[LINK] more on DRM-free audiobooks and ebooks

[Jan Whitaker]

from: Fwd: Publishers Lunch

>More DRM-Free Audio On the Way
>On the audiobook DRM front, other publishers are looking at joining 
>Penguin and following Random House's lead in offering more digital 
>audiobooks for sale as unencrypted MP3 files. Simon & Schuster says 
>they will unlock about 150 audio titles in the "next couple of 
>months" while Harper indicates they are "watching these developments 
>closely but...not yet ready to end DRM."
>
>Borders says they plan "to begin selling MP3 downloads by early 
>spring," while BN still has "no plans to enter the audio book market 
>at this time."
><http://click.email-publisher.com/maakiTGabFo7baBS04DeaeQxXH/>NYT
>
>Too Much Security and Technology Impairs "Free" Harper Download
>Also on the subjects of electronic files and free-dom in its various 
>forms, Cory Doctorow posted on Boing Boing on Saturday about 
>Harper's limited-time free online posting of Neil Gaiman's AMERICAN 
>GODS. "I think that Harper Collins got this one wrong. They've put 
>the text of American Gods up in a wrapper that loads pictures of the 
>pages from the printed book, one page at a time, with no facility 
>for offline reading. The whole thing runs incredibly slowly and is 
>unbelievably painful to use. I think we can be pretty sure that no 
>one will read this version instead of buying the printed book -- but 
>that's only because practically no one is going to read this version, period."
>
>Noting that unauthorized copies can be downloaded with ease, he 
>adds, "The 'security' that Harper Collins has bought with its 
>clunky, kudgey experiment is nonexistent: pirates will just go get 
>the pirate edition.
>
>Gaiman, who has nurtured his fan base with care for years, posts on 
>his own site and agrees: "I'm currently talking to Harpers about 
>ways we can make the American Gods online reading experience a more 
>pleasant one. And about ways to give American Gods away that would 
>make Harper Collins happy while also making, say, Cory Doctorow happy too."
>
>At the same time, Gaiman notes "I was surprised by a few emails 
>coming in from people accusing me of doing bad things for other 
>authors by giving anything away -- the idea being, I think, that by 
>handing out a bestselling book for nothing I'm devaluing what a book 
>is and so forth, which I think is silly." As he says, "the problem 
>isn't that books are given away or that people read books they 
>haven't paid for. The problem is that the majority of people don't 
>read for pleasure."
>
>Meanwhile, the site offers a free audio story ready to go.
><http://click.email-publisher.com/maakiTGabFo7caBS04DeaeQxXH/>BB
><http://click.email-publisher.com/maakiTGabFo7daBS04DeaeQxXH/>Gaiman site






Semi-finalist - Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2008: The Truck - A 
baby-boomer nostalgia murder mystery
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00121WDVA

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
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Writing Lesson #289:
You have a million words of sh** to write, so do them in whatever way 
makes it most rewarding for you and worry about wasted time later.
There is no wasted time except that spent not writing. - R Garcia, 
February 2008

Writing Lesson #54:
Learn to love revision. Think of it as polishing the silver for 
guests. - JW, May, 2007
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