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Weblog:   Repeated Misconceptions About eBooks
Subject:   Free e-books?
Date:   2002-07-08 18:23:36
From:   jlb
Baen Books sells e-books in txt formats, and even offers quite a number of books free of charge on their website.


The free library section contains a number of article by author/free library editor Eric Flint stating his position on the subject (and his disagreement with almost every other e-book publishers)


He actually encourages readers to copy and distribute e-books as widely as possible, with eerily Stallman-sounding arguments.


One of the articles even demonstrates how giving books away actually INCREASES their (paper) sales.


here's the link:
http://www.baen.com/library/


(articles are under the Prime Palaver link)
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  • Tim O'Reilly photo Free e-books?
    2002-07-08 22:43:23  Tim O'Reilly [Reply | View]

    Yes, I've heard very good things about the Baen online publishing program. I agree that giving away free electronic copies of a work can be a good way to get attention.

    But like everything else, it isn't a panacea. Remember how in the early days of the web, everyone said, "see how having a web site makes us all equal." But that was only so long as there were only a few web sites. Now, it's no easier to get a web site noticed than it is to get a book noticed.

    Signal to noise ratio still means something. And more signal than the receiver can handle becomes noise to the recipient.
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