Baen April 2010 Webscription [OFFER ENDED]

[yunro]

Thanks, its been taken.

[Marcy]

yunro sent it to me. I can pass it along to someone else. PM me your email address.

-Marcy

[afa]

Can someone explain what, exactly, this entails? Are they ebooks or print?

And if they're ebooks, do you know if they're available outside US (specifically, in the Middle East)?

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by afa

Can someone explain what, exactly, this entails? Are they ebooks or print?

And if they're ebooks, do you know if they're available outside US (specifically, in the Middle East)?

Baen don't have geographic restrictions. Baen is a publishing company who do both print and ebooks (all DRM free and in multiple formats).

What the OP is offering is; if someone buys a months subscription they can nominate a person to also receive that months subscription for free (ebooks only).

Check them out at www.webscription.net. They have a huge free library. The free library are actual books that were print published (usually being offered are the first few in a series). Their pay titles are damn cheap, usually around the $6 price range (advanced copies are $15ish).

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by afa

Can someone explain what, exactly, this entails? Are they ebooks or print?
And if they're ebooks, do you know if they're available outside US (specifically, in the Middle East)?

BAEN Webscriptions are ebook bundles.
They are available DRM-free, world-wide, in pretty much any commercial ebook format.

They have a free library of over a hundred titles at Baen.com.
(They also offer up over a dozen promo CDs worth of content, some available via their website, *all* legally available for *free* at THE FIFTH IMPERIUM website.)

Webscriptions typically include 6-7 ebooks, at least 4 of which are new releases, for US$15. They also sell individual titles at sub-paperback prices.

Occasionally they release special author-specific bundles or early-release Advanced Reader Copies of upcoming titles so ebook readers can get their a copy *before* the print edition ships. (At a premium, of course; being the first kid on the block costs a bit.)

Baen has been doing ebooks right since the last century.
They're the good guys; you want to read SF&Fantasy, they want to sell you the stories. They don't treat you like a (likely) thief or second-class customers.

If you like or are interested in fun SF or Fantasy, you might find stuff to like there.

[afa]

Inexpensive, DRM-free ebooks that are available everywhere? Wow, it's almost as if these guys know what customers actually want! A rare thing, indeed.

Thanks Solicitous & fjtorres* for the info.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

If you like or are interested in fun SF or Fantasy, you might find stuff to like there.

For the last almost two years, I've been reading Fantasy almost exclusively, and have recently bought an SF anthology as a feeler to see if the genre's for me. So, hell yeah, I'm interested in this!

* BTW, is your name just a coincidence, or are you a big fan of the footballer?

[AnemicOak]

You can also check out their Free Library, lots of good stuff there.

http://www.webscription.net/c-1-free-library.aspx

[afa]

Thanks. Of course, I don't have a reader yet (next month, hopefully), so I'm gonna wait a while.

Any ones in particular you would recommend, though?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by afa

Thanks. Of course, I don't have a reader yet (next month, hopefully), so I'm gonna wait a while.

Any ones in particular you would recommend, though?

I'm a fan of the Honor Harrington series...

Book 1
http://www.webscription.net/p-304-on...k-station.aspx

Book2
http://www.webscription.net/p-211-th...the-queen.aspx


The Empire of Man series...

Book 1
http://www.webscription.net/p-267-march-upcountry.aspx

Book 2
http://www.webscription.net/p-265-march-to-the-sea.aspx


The Deed of Paksennarion (trilogy) is pretty good...

Book 1
http://www.webscription.net/p-587-sh...-daughter.aspx

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by afa

Inexpensive, DRM-free ebooks that are available everywhere? Wow, it's almost as if these guys know what customers actually want! A rare thing, indeed.

Thanks Solicitous & fjtorres* for the info.

How dare Baen give people what they want. The ability to convert their purchased ebooks, the ability to (if having bought a new ereader) re-download their purchased books in another format. Where is my DRM, where are the restrictions of fair use imposed upon me?

If only other publishers took note of how Baen are doing things. I'm never hesitant buying through Baen, but I always have a good think before I buy elsewhere (I don't pirate/distribute but DRM makes things rather difficult at times). I have Xenophon to thank (again) for introducing me to Baen, he offered me the months subscription and I have been hooked ever since.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I'm a fan of the Honor Harrington series...

