Electronic Text Center
Includes web-accessible versions of many public-domain texts as well
as 1,600 texts that can be downloaded for reading using Microsoft's Reader
or the Palm Pilot AportisDoc reader software. Over a million texts have
been downloaded since last August.
Online Books Page
Created and maintained by John Mark Ockerbloom at the University of
Pennsylvania, this page provides links to thousands of freely-available
e-books, most of them previously printed and no longer under copyright.
Netlibrary
To find e-books purchased through the MINITEX library consortium, search
our
library's catalog using the keyword "netlibrary." This provides a list
of over 5,000 e-books shared by Minnesota libraries. The only way to use
these books is to read them on the computer screen. You can browse any
of these books online for 15 minutes; to "check out" a book, you need to
set up an account. When a book has been "checked out" it is inaccessible
to anyone else for a period of a few days, a requirement for copyright
reasons. Moreover, you can only print a few pages out of any of these books--another
bow to copyright.
Two sites for buying e-books:
Hard Shell Word Factory
At this site you have to pay for e-books. The books available for download
to palmtop devices are primarily popular genre fiction. This small company,
according to the New York Times, is the only e-book publisher
to actually make money.
Rosetta Books
A venture to digitize "backlist" books--classics that are still in
print. Started by an agent, this company was immediately slapped with a
lawsuit from Random House, a publisher that owned publication rights to
many of the books they were selling. The problem--the books were contracted
before anyone thought of "electronic rights" as part of a publishing contract.
Rosetta and Random House have settled their differences, but it remains
to be seen how lucrative a venture this may be.
Baker, John F. Literary Agents : a Writer's Introduction. New
York: Macmillan, 1999.
PN163 .B35 1999
Disguised as a simple "how-to" manual, this little book is actually
a trove of information on how the publishing business works. In addition
to an overview of the agent's role in the industry, includes insightful
interviews with literary agents who know the business inside and out. The
author is the long-time managing editor of the trade journal
Publishers
Weekly and is, himself, married to a literary agent.
Epstein, Jason. Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future.
New York: Norton, 2001
Z280 .E67 2001
The author--a long-time editor and founder of the New York Review of
Books, sees e-publishing as a saving grace, one that will free publishing
from the control of media giants that don't understand publishing as the
cottage industry it is. His vision includes publishing-on-demand machines
as ubiquitous and easy to use as ATMs.
Schirffrin, Andre. The Business of Books: How International Conglomerates
Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read. New York: Verso,
2000.
Z278 .S34 2000
A notoriously badly-edited book by a book editor and publisher (currently
of the non-profit New Press) who makes some important points about the
danger of media multinationals in a polemic that, at times, becomes personal.
Includes his own experiences in the business and some intriguing marketing
ideas for books in a non-profit mode.
Publisher's Lunch
Sign up at this web site for a lively e-mail bulletin sent out daily
by Michael Cader; includes links to publications on the book trade, gossip,
and always Michael's opinion on whatever he reads or hears. Includes options
to subscribe to a weekly e-book newsletter and a deal report on what manuscripts
and proposals have been acquired by publishers. The web site has a discussion
board and he has recently added a job listing service. Very focused on
the trade book industry; always includes a wide list of informative links
so it serves as a sort of "clipping service" for industry news. Essential
reading for anyone interested in the book trade.
Holt Uncensored
Sign up for free e-mail delivery of Pat Holt's columns on publishing.
Informed, opinionated, and stimulating essays on book publishing, book
selling, and issues that affect them. Less business-oriented than Publisher's
Lunch, but without Lunch's excellent links. A good source of gossip, commentary
and, occasionally, righteous indignation. Particularly of interest if you
want to follow independent bookselling issues.
Forword This Week
An e-mail news digest focused on small publishers. Though heavily promotional,
there are interesting features on issues of concern to small publishers.
Sign up by clicking on the FTW link and filling in the blanks.
Lexis/Nexis
Offers full text newpaper coverage. To keep up with publishing, choose
News, then General News, then More options. In addition to keyword searching
for publishing neSearch for articles by authors James D. Kirkpatrick (who
covers publishing for the New York Times business section) or Linton Weeks
(a feisty columnist covering the culture beat for the Washington Post.)
New York Review of Books
Long, erudite, serious reviews written by serious readers. If you're
looking for a review of the latest bestseller, look elsewhere. Even the
letters to the editors come with footnotes. But if you want a writer's
appraisal of what's happening in the world of letters, this is a good place
to spend some time. Also available in our periodicals collection.
New Yorks Times
Books
A free archive of book reviews, interviews, first chapters, book discussion
forums, news about books and, of course, the best sellers lists. The New
York Times Book Review is in our periodicals collection; the daily
paper (current issues on the main floor) also reviews books.
Publisher's Weekly
The trade journal of the industry. Includes news briefs, analysis of
issues in the business, and many pre-publication book reviews (not included
on the free web site, but available in the print version). The web version
has a search engine, handy for looking up people, publishing houses, and
topics in the news.
American Library Association
Includes a lot of information about association activities; the "issues
and advocacy" link offers background on a variety of topics, including
intellectual freedom and censorship, legislation, and literacy.
American Booksellers Association
Includes information on the business of selling books, industry statistics,
daily news briefs, and frequently asked questions about opening a bookstore.
Association of American Publishers
An umbrella organization for all kinds of U.S. book publishers. The
group lobbies on copyright issues in Congress, publishes trade statistics,
promotes reading and literacy, and works on standards for e-books, among
other things.
Author's Guild
A feisty bunch of professionals, eager to advance their craft--and
their share of the profits. Worth a look for reports on their activities
such as a landmark suit against the New York Times for their treatment
of authors' electronic rights, David Kirkpatrick's report
on the midlist book, and more.
Ebook Evaluation
Project
This project to evaluate the role of ebooks in libraries has a web
site that contains well-organized information on ebook publishing and the
issues involved. Among the projects conclusions: readers like reading books
electronically; the more pressing issue is whether publishers' fears about
piracy will limit the future of ebooks in libraries. An article on their
project has appeared in portal
(Gustavus community only).
eBookWeb
Originally started with funding from Nuovo Media, manufacturer of an
early e-book reading device, eBookNet was abruptly shut down after Nuovo
was bought by Gemstar and some of Gemstar's products were critiqued by
contributors to the Web site's forums. The new site, maintained independently,
offers news, discussion forums, opinion pieces, and an e-book primer.
Fister, Barbara. "Trade
Publishing: A Report from the Front." portal: Libraries and the
Academy 1.4 (October 2001): 509-523. (online for Gustavus community
only).
A description of the trade publishing industry and the role of e-books
for an academic library audience. Argues libraries should be more aware
of publishing issues--and that publishers should view libraries as partners
in growing a healthy market for books.
Lynch, Clifford. "The
Battle to Define the Future of the Book in the Digital World." First
Monday 6.6 (June 2001).
A lengthy essay on the social and cultural issues at stake in the ways
in which books may be redefined in the future; particular attention is
paid to intellectual property laws and how restrictions might adversely
affect book culture. The author is the Director of the Coalition for Networked
Information.
Hillesund, Terje. "Will
E-Books Change the World?" First Monday 6.10 (October 2001).
Not as in-depth or thought-provoking as Lynch's essay; more concerned
with how e-book technology may change book production processes and the
globalization of the book business. The author is a professor at Stavanger
University Center, Norway.