HarperCollins Announces Global Ebook Publishing Program

Posted on February 22, 2001

HarperCollins Publishers announced the launch of a global ebook publishing program. Fifteen ebooks will be published in February and March under a newly created PerfectBound imprint. Each ebook will be published in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Additional ebook lists will follow bi-monthly, eventually featuring a combination of globally and locally published titles.

HarperCollins has signed agreements with both Lightning Source and Reciprocal to provide the company with ebook fulfillment services globally. PerfectBound ebooks will be available in Gemstar, Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat ebook Reader formats. In the U.S. the ebooks will be available at retail outlets including: Amazon.com, Advanced Marketing Services' retail customers, The Booksite Network, Contentville.com, Ebooks.com, Gemstar, Powells.com and Seekbooks.com. Non U.S. retail outlets include: Chapters.ca, Seekbooks.com.au, Fireandwater.com, Seekbooks.co.uk and Waterstones.co.uk.

``We designed the PerfectBound e-book program with three goals in mind,'' said Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers. ``First, we will publish globally under a single imprint to take advantage of the worldwide reach of digital technology. Second, we will publish selectively, emphasizing quality over quantity. Finally, we will publish each ebook with full editorial, design, marketing and publicity support -- we will not just digitize books and release them into cyberspace.''

Heading the launch list is the novel Soul Mountain by Nobel Prize-winning author Gao Xingjian (February 20); the ebook includes ``The Case for Literature,'' Mr. Gao's speech before the Swedish Academy. Pride Before The Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era by John Heilemann (February 22) features in-book links to U.S. v. Microsoft's landmark legal documents, highlighted by the Bill Gates deposition.

On March 1, PerfectBound will publish three ebooks from The Riftwar Legacy series by Raymond E. Feist: Krondor: The Betrayal; Krondor: The Assassins; and the latest title, Krondor: Tear of the Gods. These ebooks will be on sale one week prior to the hardcover on-sale date of Krondor: Tear of the Gods. Faithless: Tales of Transgression by Joyce Carol Oates (March 8), a collection of short stories, will include an interview with the author. For The Vendetta Defense by Lisa Scottoline (March 15), readers will be a offered a free download of the first three chapters prior to the ebook's publication. Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell (March 22) will include an exclusive short story. Sharpe's Trafalgar will be on sale as an ebook seven weeks prior to the hardcover on-sale date. The Nightmare Room eOmnibus by R. L. Stine (March 29) will include six novels for young readers, as well as a short story. The novels will also be available as individual ebooks. Each will include story-specific materials not available in the print edition.

Christopher North, who has led the development of the company's ebook efforts, has been named Vice President and General Manager, Electronic Publishing, directing HarperCollins' ebook strategy and operations. He will report to Steinberger, President of Corporate Strategy and International. HarperCollins' team dedicated to electronic publishing includes: Sean Abbott, Senior Editor of ebooks in the U.S.; Laurie Rippon, Senior Vice President and Creative Director of the General Books Group, who will oversee ebook marketing in the U.S.; and Leo Hollis, Editorial Director of ebooks for HarperCollins U.K.