I haven’t tried it yet… but Penguin is now offering (what they call) ‘ebook tasters’. These are files are from upcoming or newly released books, in a digital download form. It seems they are only available in ePub format which means you’ll need an ereader or Adobe Digital Editions installed on your computer. I’m sure all of this is a DRM move, which I’m not sure is a wise thing, if you’re only giving away samples. Wouldn’t you want to make that as hassle free as possible?
Category Archives: Book Talk
Print must be a zombie
I just started reading Jeff Gomez’s Print is Dead. It’s a strong title, but I haven’t even made it half way through the introduction and he’s already opened a paragraph with “While print is not yet dead…”.
It’s going to be hard to argue with someone who gets to have it both ways.
Palin Profile Pays Off
Epicenter Press is living the small press dream… they have stayed focused to their core material/genre and have turned out to be the only publisher with a book about the hottest topic in the US right now… McCain’s pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for VP.
Epicenter, which publishes books on the Pacific Northwest, printed 13,000 Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down, around last April.
Now, thanks to McCain’s nod, they have orders out for 40,000+ more. I bet it’s one big party over there! It’s great when things like this happen to smaller publishers. Here is a company that printed a book they believed there was a market for… a market so small that no big-house publisher would bother serving… and now they are reaping the rewards. Good for them! And it’s another example of why we’re all better off with small presses in the world!
Philip Roth Live Simulcast
On September 16th, at 6:30pm, The Alabama Booksmith will play host to a live simulcast with author Philip Roth. The Booksmith is one of a handful of venues that will be dialed into the event, allowing visitors to watch Philip Roth and participate in a Q&A with the reclusive author.
According to their site, the Booksmith will have copies of all 29 Roth titles available and will be serving wine (to help fortify your courage to throw out questions to Roth, on this national stage).
Roth’s new title (with a ho-hum so-so cover) drops a couple of weeks from now and is titled Indignation.