The editors of the new anthology
Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die have
offered to send a free ebook version (when ready) to anyone who forwards an Amazon receipt from purchasing the paper version. The editors say there will be Kindle, ePub, text, and PDF versions, and possibly other formats as well.
Book description from Amazon:
Quote:
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"The machine had been invented a few years ago: a machine that could tell, from just a sample of your blood, how you were going to die. It didn't give you the date and it didn't give you specifics. It just spat out a sliver of paper upon which were printed, in careful block letters, the words DROWNED or CANCER or OLD AGE or CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN. It let people know how they were going to die." MACHINE OF DEATH tells thirty-four different stories about people who know how they will die. Prepare to have your tears jerked, your spine tingled, your funny bone tickled, your mind blown, your pulse quickened, or your heart warmed. Or better yet, simply prepare to be surprised. Because even when people do have perfect knowledge of the future, there's no telling exactly how things will turn out. Featuring stories by: Randall Munroe * Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw * Tom Francis * Camille Alexa * Erin McKean * James L. Sutter * and many others. Featuring illustrations by: Kate Beaton * Kazu Kibuishi * Aaron Diaz * Jeffrey Brown * Scott C. * Roger Langridge * Karl Kerschl * Cameron Stewart * and many others.
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This book is the result of a short story contest held by authors of two of my favorite webcomics, Ryan North of
Dinosaur Comics and David Malki ! of
Wondermark. By asking their fans to purchase the anthology on the same day (yesterday, Oct. 26), the editors managed to make the book Amazon's #1 bestseller for the day--and Amazon has (unilaterally) discounted the book, as of this writing, from $17.95 to $9.87.
NOTE - the editors have also promised to
offer the manuscript free of charge in PDF and audiobook form on Nov. 2, 2010. However, it's not clear whether the Kindle/ePub versions will also be free. The goal of the free PDF is "building awareness and driving physical sales" - it will be interesting to see if that works for them.