Penguin USA to release back-list titles as ebooks

[Strether]

A reader on the Kindle forum wrote to Penguin asking for a title to be made available as an ebook and got the following response:

"Thank you for your inquiry regarding the availability COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO of Penguin Group (USA) books in digital format.

We are currently involved in the massive effort of converting as many new and back list titles to ebooks as we can, and we hope to be able to provide our customers with each and every title that they wish to see. We cannot specify when [insert title and/or series] will be made available; however, do know that we are working through the process.

If you would like to be notified when we publish new titles by your favorite author, search for the author's name on our website at http://www.penguingroup.com and choose any title; posted under the title's description is a box that reads "Email Alerts." Click the box next to "please alert me when the author releases another book," enter your email address in the box and click "go." Please note: If the author no longer has an active book on our site, the e-mail alert will not function.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us."

Hopefully, other publishers will follow suit.

Jim

[zelda_pinwheel]

and hopefully they will price them more reasonably, then we can all be happy...

[brecklundin]

well, looks like reasonable pricing is not gonna happen if this is an example:

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/B...00.html#format

Nothing like hardcover prices for ebooks. Especially so when there is a MMP version already for 1/3 the price.

[zelda_pinwheel]

*sigh*

[fargo]

Hahaha

I don't know why I read the title of this post as: Pentagon USA to release black-list titles as ebooks

[Alisa]

The Count of Monte Cristo? by Dumas? That's public domain and free, no? If they charge hardcover price for that I won't know whether to laugh or cry.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Alisa

The Count of Monte Cristo? by Dumas? That's public domain and free, no? If they charge hardcover price for that I won't know whether to laugh or cry.

Penguin editions of classics generally include introductory essays, extensive notes, and that kind of thing, which makes them considerably more valuable than the free versions at PG (or here, for that matter). But you're right, charging "full-price" hardback prices for them is a little foolish.

[MaggieScratch]

There was some news a couple of months ago that Penguin was going to release their classics as "enhanced" ebooks.

Penguin USA will launch a line of enhanced e-book classics this May, beginning with Pride and Prejudice. The new e-books, which will be compatible with all e-book devices, will feature an array of features, including a filmography, period book reviews, recipes and black-and-white illustrations. Price will be the same as the print edition, $8. Nine other Penguin classics will be released in the enhanced format in the fall. Makinson said the classics are a “great place to start” to test the possibilities of the electronic format.

My inner copy editor heaves a giant sigh at "will feature an array of features."

[rixte]

And my inner ebook lover heaves a giant sigh at the thought of releasing public domain books (even with extras!) at that price as a way to 'test the possibilities' of electronic formats!

We'll charge you 9 dollars for a few extras and then when you don't buy something you can pick up at PG for free, we declare the public uninterested in ebooks?

[igorsk]

"compatible with all e-book devices"? I'll beleive it when I see it.

[daffy4u]

That was a cookie cutter response. I received the same email in regards to a new release I had been waiting for. The ebook was released 8 days after the hard cover.

[Ervserver]

yikes...what are they thinkin

Originally Posted by brecklundin

well, looks like reasonable pricing is not gonna happen if this is an example:

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/B...00.html#format

Nothing like hardcover prices for ebooks. Especially so when there is a MMP version already for 1/3 the price.

[refpub]

remember, if a work is translated, each translation is treated as a new copyright. If Penguin paid someone to translate Count of Monte christo, that person may be receiving royalties on a 150 year old work.

[HarryT]

I think it's relatively unlikely that they'd pay someone to do a new translation. I've got two different printed versions of "CoMC" and they both use the same version of the text that PG has.

[hekkel]

Originally Posted by rixte

And my inner ebook lover heaves a giant sigh at the thought of releasing public domain books (even with extras!) at that price as a way to 'test the possibilities' of electronic formats!

We'll charge you 9 dollars for a few extras and then when you don't buy something you can pick up at PG for free, we declare the public uninterested in ebooks?

I'm currently reading Stendhals 'La Chartreuse de Parme', the Feedbooks version which contains the PG text I assume. Although I do appreciate Feedbooks and all, I find it quite annoying that the punctuation is completely crap in this edition. It is full of OCR errors. I wouldn't mind paying $8 on a version that has proper indentation and punctuation.