From the link:
Quote:
Publishers of these books are not really happy about the idea. "Publishers are going to be very reticent to assign a value of zero to their products," said Peter Kafka on the WSJ's Digits show. "They don't want to convey the idea that their products are worth nothing."
That's why the first deals that would be ironed out will likely be for older books in publishers' portfolios, instead of bestsellers that are currently only in hardcover like George R. R. Martin's Dance with Dragons or still profitable for a certain audience like the Hunger Games or Twilight series. Stephen King's latest masterpiece might not be free in this service, but Richard Bachman's might.
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My guess is that the books available for download under this deal will be the same freebies offered over on the Freebies forum. That's not much of a deal-"You can download without limit from a pool of books that nobody wants to pay money for. Knock yourself out."
I'd much rather see a paid subscription option for books that might actually be desirable. Maybe this deal will be a step in that direction.