The Bookseller.com

13th October 2008

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HarperCollins to put books online free

11.02.08

HarperCollins Publishers US is to offer free electronic editions of some of its books on its website, including a novel by Paulo Coelho and a cookbook by the Food Network star Robert Irvine, reports the New York Times. The idea is to give readers the opportunity to sample the books online in the same way that prospective buyers can flip through books in a bookstore.

"It's like taking the shrink wrap off a book," said Jane Friedman, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. "The best way to sell books is to have the consumer be able to read some of that content."

Brian Murray, president of HarperCollins, said that the free electronic editions would be available only for one month, and readers would not be able to download them to laptops or to an electronic reader like Kindle from Amazon.com. The print function will also be disabled, but readers will be able to link to retailers like Amazon.com to buy copies of the books. Friedman said she doubted most people would read the entire versions online, but HarperCollins would track whether the editions actually helped increase sales.

NYTimes

US HarperCollins jane friedman