Peter James's Host, published on two disks, was an early example – but exactly where the medium started life is surprisingly tricky to identifyWhat was the first ebook? Debate rages … When Peter James published his thriller Host on two floppy disks, in 1993, it was billed as the "world's first electronic novel", and attacked as a harbinger of the apocalypse which would destroy literature as we knew it. Now it has been accepted into the Science Museum's collection as one of the earliest examples of the form, as the spotlight of academia begins to shine on the history of digital publishing."I got absolutely pilloried," says James. "I was on Today accused of killing the novel, I was a front-page headline on papers in Italy – 99% of the press was negative … one journalist even took his computer on a wheelbarrow to the beach, along with a generator, to read Host in his deckchair."The digital version of the novel (it was also published physically) went on to sell 12,000 copies, according to James, and two years later, he was speaking on a panel on the future of the novel at the University of Southern California, together with Apple founder Steve Jobs. "I said ebooks would catch on when they became more convenient to read than the printed novel," said James. "It was astonishing the amount of outrage it caused."And Host – about a scientist who downloads his brain into a computer and has his body frozen – has now become a historical artefact, accepted into the Science Museum's... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bulgarian author Miroslav Penkov has won the £15,000 BBC International Short Story Award,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US publisher SourceBooks has developed a new range of interactive ebooks for Apple devices based... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Some readers were upset by the font size of early releases of the ebook version of 'The Casual Vacancy,' in addition to concerns about its price. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An erotic novel has become Penguin's most successful ever ebook in terms of weekly sales,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette companies Orion and Hodder & Stoughton are jointly publishing a new story by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling's novel, The Casual Vacancy, suffers a formatting error in the US making it near-impossible to read on some e-readers. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon and Sony are continuing to offer ebooks at 20p, with further titles added to their... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Government-appointed panel to consider what role can ebooks play in our libraries in future. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spain's increasing involvement in the Eurozone crisis, along with government austerity... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and four major publishers have offered to let retailers such as Amazon sell ebooks at a discount to settle an EU antitrust investigation into their pricing deals and avoid possible fines. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple Inc., the world's biggest technology company, and four publishers offered to overhaul pricing models for digital books to allay European Union concerns that they blocked competition. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and four major ebook publishers have offered retailers such as Amazon.com the option to set their own prices for ebooks for the next two years in a bid to end an antitrust investigation in the European Union. The European Commission launched the investigation into allegations of cartel... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo and Amazon have unveiled new tablets, but are they playing a game they can't win? Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sales of digital fiction books increased by 188% in value terms in the first half of the year,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Feminist Press will be publishing a Pussy Riot ebook later this month, the publisher has announced. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American e-tailers including Amazon.com have begun selling HarperCollins ebooks at discounted... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A judge approved on Thursday a Justice Department settlement with three publishers accused of conspiring with Apple Inc and other publishers to push up the prices of electronic books. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Playboy announces that it is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a 50-interviews-in-50-days ebook series. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's a big day in the world of ebooks, and not just for the crew at Amazon. Today, Judge Denise Cote approved settlement terms for three of the publishers accused by the Justice Department of price fixing. Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins each agreed to settle with the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A judge has approved the settlement in the US of three publishers accused of conspiring to fix... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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