 |
Home - Yahoo! - My Yahoo! - News Alerts - Help |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
| Technology News - updated 12:00 AM ET Jul 25 |
|
|
| Reuters | CNET | Internet Report | ZDNet | MacCentral | AP | ||
By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Stephen King's latest online publishing effort got off to a smooth start Monday as thousands of users downloaded the first installment of ``The Plant,'' a new serial novel. Early indications were that most readers were abiding by the honor system and coughing up the $1 per copy King is asking for. King said putting the new novel in the easy-to-use PDF file format helped avoid the technical glitches that occurred in March when readers got stymied trying to download his novella ``Riding the Bullet,'' which came in an encrypted format. On the first day of his new publishing experiment, King made the rounds of the morning talk shows, appearing on the ``Today'' show and ``Good Morning America,'' where he told host Diane Sawyer he was testing behavior on the Internet. ``We have a generation of computer jockeys that we've raised on Napster and MP3 who have gotten the idea, the mistaken idea, that everything in the store is free,'' King said. ``And I'd like to see if we can't reeducate these people to the idea that the fruits of talent cost you money.'' King's premise is simple: He's putting up at least the first two installments of ``The Plant,'' a previously unpublished serial novel, but will only continue to post and write new ones if at least three-quarters of the readers choose to pay for them. So far, his bet seemed to be paying off. Marsha DeFilippo, an aide who is working with King on the project, said that as of Monday afternoon there had been about 34,000 downloads and that about 75 percent of the users were paying their dollar right away by credit card. Readers also have the option of mailing payments to a post office box. King's latest venture has caused a ruckus in the publishing industry, which is still coming to terms with the implications brought to their business by the Internet. Simon & Schuster worked with King on ``Riding the Bullet,'' but is being left out of ``The Plant.'' Simon & Schuster says it doesn't expect to lose its business with King, and for his part King says he still loves writing and reading books. Nonetheless, many publishers are waiting to see if King can successfully eliminate his publisher as an interface between himself and his readers - and still make money in the process. ``I think the publishers might heave a sigh of relief if it doesn't work,'' King told Sawyer. ``But I think we've got a chance here to change the way people think about stories.'' - On the Net: Earlier Stories
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full Coverage
Speak your mind| Search News |
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
Questions or Comments Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |