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 ]
News tagged with:
#growing interest
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 30/09/2011 - 15:29 Google is preparing an imminent UK launch of its ebooks platform for selling digital titles, with members of Gardners Hive network able to sell the ebooks from their websites. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebooks platform
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 29/09/2011 - 08:42 Nottinghamshire library service has become the first to institute a charge for ebook loans. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebook loans
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 28/09/2011 - 15:32 Orion is to publish six short stories from bestselling author Michael Connelly as ebook exclusives, featuring his series character LAPD detective Harry Bosch. Two collections of three short stories will be published, each... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short stories
#27th october
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 15:05 Trident Media Group, a New York-based literary agency, has launched Trident E-Book Operations, which will create, manage and implement ebook strategies for its authors. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Publication Date: Mon, 26/09/2011 - 11:59 Broadcaster and author Melvyn Bragg is to join the judging panel for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award for a second year in a row. Bragg will be joined by actor Ian Hart, playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi, novelist Joanna Trollope... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#judging panel
#matthew evans
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 23/09/2011 - 10:45 Canongate has bought a collection of stories by a US marine and veteran of the Iraq war. Senior editor Francis Bickmore pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights to the untitled collection by Phil Klay through by Cathryn... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#iraq war
#phil klay
#cathryn summerhayes
#eric simonoff
#andrea walker
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:03 Libraries in Seattle have started testing the feature that allows readers to borrow books using their Kindle. Amazon signed a deal with Overdrive earlier this year to provide the service, which the retailer said will be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#started testing
#borrow books
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:06 One in five publishers is now generating more than 10% of their revenues from ebooks, with Amazon slowly decreasing in importance even as the giant e-tailer's revenues from ebooks continue to grow. The numbers are revealed in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebooks continue
#ebook production
#giant e-tailer
#corporate markets
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:05 The number of Americans using an ebook reader has almost doubled during the last 12 months, according to a new survery. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebook reader
Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Tue, 20/09/2011 - 08:30 Macmillan Children's Books has created an animated cover for the ebook of Frank Cottrell Boyce's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, which it hopes will attract the interest of bloggers. The covers can be seen at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 20/09/2011 - 08:17 The Natural History Museum has launched its first ebook for the iPad, created from the most expensive book ever sold. The ebook of The Birds of America by John James Audubon features all 435 illustration plates of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 09:51 Publishers are being kept waiting for the conclusion of the Office of Fair Trading's investigation into ebook prices, begun at the start of this year, with the OFT now in the process of assessing all the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#benedicte page
#fair trading
#ebook prices
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 14/09/2011 - 09:54 Google is close to launching an Australian version of its ebookstore, the first time the digital company has expanded the service outside the United States. The move raises speculation that a UK launch could be imminent.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebook service
#digital company
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 14/09/2011 - 08:55 Authors including Neil Gaiman and Ian Rankin will collaborate with the public in a short story "Tweetathon" organised by the Society of Authors. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ian rankin
#short story
Publication Date: Mon, 12/09/2011 - 08:45 Stories from Jon McGregor and M J Hyland have been shortlisted for the sixth BBC National Short Story Award, announced on Friday evening (9th September) on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jon mcgregor
#front row
Publication Date: Fri, 09/09/2011 - 19:30 Stories from Jon McGregor and M J Hyland have been shortlisted for the sixth BBC National Short Story Award, announced this evening (9th September) on BBC Radios Front Row. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#jon mcgregor
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 08/09/2011 - 08:43 The Huffington Post has turned digital publisher, releasing its first ebook, A People's History of the Great Recession by reporter Arthur Delaney, yesterday (7th September). The title is available on the UK Kindle store... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#huffington post
#great recession
#kindle store
#apple ibookstore
Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 31/08/2011 - 14:45 The Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish indie Cargo and US publisher McSweeney's are to team up on a four-volume collection of stories from authors including Roddy Doyle and Ali Smith. Fifty authors are to take part... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ali smith
#alan warner
#jackie kay
#michel faber
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 26/08/2011 - 08:48 Penguin is reissuing its collections of short stories for adults by renowned children's author Roald Dahl. The rejacketed paperback versions, priced £8.99, will be reissued in four batches, beginning with Someone Like... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short stories
#1st september
#27th october
Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 25/08/2011 - 07:00 The Orwell Prize is to blog George Orwells hop-picking diary entries, which went on to form part of his novel A Clergymans Daughter. Starting today, the political writing award will post a daily blog 80 years to the day that... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#orwell prize
#form part
#starting today
#diary entries