I didn't see this mentioned anywhere else, so thought I'd do the honours...

From http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/today/index.html

We were the first UK publisher to launch eBooks way back in 2001 and now we are re-launching eBooks to coincide with the launch of the new Sony Reader.

The online ebook store's relaunch, scheduled for 24 September 2008, will feature a vast selection of non-illustrated Penguin titles. Until then, eBook Tasters (http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/penguin_ebooktasters/index.html) will allow readers to sample the opening chapter of top Penguin titles for free. A range of books is available from the Penguin website, including the top-ten bestseller Things I Want My Daughter to Know by Elizabeth Noble.

By the end of this year we'll have thousands of titles available in the shiny new ePub format for you to buy and read on your Sony eReader, your PC or Mac and other devices soon to launch.

Man, I was looking for a release date...I guess I just didn't look hard enough!!

Very cool, only 5 days to go :)

Oooh sounds like good news - will look forward to the launch.

Why are you getting so excited by this particular publisher? What is so special about it?
(It is not Tor unfortunately...)

Why are you getting so excited by this particular publisher? What is so special about it?
(It is not Tor unfortunately...)

"Penguin Group is the second largest trade book publisher in the world"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Group

"Penguin [Books] is the lead publisher for the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australian and India"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Books

Some (Penguin UK) corporate history:
http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/aboutus/aboutpenguin_companyhistory.html

Cheers,
Marc

Penguin is the publisher of many fine books in all fields -- I hope that people in the U.S. will be able to purchase books from it!

They already publish a large number of eBooks in MobiPocket format.

I just downloaded one of the "tasters". For the record, it is in ePub format. The file is 2+MB. The size seems HUGE compared to other formats. I'm used to 500k - 600k for whole books in other formats. Anybody else notice this?

It's because it has embedded fonts.

It's because it has embedded fonts.

I wonder whether it would slow down Sony Reader?

Unlike LRF files, embedded fonts in ePub files apparently don't noticeably slow down the display of pages.

And another source for epub books arises. :happy:

Unlike LRF files, embedded fonts in ePub files apparently don't noticeably slow down the display of pages.

Really? I'm going to have to throughly test this out.

Ok, it's now the 25th and the eBook site was (allegedly) launched yesterday......so why can I still only find the 'Tasters' ?? Where are the thousands of ebooks they promised us? I have to say the Tasters were fairly well hidden and I had to hunt the site for them, so it won't surprise me if I've missed the eBook section!!

Any clues, anyone?
:help:

...well I'm sure you all found it by now, but if not this is the one in the US

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/ebooks/index.html

and in the UK

http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/penguin_ebooktasters/index.html

anyone bought anything yet, and if so what format and how did they come out ?

Zevs

and in the UK

http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/u...ers/index.html

...am I missing something? Those are just the samples, surely?

and in the UK

http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/u...ers/index.html

...am I missing something? Those are just the samples, surely?

yes afraid so ... haven't found anything more yet :)

Zevs

Now things are moving with Penguin UK, they have now two books in e-format, although sorry to say both out of stock :2thumbsup

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Search/QuickSearchProc/1,,,00.html?path=c590614-00000000%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q6d6574612e636f6c6c656374696f6e3a696d70756c7365 ~~nc590614-1462A%23%231%23%232&homeNav=Y&newTitle=%22Y%22

Zevs

:rofl:

That's just so funny - and there I was about to post that the 'launch' was a bit of a damp squib, and they go and do something like this to keep us entertained... :D

Has anyone contacted Penguin to ask when the launch is going to happen?

Has anyone contacted Penguin to ask when the launch is going to happen?

Hi Harry, not me so far. The first post in this thread says the 24th of September, and of course that was already a week ago. But in the US they sell books both in "Microsoft Reader, Adobe Acrobat and ebook reader format"

Zevs

They are up to THREE titles now, the first two Ladybird books are still "Out of Stock", and the third (about the language of Cricket) is "Not Yet Published".. :smack:
Penguin UK Ebook Store (http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Search/QuickSearchProc/1,,,00.html?path=c590614-00000000%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q6d6574612e636f6c6c656374696f6e3a696d70756c7365 ~~nc590614-1462A%23%231%23%232&homeNav=Y&newTitle=%22Y%22)

They are up to THREE titles now, the first two Ladybird books are still "Out of Stock", and the third (about the language of Cricket) is "Not Yet Published"..

Doh! You couldn't make it up.....!!:blink:

...ohh good, they took away the book that wasn't published yet, but the other two, the Ladybird ones, which both are out of stock, are still there.......so I guess we just line up and take a number and see who gets one of them first ...:thumbsup:

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Search/QuickSearchProc/1,,,00.html?path=c590614-00000000%23%23-1%23%23-1~~q6d6574612e636f6c6c656374696f6e3a696d70756c7365 ~~nc590614-1462A%23%23d%23%233b&homeNav=Y&newTitle=%22Y%22

Zevs

Those two books have been there for months - they are clearly nothing to do with this supposed "relaunch".

I am slightly puzzled why, if anyone is actually bothered about this, they don't simply ask Penguin when it's going to happen.

Those two books have been there for months - they are clearly nothing to do with this supposed "relaunch".

I am slightly puzzled why, if anyone is actually bothered about this, they don't simply ask Penguin when it's going to happen.

