Read Street: Free books online from Hachette publishing - A blog for a community of readers, in Baltimore and beyond.

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July 8, 2009

Free books online from Hachette publishing

child 44 To generate buzz about its books and authors, Hachette Book Group has begun to post the complete contents of selected books on its website. FOR FREE!

The selection of the OpenAccess program isn't huge right now, but it does include several books that have garnered impressive reviews, including Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith and The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent. There's also Gossip Girl.

A number of publishers have similar programs to promote new authors or a new series -- or to simply to spread the word about interesting books. It's not a bad strategy. Folks who read online are still a minority, but their recommendations can drive sales of printed books. So the publisher and readers can benefit.

Call me a caveman, but I'm not big on reading e-books and still like the feel of paper (did cavemen have books?). I guess I could print out these freebies, but that would be cruel to Mother Earth. So this offer may be lost on me, but hey, enjoy!

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Comments

The Amazon customer discussion forums usually provide a lot of information about free ebooks, not just for the Kindle, but for other formats as well.

Posted by: Gail Farrelly | July 8, 2009 10:46 AM

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About the bloggers

While she always preferred The Hardy Boys to Nancy Drew, Nancy Knight grew up reading nearly everything she could get her hands on, including a probably unhealthy amount of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike, with the obligatory Jane Austen thrown in. She'll still read just about anything you put in front of her, especially the funny or weird. She lives in the city with her books, cat and drum set.

Dave Rosenthal came to The Baltimore Sun as a business reporter in 1987 and now is an assistant managing editor and Sunday editor. He reads a wide range of books (but never as many as he'd like), usually alternating between non-fiction and fiction. Some all-time favorites: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole; Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery; and anything by Calvin Trillin or John McPhee. He belongs to a book club with a Jewish theme.