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You mean like this? Started by Baen, now also has books from

• Del Rey
• E-Reads
• Night Shade Books
• SRM Publisher
• Subterranean Press
• Tor Books

There is no source that I know of for new, legal novels without DRM.

Here's one: WebScription.Net. They specialize in sci-fi and fantasy novels, all available in several DRM-free e-book formats, including MOBI, EPUB, and plain HTML.

Not affiliated, just a happy customer.

http://www.webscription.net/ for Baen Books and several other related imprints.

Sci-Fi ran out of steam when the writers started putting more emphasis on sex and bottom of the barrel characters that represent the worst of society.

Sorry, what? Go read some real science fiction.

I assume that you're basing your assertion on the crap that you see on TV and in the cinemas, right?

Already we have areas of science so specialized that scientists can not communicate to each other as to the details of their expertise.

Haha. You might be interested in this short science fiction story, then: "Babel II" by Christopher Anvil

(If you enjoyed that, check out the Webscriptions website -- loads of DRM-free science fiction and fantasy e-books)

Already we have areas of science so specialized that scientists can not communicate to each other as to the details of their expertise.

Haha. You might be interested in this short science fiction story, then: "Babel II" by Christopher Anvil

(If you enjoyed that, check out the Webscriptions website -- loads of DRM-free science fiction and fantasy e-books)

You need to check out Baen Books -- they're a publisher that still publishes lots of excellent science fiction (as well as some pretty bad stuff too, admittedly) -- and all their books are available as DRM-free e-books. In particular, the Free Library is great.

Some publishers do "get it". Unfortunately, the majority don't.

You need to check out Baen Books -- they're a publisher that still publishes lots of excellent science fiction (as well as some pretty bad stuff too, admittedly) -- and all their books are available as DRM-free e-books. In particular, the Free Library is great.

Some publishers do "get it". Unfortunately, the majority don't.

You should read Martin Greenberg's Freedom (link to sample chapters at the Baen free library)

It contains a number of excellent Sci Fi short stories about the absence of government.

Your Google-fu is weak my son. Apparently the quote really is from Heinlein's first published story, "Life-Line", written in 1939.

Wait... you had to google a Robert A Heinlien story?

That's it, we're going to have to revoke your geek card now...

--bornagainpenguin

PS: Note that I've replaced the original link in the quoted text with a much better one to the text of the actual story which despite its apparent age is still as timely as the day Heinlein typed it out...

PPS: Remind me again who it benefits to keep the great man's works locked up in copyright for another hundred years now that both he and his wife are deceased? It's not like he's going to somehow produce another novel now that he's gone. (No the Spider Robinson novel doesn't count.)

The quote is from the short story Life-line.

Here is the text of the story if you wish to read it.

http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743471598/0743471598___2.htm

Maybe we should think twice before launching an attack against an Utu-class planetoid? Mutineer's Moon http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/0671720856/0671720856.htm

Dahak didn't mind so much being attacked - it kidnapped the person attacking it, gave them a complete body upgrade, and they ended up ruling. Not seeing any negatives :)

Maybe we should think twice before launching an attack against an Utu-class planetoid?

Mutineer's Moon
http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/0671720856/0671720856.htm

Much as I love Niven, James Hogan, Roger McBride Allen etc. etc., if you want to attract *all* ability levels, try some stuff they are already reading, like Marvel comics. "Iron Man" and Batman are basically Sci-Fi. There's also the whole Japanese anime genre. Not really my thing, though the video "Howl's Moving Castle" was pretty cool (steampunk/anime, maybe). Some of the classics are a bit dated in style (Jules Verne, Asimov, even Heinlein) and are a bit hard to read for the modern generation. Stick to more recent works in the same style, even if they are acknowledged retreads. The Jupiter series by Hogan, Pournelle etc. is Heinlein's Space Cadet etc. rewritten for a new readership. http://www.webscription.net/p-956-the-jupiter-novels.aspx

