.KEYWORD ebook0502
.FLYINGHEAD THE EBOOK EXPERIENCE
.TITLE Star Wars, science fiction, and fantasy novels on your Palm handheld
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY People who read speculative fiction tend to be a little more open to the idea of reading books in electronic formats, and as a result speculative fiction ebooks are often more available than books on other subjects. As part of our Star Wars theme and as the first installment in a mini series on ebooks, Sam Kleinman takes a look at a few of the places you can find great Star Wars and other speculative fiction ebooks.
.AUTHOR Sam Kleinman
People who read speculative fiction (things like fantasy and science fiction) tend to be a little more open to the idea of reading books in electronic formats. Perhaps it’s because speculative fiction readers have a higher geek factor than readers of other genres, but it’s also reasonable to assume that people who read fantasy and science fiction in particular tend to be idealistic, accepting of technology, willing to change, and able to use computers effectively.
As a result of its slightly more enlightened audience, speculative fiction ebooks are often more available than books on other subjects. At most ebook sellers, you can pick quality speculative fiction that works great with any Palm handheld you may wish to use. So, as part of our Star Wars theme and as the first installment in a mini series on ebooks, let’s take a look at a few of the places you can find great Star Wars and other speculative fiction ebooks.
.H1 Fictionwise
Fictionwise (at http://www.fictionwise.com) is one of the Web’s premier ebook sellers for all kinds of ebooks, with a huge library of fiction and non-fiction ebooks from big name authors and independent self-published authors alike. Their library has thousands of volumes of fine short stories, novels, and other works.
Fictionwise books are reasonably priced–most books are under five dollars, and many are far less. You won’t find Star Wars books here, but they have a selection of less well-known books that are really top notch. And as an added benefit, Fictionwise books are available in eight different ebook formats (including three Palm OS compatible formats), which is convenient, hassle free, and multi-platform compatible.
.H1 Palm Digital Media
Palm Digital Media was formerly Peanut Press (at http://www.peanutpress.com). However, the buyout by Palm, Inc. thankfully hasn’t changed this superb ebook store and publisher. Palm Digital Media books are published in a rich text format that can be read with Palm Reader or Palm Reader Pro, which can also read regular Palm DOC files. Their format is relatively secure, and because of this, many big name publishers sell ebook versions of their popular titles at Palm Digital Media.
Palm Digital Media includes a few Star Wars novels as well as many other quality speculative fiction selections. In addition, Palm Digital Media has contracts with independent and self published authors, so there are some exclusive gems hidden in their large library (including noted mobile tech pundit Jeff Kirvin’s novel, Between Heaven and Hell, at http://www.peanutpress.com/book.cgi/0740814117). While their file format options and pricing aren’t quite as desirable as Fictionwise and a few of the other sources for ebooks, they make up for this in quality and availability of titles that are otherwise unavailable in a Palm OS compatible ebook format.
.H1 MobiPocket
I would expect MobiPocket (at http://www.mobipocket.com) to easily be the best ebook format. After all, it’s aided by one of the best DRM (Digital Rights Management) schemes around. However, it seems there’s something that doesn’t quite feel right about MobiPocket, and it’s hard to put my finger on what it is. There’s a version of their reader for just about every device around, their DRM solution is user friendly, their pricing is reasonable, their selection is not vast but it’s unique and varied, and their format should be a poster child for the Open eBook Format (OEB at http://www.openebook.com).
All of these things should make a really killer program and format; but I’m just not in love with it. Nevertheless, because of its general acceptance by fans and readers, speculative fiction ebooks are usually more available in electronic format than other genres, as is the case with MobiPocket. Despite my personal reservations, I think that MobiPocket is well worth checking out.
.H1 Baen
Of all the big name Speculative Fiction publishers, Baen (at http://www.baen.com) has taken one of the best approaches to ebooks that I’ve seen so far. Baen primarily publishes contemporary science fiction/fantasy in paper formats. When ebooks presented themselves, Baen decided to try a completely radical way of using ebooks as part of their marketing department. They offer the first book or two in a series for free, downloadable in multiple file formats that are free of restrictive copy protection. If you want to read the rest of the series, you can either buy the print copy of the book or you can join a Web-subscription that gives you Baen books in electronic format for some regular monthly fee. If you’re interested in books from the likes of David Drake, David Webber, and Eric Flint, Baen is well worth your while to check out.
