Angry Robot bundles ebooks with print editions

Angry Robot tests the best of all worlds - bundled ebooks

I've been waiting for this. I love reading on my ereader, but I also like owning the printed version of books. I like to be able to have them signed, if I like. And printed books are easy to lend. (Oh, were they as easy to get back...) I like the look of them on the shelves, like hunter's trophies, only less glassy-eyed and creepy in the strobe of a thunderstorm.

I do not smell my books, though I know some readers do.

So, like I said, I've been waiting for this --

Angry Robot Books put out this press release today. It feels like a testing of the waters. I so hope it meets with success. I'd love to see this become the norm...

We sometimes feel our customers are having to choose between a physical book and an e-format, when what probably suits them best is to have both in the same package, and so we are going to start giving away the digital version of each of our novels free with the physical paperback, in selected indie bookstores.

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http://angryrobotbooks.com/2012/07/supporting-independent-booksellers/

Wow, interesting idea. And it makes perfect sense to me, too. I'll be fascinated to see if others follow suit, I hope so.

That is a fabulous idea. I actually tweeted a few rounds with Dominique Raccah of Sourcebooks one afternoon when she was making the assertion that readers want one or the other and so they haven't seen a need for it. I told her that this is the #1 question I get from people when I'm selling nooks at B&N (aside from the "how is this different from the Kindle?" question).

e-readers are big readers. Big readers like lots of books in lots of formats. There are a lot of my print books I'd want on my reader if I could get them without paying more than $5 or so--I'd just like the convenience of being able to read in either format.

Way to go, Angry Robot.

Anne Lyle said:

Thought y'all might be interested to hear that UK publishers Angry Robot have started teaming up with independent bookshops to supply a free ebook with print copies bought in-store:

http://angryrobotbooks.com/2012/07/supporting-independent-booksellers/

At last, a little sanity in the publishing industry...

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Well, dang. I already bought a hardcopy of your book.

Robin Hobb has been talking about this idea for years, that when you buy a hardcopy, you get the e-copy along with it.

So cool! I would love to own both paper copies and e-copies. I like the convenience of the e-copy, but I also love having the cover art, and I find paper copies easier to navigate when I'm looking for a particular section.

Huzzah, Angry Robot!

Baen's been doing this for years with their hardcovers. Inside there's a CD-ROM with DRMless ebooks.

In the 1990s we bundled an ebook(s) with A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, Adam's Last Chance to See, Rick Smolan's From Alice to Ocean, and Macbeth.

I wish more publishers and authors would make that deal.

Terry Pratchett, I'm talking directly to you, man. We buy every book you publish in *hardback* for our home library, but it would be nice to have an e-book copy as well. It's not about piracy, and it could actually lead to more sales.

About damn time. Many of us have been wanting this since e-books first came out.

Jamesaritchie said:

About damn time. Many of us have been wanting this since e-books first came out.

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lol! I braced myself when I saw that you had posted in this thread. I was afraid you were going to blast us.

More publishers would do so, I'm sure, if the contracts they have with their authors allowed it.

As Medievalist noted, Baen has been offering free e-books with paper book purchases for a decade or more.

Less well-known is that I know of at least one former Baen author who left Baen rather than publish with them under those terms.

James D. Macdonald said:

Less well-known is that I know of at least one former Baen author who left Baen rather than publish with them under those terms.

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Why did those terms offend the writer? I'm trying to think of the downside. I'm a downside-thinking kinda girl.

Perks said:

Why did those terms offend the writer? I'm trying to think of the downside. I'm a downside-thinking kinda girl.

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If I recall correctly it was "You want rights to my book? You pay for rights to my book."

Baen wasn't offering any money for the electronic rights, and wasn't giving a royalty on books they gave away for free.

Oh, I see.

Perks said:

lol! I braced myself when I saw that you had posted in this thread. I was afraid you were going to blast us.

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Not hardly. I've always thought this is a win-win situation. Even if it flops, it's still worth the attempt.

I'm disappointed... I thought this was going to be a thread about an actual angry robot that was figthing the system and bundling books.

I had posted this to my blog and one of the comments suggested that you should get a free ebook download with purchase of the hard copy and get the lower-priced ebook if that's all you want.

Assuming the publisher had paid for electronics rights, this would seem a win-win for everyone.

I wish I could suggest it for my book. I'd love to be near the front of that change. I don't know how much they'd appreciate a nobody like me making marketing suggestions, though.

Perks said:

I wish I could suggest it for my book. I'd love to be near the front of that change. I don't know how much they'd appreciate a nobody like me making marketing suggestions, though.

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It's pretty common for geek books.

And you're not a nobody. You're one of "their authors." It might be interesting to just ask and come right out and say you're not really expecting them to do it, but you'd like to know what people think.

Or ask "Why isn't [bundled ebook] more common?

One way is to put a postcard in the book with a serialized download key. There are others.

I guess there's no reason not to say something about it. They've been very easy to work with on everything, so I can at least ask. How cool would it be if they were already considering it and I got to be involved?

Perks said:

I guess there's no reason not to say something about it. They've been very easy to work with on everything, so I can at least ask. How cool would it be if they were already considering it and I got to be involved?

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Pretty cool!

WRT ebooks in general, I like to encourage authors and publishers to think about what you can do with ebooks that you can't do with print.

For one thing, white space is free in ebooks; you aren't going to pay extra for more pages, you don't have to worry about the physical requirements of binding like signatures. You can have live links, you can add extra material . . .

I'm glad to see this, I've hoped for it for ages. I'm not saying I'd want to buy every book like this. For novels I'm mostly happy with just the ebook - I have no more shelf space!

But there are other types of books it would work well for. For example an art book, a full retrospective of a painter's work, in a large format hardback, full of gorgeous colour plates. And to go with it, an ebook of just the text - which is a bit easier to whip out on the bus than a hardback that is a foot wide and weighs several pounds.

Widespread adoption of this is exactly what it would take to get me to buy an e-reader.
*Wanders off to support the initiative with his wallet*

ETA: Oh, I have to go to Abingdon. Maybe when I have my car.

Perks said:

I do not smell my books, though I know some readers do.

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I do that, but only with the nice-smelling books ...