Fictionwise 2000 eBook of the Year: Nancy Kress's "Beggars in Spain"

December 28, 2000 - Chatham, NJ - Fictionwise.com announced today that the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella "Beggars in Spain," by Nancy Kress, is the website's "2000 eBook of the Year" winner.

The story, which went online as an eBook at Fictionwise (http://www.fictionwise.com) last July, won the honor based on a calculation using unit sales and member ratings.

"We knew when we released 'Beggars in Spain' as an eBook that it would be popular with our members," commented Stephen Pendergrast, co-publisher at Fictionwise.com. "But we had no idea the type of interest it would generate. In the end, we can say that "Beggars in Spain" helped Fictionwise succeed as an e-publisher in the year 2000."

Nancy Kress said: "Fictionwise.com is a wonderful venue for getting my short stories into eBook format. In fact, I like the whole idea so much that my husband Charles gave me an eBook reader for Christmas. I will soon be a customer as well as an author. And I'm delighted that people enjoyed 'Beggars in Spain.'"

The novella was so popular it spawned a trilogy of novels, including a novel-length version of the original novella. The novella was included in four major science fiction anthologies, including the prestigious "The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection" edited by Gardner Dozois, and "The Science Fiction Century" edited by David G. Hartwell. Critics have acclaimed both the short story and novel versions of "Beggars in Spain." It is one of the essential stories that explores the ramifications of genetic engineering, a topic of growing importance in the 21st century.

"Nancy Kress is widely known for her genetics science fiction stories, and is one of the most popular short story authors today in the science fiction genre," said Scott Pendergrast, Fictionwise co-publisher. "This story has been recognized as one of the most important science fiction novellas of the last decade. It has consistently been one of our highest-rated and best-selling stories from the first day it launched. "

The top five finishers for Fictionwise's "Ebook of the Year" are:

1. Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
2. Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnick
3. Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly
4. Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg
5. To Serve Man by Damon Knight

For more information about "Beggars in Spain," including an audio interview with Nancy Kress, go to: /mindwise/authors/10.htm

The top five stories have been bundled together in a special "2000 Ebooks of the Year" bundle. For more information go to: /servlet/mw?a=v&t=book.htm&bookid=413

About Fictionwise.com

Fictionwise.com sells award-winning and high-quality fiction eBooks by top authors in multiple formats, including Palm (for Palm, Visor and Win CE), Acrobat, Rocket, Microsoft Reader (Pocket PC and PCs), and soon for the eBookMan device. Fictionwise.com has titles from leading contemporary fiction authors, including Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Nancy Kress, Damon Knight, Gregory Benford, Mike Resnick, Michael Swanwick, James Patrick Kelly, Pamela Sargent, Tom Purdom, and Kate Wilhelm, amongst others. In most cases, Fictionwise.com (http://www.fictionwise.com) has the largest short fiction eBook collections available for its authors.

Website: (http://www.fictionwise.com); Contact: Scott Pendergrast at scott@mindwise.com or 973-701-6770