It is official, Arnold Bailey of Baen Books has retired

[NormHart]

Originally Posted by Baen Books

As many of you may be aware, Arnold Bailey took ill in May from complications from an infection and was unable to do the work he normally performed for Baen, and it is unclear if and when he could continue. So, since that time, the folks at Principled Technologies (the company of Baen author, Mark Van Name) have been operating all of Baen’s sites, handling tech support, creating and posting all Baen eBooks, and so on. They will continue to do so. To help ease the transition to Arnold’s retirement, we’ve retained him on a consulting agreement.

We’d like to thank all of the Baen Barflies and readers who have sent messages of support to Arnold, his family and to Baen, and who’ve helped keep operations on an even keel.

--Toni Weisskopf

Publisher, Baen Books

Arnold is solely responsible for getting me into reading ebooks, first on my PC and later the availability of Baen Books drove me to buy my first ebook reader. He is a true pioneer in the ebook venue. His work with Jim Baen has lead to the only major publisher supported free online library, the only publisher to publish first run ebooks released on the same day (and often a bit earlier than) the hard bound books, and the only major publisher to publicly eschew DRM. He was a member here and he will be missed, I only hope that Baen Publishing can continue his good work.

[HarryT]

I wish Mr. Bailey a very enjoyable retirement, and I think that is the right decision. It's not fair on Baen's customers to be left hanging for weeks, unable to download products that they've paid for (which did happen on at least one occasion) while a group of volunteers attempt to fill the gap. Well-meaning though those volunteers unquestionably are, it's no way to run a business.

[catsittingstill]

I wish Mr Bailey a very enjoyable retirement too, and a quick recovery from any lingering effects of his illness.

Though I don't care for military fiction much, I profoundly admire what Baen has done with e-books, and I check in there periodically to see what non-military stuff they've got.

[SameOldStory]

I, too, started reading Baen books on my computer long before I bought a reader.


" and it is unclear if and when he could continue."

But I look on their attempt to maintain his position as a mark of the respect and consideration that they had for him. Even though it caused some problems at Baen, they did their best for him. That's not something you see very often.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I wish Mr Bailey a very enjoyable retirement too, and a quick recovery from any lingering effects of his illness.

Though I don't care for military fiction much, I profoundly admire what Baen has done with e-books, and I check in there periodically to see what non-military stuff they've got.

Yep. I'm a big fan of their classic reprint stuff - plus off course Night Shade has books there too at webscriptions.