.H1 Jeff Recommends
Jeff Kirvin, noted mobile tech pundit, writer, and ebook champion, has a collection of fine ebooks on his Writing on your Palm Web site (at http://www.writingonyourpalm.net). All of Jeff’s recommendations (at http://www.writingonyourpalm.net/recommends.htm) are formatted in almost flawless Open eBook format XML, which is backwards compatible with standard HTML. All the books are free and come with instructions for converting the books into a format for reading on your PDA.
Some of the books mirror Jeff’s interests (which include Speculative Fiction), and others are classic works that are worth having in your ebook collection regardless of your genre interests. While most of these books can be found through other sources, Jeff’s little library is well formatted, free, and easily accessible. What more can you ask for?
.H1 MemoWare
MemoWare (at http://www.memoware.com) is the largest receptacle for documents formatted for handheld computers. They have the largest collection of public domain and other documents for the mobile reader, primarily in PalmDOC format. All of the books are free and in unrestricted formats that can be read with–in most cases–regular DOC readers. If you’re looking for a book that is either in the public domain or is being freely distributed, it’s worth your while to check out MemoWare. Because there isn’t a whole lot of contemporary literature entering the public domain right now, and there never were copious amounts of speculative fiction in the public domain, MemoWare’s speculative fiction section is decisively lackluster in comparison to the other genres. However, for a quality free service, it’s hard to really complain.
.H1 Project Gutenberg
In my mind at least, Project Gutenberg (at http://promo.net/pg/) is the parent of the modern ebook/e-text movement. Founded in 1971 by Michael Hart, the aim of the project is to make classic literature available to everyone in an electronic format. This takes what Gutenberg was able to do with his printing press to a whole new level. Project Gutenberg makes fine literature and reference materials (including the complete working copy of the Human Genome) available to all who want them, releasing, on average, one title a day.
Project Gutenberg texts are in ASCII text format with 70 characters per line, and there are hard carriage returns at the end of every line. This makes them lousy for the handheld screen without some formatting work. However, the amount of information that Project Gutenberg has electrified makes everything they are doing well worth mention and notice.
Project Gutenberg is a great source, and although it may not be the best source for speculative fiction (as a general rule, nothing that has been published since the 1920s is a part of the collection due to copyright laws), it’s a source for e-texts that’s paralleled by none.
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.H1 Conclusion
If you’re interested in reading ebooks on you Palm OS device, and enjoy speculative fiction, you may be in luck. The sources for ebooks outlined here are fairly good for most subjects, but they all have fairly sizeable collections of ebooks that are top quality, and in some cases completely unavailable in print. It’s often theorized that because of the forward expression of ideas that speculative fiction brings to its readers, speculative fiction readers are, in turn, more likely to be accepting of new technologies, such as ebooks and handheld computing solutions. Whatever the reason, those of us who enjoy speculative fiction ebooks are able to enjoy a wonderful reading experience with a minimum amount of hassle.
This article is the first in a series of articles examining ebooks, handheld writing, copyrights, digital rights management, and the e-reading experience. Check back next time for another installment in this series.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Fictionwise, visit http://www.fictionwise.com.
For more information on Palm Digital Media, visit http://www.peanutpress.com.
For Jeff Kirvin’s novel, Between Heaven and Hell, visit http://www.peanutpress.com/book.cgi/0740814117.
For more information on MobiPocket, visit http://www.mobipocket.com.
For more information on the Open eBook Format, visit http://www.openebook.com.
For more information on Baen, visit http://www.baen.com.
For more information on Writing on your Palm, visit http://www.writingonyourpalm.net.
For Jeff Krivin’s ebook recommendations, visit http://www.writingonyourpalm.net/recommends.htm.
For more information on MemoWare, visit http://www.memoware.com.
For more information on Project Gutenberg, visit http://promo.net/pg/.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.BIO Sam Kleinman is a writer; he makes his home in St. Louis Missouri and is interested in speculative fiction, cyber culture, and mobile technology. Sam is part of the content team for a promenade mobile tech Web site and also works on maintaining http://www.collectivearts.net, a Web site bringing together a group of skilled artists. You can reach Sam with any questions or comments by email at sam@collectivearts.net.
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