New e-Book store?

[Elsi]

While reading my e-mail @ gmail.com, I noticed an ad saying, "Ebooks for PRS 500/505 - www.bltcpress.com - Well-crafted classics in LRF format No digital rights management", so I hopped over to see what they offered. So far, they have 33 titles, all classics (i.e. copyright-free), each priced at 1.99 (USD). They do offer free book, under "Free Title of the Week".

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Elsi

While reading my e-mail @ gmail.com, I noticed an ad saying, "Ebooks for PRS 500/505 - www.bltcpress.com - Well-crafted classics in LRF format No digital rights management", so I hopped over to see what they offered. So far, they have 33 titles, all classics (i.e. copyright-free), each priced at 1.99 (USD). They do offer free book, under "Free Title of the Week".

I'm curious... if they are free of copyright, why would people buy from them... once you buy one you could put it up on mobileread.

BOb

[MickeyC]

Hi Elsi. Thanks for the tip.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I'm curious... if they are free of copyright, why would people buy from them... once you buy one you could put it up on mobileread.

BOb, what I was trying to say is that they were charging $1.99 for copyright-free books you can get from here, Feedbooks, Manybooks, Gutenberg, etc. I can't understand how they expect to sell very many books when the same titles are available for free elsewhere. Unless, of course, they're adding something like commentary, photos, new artwork, or fantastic formatting better than the volunteers here at MobileRead.

And, even though the book itself is no longer under copyright, I would never download a book from one site (paid-for or free) and upload elsewhere. The text/story might not be under copyright, but the version in LRF, PRC, or PDF might be considered to be protected in some locations. I would not want to take any risk.

[wallcraft]

There are many versions of public domain works for sale as ebooks, for example 50 versions of Pride and Prejudice for the Kindle. The thread Penguin USA to release back-list titles as ebooks was largely on this subject. The new Penguin Enhanced E-Book Classics, may be one case where there is enough value added to make the purchase worthwhile.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

There are many versions of public domain works for sale as ebooks, for example 50 versions of Pride and Prejudice for the Kindle. The thread Penguin USA to release back-list titles as ebooks was largely on this subject. The new Penguin Enhanced E-Book Classics, may be one case where there is enough value added to make the purchase worthwhile.

My point, exactly. Although there are 50 versions of Pride and Prejudice for sale for the Kindle, do you really think that people are purchasing them? With Penguin's scholarly commentary -- whether electronic or in paper -- the book may well be worth buying. And in this case, I at least feel that I'm paying for the additional info, not for P&P itself.

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by Elsi

My point, exactly. Although there are 50 versions of Pride and Prejudice for sale for the Kindle, do you really think that people are purchasing them?

I think that some people are. Lots of folks that buy Kindles (or read ebooks on their phones/PDAs) are unaware of places like this, Feedbooks, and so on. They buy the classics just as they do the other books available at their chosen "bookstore."

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by bwaldron

I think that some people are. Lots of folks that buy Kindles (or read ebooks on their phones/PDAs) are unaware of places like this, Feedbooks, and so on. They buy the classics just as they do the other books available at their chosen "bookstore."

More like, they don't understand the impact of "public domain". Even with the availability of those books in PD, to read those books, they still needed to buy a hardcopy. Those people don't understand that the text is readily available and anyone can produce an eBook from that text, including free versions.

Jason

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Elsi

My point, exactly. Although there are 50 versions of Pride and Prejudice for sale for the Kindle, do you really think that people are purchasing them?

Yes, I'm certain they are.

It takes many hours of work to create a really nice-looking eBook from, say, PG sources, and even when you've done that you've no idea how good or otherwise the text is as far as errors go. The early PG books (the ones that were typed in by hand) can be pretty dire, with the typist skipping sentences or even entire paragraphs. So even after you've created your eBook, if you're consciencious about it (as I was for the Dickens books I've uploaded here, for example) you have to carefully proof-read it against a good printed edition.

For many people, the time and effort involved in doing all that is well worth paying a few $ for.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by HarryT

For many people, the time and effort involved in doing all that is well worth paying a few $ for.

Definitely. For versions with good formatting, like Harry's Austen or Dickens, I'd gladly pay a few bucks. The problem with some of the ebook offerings for sale is they basically took the PG text and did minimal work on it and considered it done.