FREE SF BOOK if you act now!

mikea

mikea

Touchdown! Greaser!
Gone West
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
16,975
Location
Lake County, IL
Display Name
Display name:
iWin
Last edited:
gprellwitz said:
But is it a good book? I'm not familiar with his work.
Click to expand...

Grant,

Scott Sigler was "the first podcast novelist." He wrote a book, sold it to a publisher, but Sept. 11th happened and the economy tanked and the publisher went out of business/got bought. New publisher wouldn't publish the book. It took him a few years to get the rights to his book back, and while thinking "Now what?" he had a stroke of brilliance: He'd release the book for free as a podcast, doing the reading (and the voices) himself.

That was EarthCore. He went from 100 listeners to over 30,000 over the course of the book, and a publisher took notice and published it. A very cool example of the possibilities the Internet can provide.

Since then I've listened to his next three books: Ancestor, Infected, and The Rookie. They're kind of a sci-fi/horror type of mix, with some VERY creative premises. I've really enjoyed all of them.

I haven't listened to Nocturnal yet because the books are so good I can't take them in the one-chapter-a-week format, so I download them all at once after they're done and listen to them in their entirety. (In fact, I listened to EarthCore on a trip out west, and I just happened to be driving not too far away from the Wahwah mountains where that book is based.)

So, download away! And if you like free content on the Internet (Attn: Nick!) download it even if you're not going to read it. Here's why:

scottsigler.com said:
Crown Publishing is letting me give away the PDF of INFECTED from March 27 through March 31, leading up to the hardcover in-store release on April 1. So download it! Feel free to email the link to anyone you know.
Please do not email the PDF, email the LINK. This is so I can prove to Crown the value in giving away content, and if your friends click on the link, that counts on their server stats - emailing the PDF doesn't count on the stats.
THANKS & ENJOY!
Copy the link address below, paste it into your email and send it to all your friends. Free crap for them! http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/infected/downloads/infected_novel.pdf
Click to expand...
 
mikea said:
Ummmm.....Well, ...you could, maybe, download it and try reading a bit and decide for yourself.
Click to expand...
Reading entire books in PDF format isn't something I really enjoy doing. I use PDFs more for reference materials or short articles. Electronic publishing just isn't there yet for my tastes. Podcasts and books on CD/mp3/cassette, however, where I can listen during my 2+ hours in the car each day, are wonderful! The main problem with the PDF is being tied to a computer, even a laptop. Now, if I had a tablet-format Mac Air, it might be a different matter! If I knew it were a great book, I might make the effort, but otherwise... :no:
 
gprellwitz said:
Reading entire books in PDF format isn't something I really enjoy doing. I use PDFs more for reference materials or short articles. Electronic publishing just isn't there yet for my tastes. Podcasts and books on CD/mp3/cassette, however, where I can listen during my 2+ hours in the car each day, are wonderful! The main problem with the PDF is being tied to a computer, even a laptop. Now, if I had a tablet-format Mac Air, it might be a different matter! If I knew it were a great book, I might make the effort, but otherwise... :no:
Click to expand...

Grant -

Download it in PDF format (to help the guy prove his point), and then download it again in audiobook form. (Not available at the moment, but "coming soon free from Podiobooks.com.") While you're waiting for it to come out, you can download Earthcore, Ancestor (which even has an airplane as a fairly integral part of the plot), and The Rookie which are his 1st, 2nd, and 4th books (Infection is the 3rd).

I must warn you, though, if you listen to it on the way to work you might not get out of the car until it's time to go home. ;)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
So, download away! And if you like free content on the Internet (Attn: Nick!) download it even if you're not going to read it. Here's why:
Click to expand...

LOL, I downloaded it, but since I now own that copy, there is no law (despite what MC thinks) that says I cannot now publish it myself, with full credit given, say at http://www.ridetheskies.com/book.html for example.

Copyright law is a lot simpler than some think.
 
gprellwitz said:
Reading entire books in PDF format isn't something I really enjoy doing. I use PDFs more for reference materials or short articles. Electronic publishing just isn't there yet for my tastes. Podcasts and books on CD/mp3/cassette, however, where I can listen during my 2+ hours in the car each day, are wonderful! The main problem with the PDF is being tied to a computer, even a laptop. Now, if I had a tablet-format Mac Air, it might be a different matter! If I knew it were a great book, I might make the effort, but otherwise... :no:
Click to expand...

:dunno: So if you download the book and scan through the table of contents or the first few chapters...

All it costs is 20 seonds of download time. :dunno:

I've read that people who posted free stuff for pickup on Craigslist have people show up and point to other things and say, "How about that!?" or when you run the ad because you didn't want to move the couch the guy shows up and stands there while you load the free couch you didn't want to move up for him.

IT'S FREE. Say THANK YOU.
 
Mike- Thanks much. Now I have something to read on an upcoming trip.
 
gprellwitz said:
Reading entire books in PDF format isn't something I really enjoy doing. I use PDFs more for reference materials or short articles. Electronic publishing just isn't there yet for my tastes. Podcasts and books on CD/mp3/cassette, however, where I can listen during my 2+ hours in the car each day, are wonderful! The main problem with the PDF is being tied to a computer, even a laptop. Now, if I had a tablet-format Mac Air, it might be a different matter! If I knew it were a great book, I might make the effort, but otherwise... :no:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you have either of these devices, but if you have a Jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch, you can get a PDF Viewer, which will allow you to read it on that (also lets you read approach plates and airport diagrams :D). Or, if you have a Sony eBook Reader (I got one by trading in some Continental FF miles), you can download the PDF and read it on that. I'll probably wind up doing the latter.
 
t0r0nad0 said:
I'm not sure if you have either of these devices, but if you have a Jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch, you can get a PDF Viewer, which will allow you to read it on that (also lets you read approach plates and airport diagrams :D).
Click to expand...

The iPod Touch and iPhone have a PDF viewer right from the factory - The problem is that with the lack of an accessible filesystem, you have to use the web browser or e-mail client to get to them. (If someone e-mails you a PDF or you find one on a web site, it's perfectly readable on an unmodified iPhone.)

So, the trick is to just e-mail it to yourself, and read away. :)
 
flyingcheesehead said:
The iPod Touch and iPhone have a PDF viewer right from the factory - The problem is that with the lack of an accessible filesystem, you have to use the web browser or e-mail client to get to them. (If someone e-mails you a PDF or you find one on a web site, it's perfectly readable on an unmodified iPhone.)

So, the trick is to just e-mail it to yourself, and read away. :)
Click to expand...
Yep, just did that so I can read the story this weekend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top