[SensualPoet]

This thread raised a number of interesting questions for me.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is clearly a classic of science fiction (and thought fiction) -- and a common element of university academic experience. The author, Walter M. Miller, Jr., died 13 years ago; the title was first published in 1959; it won a Hugo in 1961and has been a "classic" ever since. This is not PD, but it's essentially not in print as an e-book. A paperback is in print -- in Canada for a modest $16.25 at Chapters/Indigo (!).

This thread is all about a consumer desperately trying to find a legal e-edition copy and ended up with one choice -- a large print edition for $3.50, then hoops and hoops to get it rejigged for normal use.

Yet a simple search at Google turns up a perfectly good copy in .rtf and .pdf which can be ingested by Calibre and exported to ePub and mobi for consumption on your e-reader ... free. Lots and lots of titles are NOT easily available: but here's an example of a highly celebrated work, which has no business being out of print, and it's not being sold legitimately as an e-book.

This is the a damning indictment, in my opinion, of how publishers simply don't "get it". They are leaving money on the table. How many high school, college and university courses this fall will assign this seminal work? Why on earth is it not available at a reasonable price (or at all) as an ebook?