07-03-2003, 04:00 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 739
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Microsoft Reader Offers Best-Sellers for Free
As part of a promotion to entice people to update to the newest version of Reader, Microsoft is giving away 60 commercial eBook titles for free this summer.
"These books represent a wide cross-section of authors and books from a variety of publishers, such as 'A Short History of Nearly Everything,' by Bill Bryson; 'The Joy Luck Club,' by Amy Tan; 'Fear Itself,' by Walter Mosley; and 'Beach Music,' by Pat Conroy. The 20-week promotion will feature three new titles each week, available at http://www.microsoft.com/reader/."
This is pretty exciting news. Says Microsoft's Cliff Guren, "These are not public domain books or titles you could download for free anywhere else." I think this is an excellent way to publicize eBooks; for eBook publishing to take off, there has to be a critical mass of potential eBook customers. Hopefully this promotion will catch on and demonstrate to publishers that there is widespread interest in eBooks.
Microsoft's free eBook promotion begins tomorrow, July 4th.
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07-03-2003, 04:06 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 713
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Originally Posted by Crystal Eitle
However, I wonder what Microsoft's definition of "beginning this week" is. I have been unable to find the actual free titles.
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Originally Posted by article
Hoping to encourage more avid readers to try eBooks, Microsoft this summer will offer a series of compelling best-sellers in the Microsoft Reader eBook format for download at no charge. Some 60 premier fiction, non-fiction and reference titles -- from authors such as Amy Tan, Bill Bryson, Margaret Atwood, Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, Douglas Adams and John Updike -- will be available from the Microsoft Reader Web site, starting July 4.
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I guess that makes it tomorrow. :wink:
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07-03-2003, 04:08 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 739
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Originally Posted by Jimmy Dodd
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Originally Posted by article
Hoping to encourage more avid readers to try eBooks, Microsoft this summer will offer a series of compelling best-sellers in the Microsoft Reader eBook format for download at no charge. Some 60 premier fiction, non-fiction and reference titles -- from authors such as Amy Tan, Bill Bryson, Margaret Atwood, Elmore Leonard, Walter Mosley, Douglas Adams and John Updike -- will be available from the Microsoft Reader Web site, starting July 4.
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I guess that makes it tomorrow. :wink: |
Thanks!  ops:
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07-03-2003, 04:20 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 101
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I was just about to buy A Short History of Nearly Everything in hardback, but I can't resist it for free!
Thanks,
Justin.
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07-03-2003, 04:36 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,911
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Yahoo, free books!
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07-03-2003, 04:40 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 739
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Originally Posted by dean_shan
Yahoo, free books!
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And not just any free books - current titles by established authors. This seems almost too good to be true. Here's another quote, from the second article I linked, that explains Microsoft's strategy:
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Microsoft is making the investment in these first-class eBook titles to show more people that the eBook is fully capable of delivering a satisfying reading experience. The caliber of these titles and authors is such that people who have never used an eBook will try it because they can't pass up a chance at getting these books for free. Then they'll see how easy and convenient the eBook format is and use it for more of their reading.
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I hope this pays off; I really want eBooks to take off. I'm hoping that publishing books in electronic format becomes a matter of course. I'm terribly disappointed that I can't get Harry Potter in eBook format. I've read the first four, but haven't picked up the fifth one yet, mostly because I don't want to haul that 10-pound behemoth around.
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07-03-2003, 04:43 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 13
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I just read about this plan yesterday ... and it's one of the most fantastic giveaways I've ever seen. Do the math -- that's a virtual library of books for free!
Hopefully, this will spur eBook sales and Pocket PC sales and Tablet PC sales (I've got my eye on those babies!). But most importantly, I hope it will spur more publishers to enter the fray. The selection of eBooks is getting better and better, but I don't think the industry will really take off until nearly everything is available.
Of course, I'm also one of the few people on this board who isn't damning Microsoft for the DRM in Reader. Sure, it's not optimal, but it is a step in the right direction -- support for the proliferation of eBooks. I'm sure that when Microsoft went to the publishers with their eBook plans, fear of the big bad Microsoft led the publishers to demand exteme drm measures -- measures they didn't impose on Peanut Press, which was likely seen as a benevolent new concern going after a very small niche market (PDA users). Peanut Press' system is slightly less annoying...but only slightly so. I'm not much for pulling out the credit card and entering the info before opening a book for the first time.
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07-03-2003, 04:56 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 11
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IIRC, Reader supports expiration of content. Anybody know how long these books will "last"?
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07-03-2003, 04:59 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 739
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Originally Posted by Thomas Foolery
IIRC, Reader supports expiration of content. Anybody know how long these books will "last"?
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I don't think it does. My understanding was that these books will last as long as you have Reader installed; one of the quotes in the articles said something about "building a personal library"; that doesn't sound like something that will expire.
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07-03-2003, 04:59 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 98
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Am I missing something? I can't find the free books on the site. Perhaps I'm too early...
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Linear Mode
