i just found this page. i don't know these authors but i think Small Beer Press is making a really great initiative (and for all the right reasons), and i appreciate their philosophy, so i thought i would spread the word.
Creative Commons licensed work from Small Beer Press
Free books in various formats (no DRM), including audio sometimes.
the
FAQ from the download page :
Quote:
1. Why?
We love books. We want to keep on publishing good books. Weird books. Interestig books. We are curious about the future. If everyone downloads books straight to the Kindlenub in their head, we might be in trouble. But if there are still people who like to read books on paper, maybe some of them will read some of these downloads and then decide they would like the actual books. Therefore we're releasing some of our books
also releasing it as a free download in various completely open formats with no Digital Rights Management (DRM).
2. Creative What?
We're interested in spreading the word about Creative Commons. Copyright is a good thing and artists deserve to be paid whatever society is willing to pay for their work. But, do artists need to retain the rights to their work for 70 years after their death? Uh, no.
3. Can't I buy the book?
Yes, we certainly encourage readers to buy the book -- we're a tiny independent press. We receive no grants, we're not a nonprofit: sales are good!
4. Will giving this book away kill sales?
We don't think so.
50,000+ people have downloaded Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen since we made it available under Creative Commons. In the meantime the book has gone into its sixth printing, has been translated into more than half-a-dozen languages, is being taught in many schools, and is still being passed hand to hand to new readers.
Our books soon be available in hundreds of libraries, on books.google.com and Amazon.com's Search Inside program, in a few used bookshops, on BookCrossing, Scribd, Teleread, and, again, in hundreds of libraries.
In other words: as with any book, if you want to read it for free, you can. We've just made it easier for this book to reach the 6 billion readers out there!
4. Questions
Got a question? Email us and hopefully we'll post an answer. We are a tiny press, though, so please don't get jumpy if we don't answer immediately. We're busy working on our next books, freelancing, or performing quality control on chocolate.
More thanks:
* Much of the impetus, information and inspiration for using the Creative Commons license came from author, innovator, and groundbreaker Cory Doctorow. (Thanks, Cory!)
* Thanks also to our webhost Utopian.Net (run by artists for artists) for help with this project (and being great hosts!).
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