Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Swift
Like I said, I must be dense tonight because I just can't figure this out.
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Webscription is a terrible name. And some of the text hasn't been updated for a long time. Let me have a go.
Baen Books releases new paper books each month. Usually this consists of a couple of first edition hardbacks, a couple of first edition trade paperbacks, and two or three mass-market paperbacks of books that are new editions of books they released some time ago. So - six to seven books every month.
A Webscription month is simply a cheap way to buy ebook editions of their entire output for that month. So, if you were to buy the March 2010 webscription, you'd get seven ebooks in total.
Three are ebooks that have already appeared in previous webscriptions when they were first edition hardbacks:
Caliphate - April 2008
Fledgling - September 2009
David Falkyn: Star Trader - January 2009
The other four are completely new for March 2010
Crucible of Empire - Hardback
The Secret Behind the Secret - Hardback
Bound in Blood - Trade Paperback
Green Hills/Menace - Trade Paperback
Of course, it's not March 2010 yet, and the four new paper books aren't available in the shops yet.
But if you'd bought the March 2010 webscription back in the middle of December, you'd have been able to read the first (unproofed) half of the books online. And since about the 20th January, you'd have been able to read the first three quarters online.
And sometime between 15th and 20th February, the full proofed final copy of all the ebooks will be available for reading on-line or downloading in any of the webscription ebook formats to those who've bought the webscription month. Up to two weeks
before the paper books become available.
So - webscription months: For $15 ($10 for months from before 2002 ) you get four newly published ebooks and two or three older ebooks. You get to read half of each of the new ones up to ten weeks before they appear in the shops, three-quarters six weeks before, and have the full ebooks two weeks before.
It doesn't matter when you buy a webscription month - you'll eventually get the finished ebooks. If you buy a month that's already released (e.g. February 2010) you get access to the ebooks immediately. If you buy a month that's in the future (e.g. July 2010) you won't get any access until about ten weeks before the start of that month - e.g. between 15th and 20th April for the July webscription.
Or, of course, you can buy individual books for $4-$6.
And then there are eARCs - these are the full text of a forthcoming book, but not the final proofed and edited copy, because they become available up to six months before the publication date of the book. And they cost $15 per eARC. But if it's an book in a series you really like, and you just don't want to wait those six months, it can be a good deal.
I hope this has helped explain the way webscriptions works. Please ask if anything's still unclear, it's a bit tricky to explain.