Free library of Baen science fiction books http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm

This is run by Baen but carries other publishers books. It is a no drm subscription service. You can also get electronic advanced reader copies of some books.
http://www.webscription.net/

You can buy individual books or a monthly offering.
http://www.webscription.net/c-81-2009-webscriptions.aspx

Free library of Baen science fiction books http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm

This is run by Baen but carries other publishers books. It is a no drm subscription service. You can also get electronic advanced reader copies of some books.
http://www.webscription.net/

You can buy individual books or a monthly offering.
http://www.webscription.net/c-81-2009-webscriptions.aspx

wearing my full-time novelist hat, I'm a bit worried

If it's not violating any confidentiality clauses, does that imply that your experience with distribution via Baen's DRM-free webscription.net was less than peachy? I'd noticed that you were "not currently available" there, but had assumed that it was a Baen/Tor publisher disconnect rather than a personal choice.

"... just a Pyramid scheme ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme"

Oh - I thought you meant this:

http://www.webscription.net/p-328-pyramid-scheme.aspx

It's an insane fantasy with very little chance of ever actually occurring, so I think it more appropriate.

(Good read, though. and DRM FREE!)

I'm not sure why you linked to ipdf.org ... I think you meant http://www.webscription.net/

I definitely recommend them, and they have a few different DRM-free formats to choose from. (And no DRM'd formats at all.)

I hope they have a good explanation of the difference between a magazine and a book, because non-fixed media magazines with changing ads are incredibly common. Of course, I've read several books online with ads in them also, so either way, the prior art in this is massive and common.

Dave Freer is having to get out of Africa. It's getting very bad there. It is a beautiful land and based on his and several other peoples comments it's like having to leave paradise so he has not been quick to leave.

Some of his books are in the Baen free library
http://www.webscription.net/s-45-dave-freer.aspx?CategoryFilterID=1&ManufacturerFilterID=0&

Better yet - buy it once, download in HTML or other format and read as much as you like.

There are people who get it.

Here's the best writeup on the subject I've seen by an author, at the Baen Free Library. Worth a read.
Along web their webscription.net Ebooks website, Baen seems to have a good handle on this whole digital media business.

http://www.baen.com/library/

There are some pretty big name authors here as well as new authors who are trying to make it. You can read the dissertation by that commie Eric Flint about "Online Piracy".

Baen Publishing is noted for including a CD with some hardback novels that has free novels in it. Surprisingly enough they've not cried foul when digital editions of those CD's have ended up online.

http://www.webscription.net/p-162-freehold.aspx You can read a good friends book here.

Very interesting, however from Fictionwise FAQ:

I Have Seen Blog Articles On Methods That Allow DRM Mobipocket Books To Work On Kindle. Can I Use That Method On Fictionwise Secure Mobipocket eBooks?

We do not support the use of such methods to transfer Fictionwise Secure Mobipocket eBooks to Kindle. For one thing, Amazon could take steps at any time to disable such methods from working. So you might purchase a book thinking it will work on your Kindle when it does not. We have to pay the publisher as soon as you download the eBook, we can't refund you if this transfer method doesn't work.

It is also not clear whether such methods violate your Amazon Kindle terms of service, which might mean you could void your Kindle warranty by using such methods.

Our Kindle-compatible Multiformat eBooks are in unencrypted Mobipocket format and the Amazon Kindle documentation expressly allows those kinds of file to be used on the Kindle. However, the Amazon Kindle documentation specifies that encrypted Mobipocket eBooks cannot be used on the Kindle.

For these reasons, Fictionwise strongly discourages the use of any such methods, and we will provide no support for them. Fictionwise only supports our MultiFormat eBooks for use on Kindle, not our Secure (DRM) Mobipocket eBooks.