Book 1
http://www.webscription.net/p-304-on...k-station.aspx

Book2
http://www.webscription.net/p-211-th...the-queen.aspx


The Empire of Man series...

Book 1
http://www.webscription.net/p-267-march-upcountry.aspx

Book 2
http://www.webscription.net/p-265-march-to-the-sea.aspx


The Deed of Paksennarion (trilogy) is pretty good...

Book 1
http://www.webscription.net/p-587-sh...-daughter.aspx

I have a few of the Honor Harrington series and Empire of Man (heard really good things about both of them but they are on my TBR list). I'll have to check out Deed of Paksennarion trilogy.

[Ankh]

In addition to the free library, they also in the past distributed CD's choke full of ebooks with their hardcover pbook editions. These are (legit, all is kosher) available for download free of charge from few places on the net, the following url is the prime source:
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

Rare breed, indeed.

[Worldwalker]

Beware of Baen. They're demonic. They'll give you the first few books in a series free ... and the next thing you know, you've got a huge dent in your wallet and a corresponding bulge in your TBR list. They're the crack dealers of ebooks. I'm trying to stay away from there until I get through the last stack of ebooks I bought from them. I won't manage it, of course, because I've got so much to read, and Baen has so many new books coming out, but I keep promising myself that this time, I'll just look at the upcoming books list, and not drop another $50 on books. If I try that enough times, maybe I'll eventually succeed.

All tongue-in-cheek warnings aside, Baen is doing everything right. I've been buying their books on dead trees as long as there has been a Baen Books, and now I'm buying almost entirely ebooks from them; they're cheaper, and don't require a visit to that dangerous place called a physical bookstore, where other books can ambush me and insinuate themselves into my hands. Their politics make me itch, but that's another matter entirely. What matters is that they treat their customers like honorable people and valued customers, not presumed thieves and enemies. They deal fairly with me, and I give them money; win/win.

Afa, just grab yourself a copy of calibre and use its built-in reader. You'll need it anyway when you get your ebook reader, so you might as well get an early start. Also, the Baen Free Library has an adequate online reading feature. I second the recommendation for the Honor Harrington books, though I think the series jumped the shark a few books ago; "the Salamander" has become something of a Mary Sue. I'm looking through what I have tagged "Baen Free Library" and noted Ryk Spoor's Digital Knight -- good book; I have that on dead trees too. David Drake's Old Nathan is great, and try Rick Cook's "Wizardry" series. Some of the following are in the BFL, some are on the CD archives, but all are online free: try With the Lightnings, Fiddler Fair, The Tank Lords, and Med Ship. There's probably something in there you'll like.

Unless you're a hardcore Tea-Partier, you'll probably want to avoid John Ringo and Tom Kratman. Unless you're fond of being repeatedly hit in the face with exhortations to protect children, you'll probably want to skip Mercedes Lackey's "SERRAted Edge" stories (but only that series). But that's what's so awesome about the Baen Free Library: you can read 'em, and find out of you like 'em or not, before you shell out actual cash money.

The Baen folks are smart: they know a lot of people won't take a chance on an unknown book or author, so it's not a lost sale to give the books away; for every sale they lose to someone who might have bought the book to see if it (or its series) was any good, they probably get ten from people who wouldn't have bought from them at all if they hadn't read the sample, who buy the whole rest of the series.

In a time when publishers at least claim to be struggling, Baen has been thriving. They're far from the only publisher of SF and fantasy, so it's not their content. It has to be -- it can only be -- their business model: treating customers well, offering a good product at a fair price, and giving out free samples.

And I'm proud of myself. I didn't buy the first two of the Complete Hammer's Slammers series (because I'm hoping for a bundle discount when #3 comes out, but hey, I at least postponed it!)

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Ankh

In addition to the free library, they also in the past distributed CD's choke full of ebooks with their hardcover pbook editions. These are (legit, all is kosher) available for download free of charge from few places on the net, the following url is the prime source:
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

Rare breed, indeed.

WOW! I knew about the free library, but had no idea this existed! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

[speedtouch]

Originally Posted by Ankh

In addition to the free library, they also in the past distributed CD's choke full of ebooks with their hardcover pbook editions. These are (legit, all is kosher) available for download free of charge from few places on the net, the following url is the prime source:
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

Rare breed, indeed.

Holy s*%&. I never knew about this CD stuff before. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And most of all, thank you Baen for treating your customers so well.