I think I’ll be going on a little spree of downloading this evening. The following fantasy titles are now available from Del Rey’s free library at Suvudu. Formats for Sony Reader, Kindle, and pdf are available.
Ebooks
Archived Posts from this Category
August 13, 2009
Sony Reader moves to open format
Posted by Leah under Ebooks | Tags: Sony Reader, technology |[5] Comments
A NY Times article this morning reports that by the end of the year, Sony will drop its proprietary software for the Sony Readers and move to the much more consumer-friendly ePub format, the standard to which all publishers are pushing ebooks. This would allow Sony Reader owners to buy titles from any etailer that sells ePub, giving them greater flexibility in cost comparison.
The article also states that later this year Sony will introduce a new Reader that will be able to wirelessly down books in the same fashion as Amazon’s Kindle.
August 3, 2009
Barnes & Noble now has Dorchester titles from Jan. 2008-April 2009 available in ebook format, along with other select backlist.
We’ve priced the ebooks $1.00 below the print price. As an ebook reader myself, I think that discount is crucial.
B&N ebooks can be read on a Blackberry, iPhone/iPod Touch, and PCs or Macs. You’ll need to download their free ebook software to be able to read the books you purchase.
June 5, 2009
I love sales. If something’s a buck, you can’t really go too wrong. And because I’m so in love with Alissa Johnson’s Providence series, we’re offering her first book, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, for one whopping dollar. I’m not talking ebook, even. It’s a real, honest-to-goodness book with pages you can hold in your hot little hands.
Now you have no excuse not to try it. Click on the cover or links above to buy and read an excerpt. This offer is exclusive to the Dorchester website and ends on June 15–so don’t wait!.
But, I’ll warn you now, if you enjoy historicals in the vein of Julia Quinn or Stephanie Laurens, you’ll be hooked. Because Ali just keeps getting better and better with every book. McALISTAIR’S FORTUNE–available now–gave me that completely heart-melting “awww” moment.
Apparently we’re not the only ones feeling generous. There’s a slew of Forever titles for $1.00 (or less!), including titles by Carolyn Jewel and Robin Wells. And Orbit’s discount read of the month is MIDNGHT NEVER COME by Marie Brennan. It normally retails for $14.99, but until June 30, you can get it for–that’s right–$1.00.
June 1, 2009
Amazon’s Kindle edged out the Sony Reader in a Consumer Reports lab test of dedicated ebook readers. They found that while the Sony 700 had a faster page refresh and an easy-to-use touch screen, it couldn’t beat Kindle’s ease of use and clarity of the screen.
Personally, I think anyone looking to get into ebooks is best served with an iPhone or iPod. You give up screen size, but you can use the device for so many other things as well.
And just when you think you might finally have it all figured out, they throw new stuff into the mix.
The New York Times has an article today speculating on Google’s venture into ebook market, likely as a distribution platform to rival Amazon.
And DearAuthor reports on Plastic Logic’s new eInk device–which if I remember correctly is supposed to be a larger size to capitilize on newspaper, magazine and textbook reading–and the possibility of a much more affordable reader with new technology from Pixel Qi.
March 22, 2009
Kindle hits pop culture
Posted by Leah under Ebooks, General interest | Tags: Dollhouse, Joss Whedon, Kindle |1 Comment
I was watching the most recent episode of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse on Fox, and had to rewind the DVR to make sure I heard right. A video-game mogul was telling an FBI agent (far left) how times had changed and no one would would automatically take the agent’s word over the mogul’s. He says something to the effect of: “You try to bring me in, and the judge will throw the Kindle at you.” Yes, folks, the judge will throw the Kindle at you.
On the subway on the way home from work Friday, a man sitting next to me was reading something in Korean on his Sony Reader. The DH has recently discovered the joys of Kindle editions for his iPhone (though we were both surprised that the book he bought ended up costing $14.95; what happened to the highly touted $9.95 prices?). B&N recently bought Fictionwise. Sony is adding 500,000 public-domain titles that have already been digitized by Google to its library. The digital initiative is only going to grow, and luckily for all of us, it seems to be getting easier and easier to try it out.
March 5, 2009
The problem with having so many great free and discount ebooks is that suddenly I want all of them to be so cheap.
These titles–PLEASURE UNBOUND by Larissa Ione and EMPRESS by Karen Miller–are also available from Amazon, BooksOnBoard, and other ebook retailers. EReader just happened to send a pretty graphic in their newsletter.
Free pdf downloads from Del Rey’s new Suvudu Free Book Library, allowing you to try the first book a series:
If you haven’t yet HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON, it’s a great time to check it out. It’s always on my list of favorite reads.
Free from Harlequin’s Series Spotlight promotion:
From Macmillan Books:
To stay competitive with Kindle pricing, BooksOnBoard is offering select hardcovers, including Patricia Briggs’ BONE CROSSED, for $9.79 in the eReader format, a savings of more than $15.
February 18, 2009
Download free reads from Jax Cassidy, Eva Gale and at least a dozen others at the third annual Divas E-Book Challenge. Story lengths run the gamut from quick reads to full-length novels.
Via: Barbara Vey’s Beyond Her Book blog
February 10, 2009
Yesterday’s big news was all about the reveal of Amazon’s new Kindle, which boasts a longer battery life, more user-friendly (user-friendlier?) design, bigger internal storage and the possibility of future compatibility with mobile devices such as the iPhone. A lot of folks are psyched, and understandably so. According to GalleyCat, Kindle editions represent about 10% of Amazon’s sales of books where both Kindle and print are available. And I think that will keep growing.
However, I have to say I’m disappointed that Kindle 2.0 doesn’t have the capacity to read the epub format. Publishers have been working really hard to standardize the ebook model–both to save money doing all the conversion and to simplify the process for readers hesitant to jump into e-reading until the format wars are solved. But this new Kindle doesn’t promote any of that.
It’s frustrating to think about spending so much money for a device ($359 for the Kindle, $399 for the Sony 700) just knowing that in a year or two there will likely be an upgrade–a better, faster, stronger model that will render yours suddenly not as cool. In some cases–because publishing still hasn’t broken one way or another about format–it could render the device useless. I can certainly see why a lot of everyday readers are reluctant to jump into the market.
February 2, 2009
With the big Harlequin giveaway, Tor’s numerous free books last summer, and the $1.00 monthly Orbit titles, there certainly seems to be a big push toward giving something for nothing (or, at least, very little). But is it working?
Over the weekend, I finished THE WAY OF SHADOWS by Brent Weeks, the title Orbit offered last month for $1.00 (or 85 cents if you buy from Books on Board). I enjoyed it so much, I’m ordering a copy of the physical book for my brother and I’ll likely be purchasing the other two books in the trilogy. I’d call that pretty successful. The super markdown got me to purchase a book I had my eye on for a while but couldn’t quit bring myself to commit to.
On the other hand, I’m looking at Harlequin’s offerings and see maybe two or three of the 16 I’m interested in trying. I’ve read two of the Tor books I downloaded over the summer. Have they gotten me to buy copies? No. 
But then again, I wouldn’t have bought those books for full price to begin with. So the company and the author haven’t really lost anything either.
THE USE OF WEAPONS by Iain M. Banks is the current offering from Orbit. It looks like a little more sci-fi than fantasy, but again, for 85 cents, it’s not a huge loss if it turns out not to be that great.
So what are your thoughts? Do you like trying stuff if it’s free? Authors, does the idea of giving something away terrify you with the thought of piracy, or excite you with the thought of new readers?