So you *can* use non-DRM'd ebooks, but there isn't a legal option for the DRM'd ebooks at Fictionwise. I suspect that has a serious affect on title selection :D All of Baen Books, on the other hand, appear to not be DRM'd.

They have a back-up - free old books might make you want to read other - pay-for - books by the same author.

A good example is the "Honor of the Queen" series. Book one is available for free, the subsequent books in the series are pay-for. The idea is Book One is a 'teaser' - except it is far more substatial than a mere teaser - and you might just want to read the further adventures.

Also, a lot of their stuff is dual - available on websubscriptions, which is a pay-for online publishing system. They're already trying to deal with 'off paper' approach.

(You can either subscribe for $15 USD per month, buying access to that month's novels, or buy idividual books for around $5.)

I hope something similar to what is described in Eathweb (Baen Books) comes to pass. People subscribe to personas they're interested in, with methods to find personas that have something of value for you. Of course, all of this requires a number of elements to be in place: ubiquitous internet access, sufficient security to secure your persona(s), micropayments, accepting the premise of 'trust' for personas. But it would make for an interesting world, however unlikely it would be.

It's amusing to see the outrage from the Kindle's target market of /. readers.

The first 2 books I purchased for my Kindle 2 were from http://www.webscription.net/. They were downloaded to my PC in .mobi format; drag and dropped via USB to my K2; and both have already been read. The folks at Webscription even have a page on their site explaining how to read their books on the Kindle.

I'm on my 3rd book now. This one I got from Amazon via the wireless link. I paid $0 for it.

What I'd love to see is for Google, and others, to recognize the Kindle browser. Google knows the Wii browser, so why not the Kindle? That would make it so much easier to find stuff to download to the Kindle.

Frank

in order to help promote authors and series all available in many formats including kindle and RTF

that was unfair, I did read The Immoratilty option it was one of the better sci-fi ideas I've read and there wasn't any of that glorification.

Ahem.

In his "rant" he finally gets to the real core of the issue:

In fact, publishers, authors and American copyright laws have long provided for free audio availability to the blind and the guild is all for technologies that expand that availability. (The federation, though, points out that blind readers can't independently use the Kindle 2's visual, on-screen controls.) But that doesn't mean Amazon should be able, without copyright-holders' participation, to pass that service on to everyone.

To this I say bullsh*t. I'm sorry, it's bad enough that you want to charge me the same damn price for an e-book as for a dead tree book, and then not give me the same rights with one as with the other*. Now you want to say that if I pay for a device with a particular function, I shouldn't be allowed to use it? I suppose I'm not allowed to read the damn book out loud now too? Or have someone ELSE read it to me out loud? 'Cause that's the BS you're trying to sell me, and dude, I'm not buying it.

If I pay for a (fictional) device to put dead tree books in, and it OCR's them and reads them out loud, am I suddenly not allowed to do that either? What a load of crap. If technology really IS making "performance art" (i.e. books on tape) obsolete, then guess what...your product isn't worth what it used to be. Live with it. Once I've paid for my copy I'm done...if you come back and tell me any more of this kind of crap I just won't bother buying your product in the future.

*Yes, yes, I have a ton of books from http://www.webscription.net/. I'm aware that at least they "get" it.

Don't worry, I've already read this story. We're perfectly safe from the artificial black holes as long as someone is already working on a time machine.

Now the DRM issue. You can in fact get open formats onto the Kindle, its just that there's not as much legal and open stuff out there, and you cant exactly 'rip' a book as easily as a CD. It just sucks.

Well ... there is at least SOME stuff out there if you look in the Mobibook format (and like SciFi/Fantasy).

From Kindle's Tech Specs

Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion

(emphesis mine)

Baen has devoted a whole page to using the Kindle with their eBooks http://www.webscription.net/t-kindle.aspx

And then has both a free library as well as release a fair amount of their older catalog in a Freely distributable format on "bonus CDs" you can even find online (the first fix is free :) ).

