Wildside Press Megapacks?

[owly]

Wildside Press has several collections in different genres called Megapacks. They cost under $2 on Amazon and Google Play. Has anyone tried these? The Science Fiction ones look especially enticing.

[gweeks]

The thing to keep in mind with these is that they are mostly public domain stories that are being packaged. It's worth looking to see if what you want is available elsewhere cheaper. If what you are interested in is not part of the PD content they aren't terribly expensive. I've not bought one of the Wildside ebooks, but their paper books are well set and formatted. I've not had any complaints with the 2 or 3 paper books I bought.

I should add that John Betancourt has been active in promoting the public domain. A fair chunk of the PD SF on Project Gutenberg came from magazines he donated.

[DrNefario]

I haven't bought any of their megapacks - I'm a bit dubious at to whether some of them are actually legal in the UK - but I have bought other books from them and not had any problems.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by owly

Wildside Press has several collections in different genres called Megapacks. They cost under $2 on Amazon and Google Play. Has anyone tried these? The Science Fiction ones look especially enticing.

Every one I've been tempted to buy was also available for loan through my local Overdrive library. You might want to 'try before you buy.'

[owly]

Originally Posted by curtw

Every one I've been tempted to buy was also available for loan through my local Overdrive library. You might want to 'try before you buy.'

Thanks but no Overdrive in Sweden.

[ObtuseAngle]

I've purchased a few of their $1 author megapacks through Kobobooks - excellent value for short story collections, probably cheaper and easier than tracking down the individual works myself.

From their discussion forum at http://movies.ning.com/ it appears they do take the time to track down agents and estates for permission as well as using public domain material, so they are complying with copyright, at least for the US (I'm not sure what the UK differences are DrNefario).

Edit: They also sell directly through their website at http://www.wildsidepress.com/index.html

[piperclassique]

I have several of these, the formatting is acceptable, though as others have said, much of the material is PD.
They are so cheap though, that it is often worth getting them even if you only want one of the stories.

[owly]

Thanks all :-) and lookie they have a gigantig Megapack bundle for $20.. http://www.wildsidepress.com/The-Fan...le_p_6001.html

[Dr. Drib]

I've bought plenty of these, and I'm quite happy with them.

The Darrell Schweitzer is not public domain material.

These represent excellent value - highly recommended.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I haven't bought any of their megapacks - I'm a bit dubious at to whether some of them are actually legal in the UK - but I have bought other books from them and not had any problems.

If they contain the magazine SF from PG, they almost without a doubt are not legal in the UK, or, indeed, anywhere outside the US.

[Dr. Drib]

Many of these Megapacks can be purchased from Kobo with this 40% off promo code:

perkopolis

Even though Kobo is a bit higher (initially) than Amazon, using the code can still result in some savings - not much - but still a little bit of savings.

[gweeks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If they contain the magazine SF from PG, they almost without a doubt are not legal in the UK, or, indeed, anywhere outside the US.

It's more complicated than that. It's quite likely Wildside has negotiated with the estate to have rights to sell outside of the US. That's part of the PD and non-PD material mixed. The non-PD requires a contract with the estate or rights holder even in the US. WE DON'T KNOW, as the contracts aren't public.

Greg

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I've bought plenty of these, and I'm quite happy with them.

The Darrell Schweitzer is not public domain material.

These represent excellent value - highly recommended.

I have also bought several of the Megapacks, usually through Amazon, and am happy with the value. As some have said at least some are PD and available elsewhere for free, but then there is the working TOC and the fact that the file is kept small enough to easily download onto the Kindle without taking up a large chunk of space too.

[Red Falcon]

I have bought most of the Science Fiction and horror Megapacks and am very pleased with them.They all have a TOC and are for the most part pretty well formatted.I keep a few of these packs on my kindle and phone for when I want a quick read.