Buying that first eBook: Cell by Stephen KingBooks and Writing, customer adventures, Tablet PC — by TDavid @ 12:23 am PST
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When I first saw Stephen King’s new book Cell it sounded like my kind of horror tale: “There’s a reason Cell Rhymes with Hell” — spooky!
Apparently King dislikes cell phones enough to paint them as evil incarnate in his new horror yarn. Oh, and he doesn’t own one either.
I enjoy reading but sadly fiction novels have taken it on the chin over non-fiction the last few years. After reading the Cell blurb I knew it would be a book that could hook me back into King (got kind of tired of the whole Dark Tower saga and some of his last few novels) and was hoping that I could buy and read Cell on the Tablet PC. Looking around before I was disappointed not to find Cell being promoted as an eBook title.
How could this be?
Tonight I saw Cell at Costco and then again at another store and almost dropped the $18USD for the hardcover. Glad I didn’t because when I got home an email from Fictionwise waited announcing Stephen King Cell $14.99 with 50% Micropay rebate (Microsoft secure reader format) making the cost with Micropay rebate of $7.49 — sweet! Now someday I can use the other $7.50 Micropay for another eBook. I originally signed up for Fictionwise back in April 2005 and have been waiting for a good chance to jump in and make an eBook purchase. I remember being confused back then over the different formats and I’m not sure if that whole situation has improved or not.
As some might recall, I have a long and storied history, pardon the pun, of reading digital magazines (PC Magazine, MacWorld) via the tablet, but King’s Cell will be my first digital fiction novel reading experience as well as first eBook I’ve ever purchased. I hope Cell takes me back to the King days of past where I enjoyed books like The Stand, Pet Semetary, Dead Zone, The Shining, Christine, The Bachman Books (Running Man, Thinner, etc) … ahh, such good memories.
Ok, time to go nestle up with the tablet and dig into Cell. I’ll come back and update this entry or write a new one with my actual thoughts/review of the novel. It’s a short one for King, weighing in around 400 pages.
Before I depart, any other readers out there into eBooks? Favorite titles? Any cool eBook tips or tricks? Other cool places to buy eBooks from besides Fictionwise? Recently, I linked up the 2,100+ free eBooks available from the University of Virginia, so I know there are places to access eBooks for free too, but what about other commercial eBook outlets online?
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TDavid, just to put my comment in a frame of reference, I typically read a book a week and I’ve previously spent six years working in a library (book nirvana!). Having said that, I haven’t read a traditional paper book in almost three years and 90% of my magazines are digital as well. I abandoned Microsoft’s Reader app two years ago due to the crappy DRM implementation. I much prefer Palm’s DRM which ties your content to the credit card used to purchase said content as opposed to a device. I typically read my books on a PDA (currently an Axim X50v) which is handy because I carry no less than 50 books where ever I go. Reading in bed on the Ax doesn’t wake the significant other as well. Like you, I read the mags on a TabletPC and Zinio is my preferred method.
If you check Palm’s eReader site, I think you’ll find an excellent selection of content and I highly recommend subscribing to their weekly newsletter that provides info on new titles. The real reason for the subscription: a code good for 10% off any purchases each week.
Comment by Kevin C. Tofel — February 4, 2006 @ 9:46 am PST
Thanks for the detailed info, Kevin. I noticed that Cell also had a version in Palm format. One of the last times I posted about eBooks here somebody posted some code which rips out the Microsoft DRM so that it can be used in any format. Did you ever try using that? You got me thinking what happens when I buy a new laptop or tablet pc and need to transfer them …. I wonder if I’ll be able to download on the new machine?
Comment by TDavid — February 4, 2006 @ 11:56 am PST
[…] The problem with the first round of eBooks was the pricing wasn’t substantially different than buying the print books and the many different formats was a mess for readers. Even my most recent and very first eBook purchase was in Microsoft format but a reader informed me that if I had used Palm format (which I thought Palm was knocking on death’s door) I’d have more flexibility. […]
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