Ebooks Finds The Magic Bullet

By Steven Vonder Haar, Inter@ctive Week © 2000
March 8, 2000 10:38 AM ET

One of the biggest names in popular publishing is trying his hand at electronic books.

Author Stephen King next week is slated to release a story - titled Riding the Bullet - that will be offered exclusively online, starting next week, in partnership with Web technology developer eBooks.

Online users will be asked to pay $2.50 for the 16,000-word ghost story from the noted author of mass-market oriented fiction. This is not the first time King has experimented with alternative media for delivering books. The author also has developed at least one title exclusively for audio distribution.

EBooks plans to distribute the King story through a network of online retail partners that includes Glassbook, netLibrary, Nuvomedia's Rocket eBook, peanutpress.com, SoftBook Press, and SoftLock.com.

The company's technology allows books to be distributed on devices designed specifically by eBook, or handheld personal digital assistants and also via personal computers.

The story will be co-published by Scribner and Philtrum Press.

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