Current rankings at Amazon.de are:

• #1 – Historical Fiction (1 out of 1,713 books)
• #2 – Thriller (2 out of 5,663 books)
• #3 – All free Kindle books (3 out of lots and lots)

After 36 hours, over 1300 German readers have downloaded the novel.

Get your German copy from: http://www.amazon.de/Spanische-Matthew-Cameron-Edition-ebook/dp/B0083TXLMY or you can download it from your local Amazon.

Dr. Matthew Cameron reist nach Neuseeland und ans andere Ende der Welt, in die Schweiz, um die Hintergründe einer verblüffenden archäologischen Entdeckung zu erforschen. Auf seiner Reise folgt er einer Spur von Hinweisen quer durch Neuseeland und findet sich in der Rolle des Schülers wieder, der einiges über Vertrauen, Liebe und Betrug zu lernen hat. Aber kann er es schaffen, die Geschichte einer ganzen Nation neu zu schreiben, wenn die Regierung vor nichts zurückzuschrecken scheint, um die Wahrheit zu vertuschen?

Fünf Jahrhunderte zuvor verschwindet Francisco de Hoces spurlos im Pazifischen Ozean, nachdem sein Schiff vom Rest der Flotte getrennt worden ist. Das Schicksal lässt die San Lesmes an einem malerischen und mysteriösen Meeresufer stranden. Können er und seine Besatzung unter den Eingeborenen dieses außergewöhnlichen Landes überleben?

Der Spanische Helm spinnt die Geschichte zweier Männer, deren Schicksale eng miteinander verknüpft sind. Als ihre Welten schließlich aufeinanderprallen, sollen die Auswirkungen dieser Explosion die Geschichte Neuseelands für immer verändern.

Greg Scowens Erstlingsroman, der von einer spannenden Handlung vorangetrieben wird, erzählt von einer modernen Schatzsuche und ist zugleich ein akribisch recherchierter Verschwörungsthriller, der Fakten und Fiktion gekonnt miteinander verbindet.

Amazon.de: http://www.amazon.de/Spanische-Matthew-Cameron-Edition-ebook/dp/B0083TXLMY

Be sure to get your copy and tell your friends.

http://www.amazon.com/Spanische-Matthew-Cameron-Edition-ebook/dp/B0083TXLMY

http://www.amazon.de/Spanische-Matthew-Cameron-Edition-ebook/dp/B0083TXLMY

For my part, I will naturally be in attendence at Frankfurt this year. It is, after all, just up the road from Zürich.

Worldwide rights for The Spanish Helmet are available in all languages. A German edition will be completed in May and can save any interested German publishers the additional cost of translation. Please contact me via greg.scowen@gmail.com with any enquiries.

Thanks to all of my readers and supporters. Without you, my work would not have gained the attention it has. I look forward to releasing my next title to you later this year.

I spent some time a few months ago, creating a list of Indie book reviewers. I used various sources (I can’t remember where from) to compile this list, but gave up before completing it when I realised I wouldn’t bother using it myself.

I posted the URLs on Goodreads yesterday and realised that there is quite a demand for such information. So here is the list – for you all.

Sorry that is isn’t complete. Some of the information about genres accepted may be incorrect. Likewise, some of these reviewers may no longer be accepting submissions.

Feel free to comment with updates.

The following list are reviewers that have not yet been browsed for the info contained above.

I hope the lists can be helpful for a few authors. Good luck.

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.