I'll admit that most of what I read is SciFi/Fantasy. Having said that, at least 80-90% of what I've read in the past few years could have been gotten in eBook form (and ~50% of it has been). I'd imagine that the number is probably higher, but I still prefer "dead tree" books some of the time. (Haven't tried to get an author to sign an eReader yet :) )

"The New Zealand Labour government - ostensibly centre-left in political leaning - finds itself somewhat out of touch with its constituency, having furthered some very sinister policies (believe it or not, it is now actually illegal to smack your child for discipline in NZ). "

The far reaching implications are indeed scary. I frequently joke about getting spankings as a child like vitamins: One A Day (tm). But I would also acknowledge the fact that I never received one undeserved-I worked hard for every one of them! I have also 'officially' thanked my mother for my upbringing...she has had quite a few unknown compliments over the years. Gotta pass it on!

*nix fans should know this instinctively, as it is all a matter of acknowledging the source code. :-)

If you are a 'SciFi" fan, Keith Laumer wrote a series of stories about advanced AI in armored vehicles ('tanks' to us). The tanks were labeled 'Bolo'.
After Keith died, several authors continued the series.(by way of Baen Free Library http://www.baen.com/library/
One of the books:"The Road to Damascus"
'by John Ringo and
Linda Evans,
created by Keith Laumer', addresses this very thing by way of a political party that gains power that goes by the moniker of 'P.O.P.P.A.'

For all the billions Calif* spends propping up worthless mortgages, it could build gigantic ziggurats & actually house people.

Only if they build them as a regular shaped building, and make all the residents take an Oath of Fealty

It's nothing of that kind, it's simply a matter of prestige.
He wants us to land on the moon again before the Chinese get there, and that's all there is to it.

I'm just a bit nervous about how Dahak is going to take it.

[PS: the page I linked to is somewhat confusing, listing a $4 price for the e-book: it's really a free download]

You accidentily inserted the word "quality" in there.

Nope, it was entirely intentional.

No doubt there are some gems, but I've yet to read/find them.

Keep looking, they're in there.

Of course, I grew up on pulp sci-fi, so my standards may be different from yours. There's definitely a lack of truly "hard" sci-fi, but there are many entertaining stories, and that's most of what I'm after, nowadays. There's no Asimov or Dickson in there, I'll admit. I like stories, not textbooks. If I wanted to actually learn about quantum physics, I'd go google up a textbook, or something.

To me, the Baen Free Library is mostly a repository of some fairly decent pop-sci-fi authors, that I can peruse at my leisure without having to track down that book from my stacks (I swear, they started out as shelves, but they keep gathering more books, and, well...). I like them because they don't require much thought to delve into, but often have good concepts.

"Freehold", for instance; A good read, with only a few obstacles to suspension of disbelief, describing a colony world based on anarchy, libertarianism and the free market, and the society's (obvious and obligatory) problems in its interactions with Earth because of its (lack of) societal structure. It has plenty of scenes where stuff blows up, and military drama abounds. It also makes some good points about our current society, and where it might be headed, as well as pointing out some of the good features of anarchy/libertarianism (it's not necessarily pandemonium, ya dig?). I've recommended it to several of my friends, and will continue to do so. Being able to recommend it by hitting someone with a link in an IM or forum post makes it that much easier.

Keep in mind that the Baen Free Library is more of a marketing push, so they're trying to appeal to the "lowest common denominator", rather than creating a free collective body-of-work like Project Gutenberg. On the other hand, Gutenberg doesn't make it easy to decide I like a series (or an author, or a single book), and drop a small chunk of change on a small stack of paperbacks.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Baen in any way other than being a fan of some of their authors.

Not to mention, Med Ship is available for free.

Weber and Flint are two of my favorite authors, but I'm not sure how appropriate they are for pre-teens, due to the hard military Sci-Fi topics. They're probably OK for teens, but I'm not sure if pre-teens would really be interested in them.

