Thursday, August 16, 2007

Moving Toward Downloading Books On A Cell

Today is a three-post day.

Shelf Awareness reports that HarperCollins has begun a pilot program in which readers can sample fourteen releases on their iPhones. Cell phone users can view the first ten pages of the books before making a choice to order a hard copy from a list of retailers.

Here's a list of the books currently available:

Winning by Jack Welch & Suzy Welch
Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury
The Burnt House by Faye Kellerman
Love is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison
The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh
Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson
Ike, An American Hero by Michael Korda
Life On the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass
A Killer's Kiss by William Lashner
Soul Catcher by Michael C. White
Obama by David Mendell
The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel
When the Game is Over It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg

Go to Harper Collins "Browse Inside" website here, or open the Safari browser on your iPhone and go to http://iphone.libredigital.com to access the titles.

Brian Murray, president of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, released a statement in which he said, "Our digital warehouse [which has 10,000 titles in it] gives us the unique opportunity to quickly offer access to our titles on the newest technology, and we encourage people to provide feedback about their experiences."

The Ja(y)nes over at Dear Author took a look at the first few pages of Obama and were not impressed. Read their critique here.

2 comments:

poetica in silentium said...

I have a hard enough time trying to read stuff on my computer screen. No way would I try using iPhone to read a book.

Maya Reynolds said...

David: I don't know. If you had asked me two years ago if I would read novels on my computer, I would have laughed at you. Now I do it all the time. So, apparently I'm more adaptable than I thought.