list up to date so if you have new places to add, old places to remove or some information to share, please let me know in the comments.

BTW, as a disclaimer I should note that I use the term book trailer numerous times in this post despite it being claimed as a trademarked term (that could only happen in the US, folks). I use the term freely without referring the trademark claimant for two reasons. First, I am not in the US and the trademark has only been registered there. Secondly, most important, I use the terms book and trailer to describe my video trailer which relates to my book. Such a use of a descriptive term falls within fair use. I am in no was suggesting that my book trailer has anything to do with said claimant.

Without any further ado, here is a starter list of 31 places to promote your book trailer.