Hi Harry, the story of Penguin UK re-starting their e-book business on September 24th, and having two books out of stock listed there on October the 4th is just plain funny ... surely you see that.... ?

Zevs

I just took a look at the US website, and they still don't get it....

First page - featured author - John Steinbeck...Good Author - OK

Cannery Row - $3.95
Of Mice And Men - $4.50

East OF Eden - $17.00
Grapes of Wrath - $16.00


No consistency at all, sigh.....

Those two books have been there for months - they are clearly nothing to do with this supposed "relaunch".

I am slightly puzzled why, if anyone is actually bothered about this, they don't simply ask Penguin when it's going to happen.

I've emailed them actually, still waiting for a response...

I've emailed them actually, still waiting for a response...

Great! Please let us know the outcome :).

I've emailed them actually, still waiting for a response...

Me too, also waiting for a response...

Zevs

Looks like protected Adobe. sigh. just what we needed, yet another DRM...

Looks like protected Adobe. sigh. just what we needed, yet another DRM...

Adobe DRM has been around for a long time. You sound like you think this is a new thing. Your Sony supports this with the latest firmware, by the way.

Dale

I've had a reply to my email - copied below:

Hi
The e books are due to go live any time now please keep checking the website
Regards
xxxx | Customer Solutions Team Coach | Pearson Shared Services

Obviously a misunderstanding between the terms due and over-due, and from my experience in IT Projects 'any time now' is carefully ambiguous... :D

But, I guess it's nice that they ARE at least aware that people are watching, and it is 'in progress'...

I never got a reply from Penguin about their re-launch of ebooks. Have kept looking at their site though and seen that the Narrow by Category left hand panel some days have included an item for ebooks and some days not. Just now it is not there and when it was there it always pointed to either the listing of those two books that were out of stock :) or to an error page.

However, I now found that they seem to have "hidden" the ebooks under the main categories. For example if you in the left hand panel select Fiction (novels & short stories) and then on that page scrolls down almost to the end you see in the left hand panel and item heading called Narrow by Format and under that it says ePub eBook. Following that link brings you to a page with currently 461 ebooks! Yayyy!! Not all are published yet though, but still!! Here is the link if you want to have a direct look:

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Search/QuickSearchProc/1,,,00.html?strSearch=&homeNav=Y&textSearch=&travel=&advSearchStr=&adv=0&searchProfile=UK-590614-global&path=c590614-00000000%23%23-1%23%23-1~~c590614-671A%23%23z%23%237qq~~nf4||655075622065426f6f6b

So Penguin UK are now selling ebooks in epub format, which I hope will fit with the 505 reader (haven't bought any yet to test). I haven't found yet a way of finding all ebooks in one go, one seems to have to go through the procedure in order to find them. But still!! There are some other snaggs also where the site doesn't seem perfectly aligned to selling ebooks (e.g. Shipped within 24 hours), but again that doesn't matter so much. Concerning pricing it seems that they have the same price for the ebooks as for the regular books, paperbacks or hardbacks, one would have hoped for a lower price of course!! Anyhow they are on the scene now!

Zevs

Sweet, Zevs! Great catch. Too bad the prices are too steep for me. :sad3:

Sweet, Zevs! Great catch. Too bad the prices are too steep for me. :sad3:

I'm disappointed in the pricing too. Had a quick look at SciFi books and they all seem to be £6.99 or higher. Taking the first one that I looked at (Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham) the eBook price is £8.99 and there are 2 paperback formats listed, one at £7.99 and the other at £8.99.

It's a shame they haven't tried to price the books to tempt people in - I can get the same book from Fictionwise for $5.99 (about £4 with the current exchange rate) and if I pay by credit card or PayPal I get a 50% rebate.

Great that Penguin are doing it but unfortunate that I won't be buying much from there :(

Cheers,
Terry.

I've just e-mailed them asking if they will be adding ebooks as a format on the left hand side on the home page, along with the other three; and also rather cheekily if they would be dropping their prices!

A curious thing.

We had a few polls and found out that almost half of the forum is Science Fiction/Fantasy fan. Guess how many ebooks related to these genres can be found there?

Ummm, they want £9.99 for Alexander Dumas The Three Musketeers? Isn't that in PD?

Oh, and it's not published yet either :)

Ummm, they want £9.99 for Alexander Dumas The Three Musketeers? Isn't that in PD?

Oh, and it's not published yet either :)

The copyright for translation rule likely applies to the Richard Pevear translation.

Cheers,
Marc

The copyright for translation rule likely applies to the Richard Pevear translation.

Cheers,
Marc

Ah, I see :) Silly me :)

Hmmm I guess I'm still confounded by how Penguin UK never seems to get things right :) On their home page now they claim to have 2323 books in e-pub format, but when you click on that link you get to a page that says they have 679 books!! Well that is of course on a good day, some days you just get error messages when you try to access their e-books.... sigh, sigh :)

Zevs

I've just e-mailed them asking if they will be adding ebooks as a format on the left hand side on the home page, along with the other three; and also rather cheekily if they would be dropping their prices!

And much to my surprise got a reply yesterday!

They pointed out that the link is now there, and their current pricing policy is to price ebooks at the same as pbooks, but that it is something they are "constantly reviewing"

They pointed out that the link is now there, and their current pricing policy is to price ebooks at the same as pbooks, but that it is something they are "constantly reviewing"

Ah, well, we should teach them a lesson that they can "review", then. ;)