And, yes, I'll second and third the recommendation for the Baen Free Library. There are a lot of good books and series there. Note, however, that not all books in a series are there. For example, you really need to have read H Beam Piper's, "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen" (which is not in the library), before reading "Great King's War", or much will probably be confusing.

http://www.webscription.net/
Interesting fact is that originally Jim Baen considered ebooks nothing more than advertisement. But in recent years they have been steadily earning profit as a product on their own; some authors get 30% of their book income from ebook royalties.
http://www.dquinn.net/baen-books2/

http://www.webscription.net/

They have been doing this exact thing for YEARS. What's with all of the "Finally" and "About time SOMEONE" comments.

Are Baen books everyone's cup of tea? Of course not. But isn't O'Reilly just as much of a niche?

...Larry Niven's Fallen Angels. Basic back story was that global warming was corrected, but it was the only thing holding back the next ice age. Not a bad supposition for a 17-year old novel. Pretty fun read with some decent science, as well.

http://www.webscription.net/pc-137-1-fallen-angels.aspx

Use the free library link Fallen Angels is awesome. It shows really what the Greens would really do to country if they took charge.

...Larry Niven's Fallen Angels. Basic back story was that global warming was corrected, but it was the only thing holding back the next ice age. Not a bad supposition for a 17-year old novel. Pretty fun read with some decent science, as well.

http://www.webscription.net/pc-137-1-fallen-angels.aspx

Use the free library link Fallen Angels is awesome. It shows really what the Greens would really do to country if they took charge.

Baen offers a better way to do what you want - http://www.webscription.net/.

- All books Baen publishes (though not some earlier ones without electronic originals)
- No DRM. At all.
- Multiple formats
- Permanent access. HD crash? Just download them again.
- Reasonable pricing.

Because I know that people who read these books end up buying more books

And they can buy them in the same formats that the Free Library uses at Webscription.net. It's the next best thing to throwing money directly at the authors.

http://www.baen.com/library/ has a nice collection of e-books in several formats, or read online.
Also there is a link to something they call 'webscriptios': http://www.webscription.net/
Free registration, then hang out in 'the Baen's Bar Forums'
: http://bar.baen.com/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2FDefault.aspx

A lot of good stuff is here at Baen's Library, with an online active community.

Baen Webscriptions, Baen free library

I prefer this story line better:
http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/074347161X/074347161X.htm Digital Knight by Ryk Spoor

In Chapter 4:

"First, that much of what I am going to tell you contradicts that which is supposedly scientific fact.

"Second, that these contradictions--though they be on a titanic, global scale--were nonetheless designed; that it was intended by certain parties that the information I possess would never again be known to a living soul. My own existence is due as much to blind luck as it is to my own skill and power.

"Third, once you have been told these things, you become a potential target for the forces that would keep these things secret . . . and so will anyone to whom you reveal these things. And the forces behind this are of such magnitude as to give even Virigar pause, so powerful that the mightiest nations of this world are as nothing to them." He gazed solemnly at us. "So think carefully; do you still wish to involve yourselves in these matters? I will think no less of you either way, I assure you. But once I speak, there is no going back. Ever. Even my ability to hide memories will not save you; they will never believe a memory completely gone when they can ensure it by killing the one with the memory."

-x-x- later -x-x-

I shook my head and finally looked up. "Okay, so let me see if I get this story straight. You were the high Priest . . . er, Speaker for Eonae, what we'd call Gaia. The spirit of the Earth itself. And Eonae talked to you, for real. That's where you get your power. And Kafan here was a little boy who trained to become palace guard. How long ago?"

"Approximately five hundred thousand years."

I gagged. "What? Half a million years?! Are you completely out of your mind, Verne? There weren't even people back then, at least not human beings like we know today!"

"I told you," Verne said calmly. "Much of what science knows about that era is wrong. Not because your scientists are stupid or are, as so many foolish cultists would have it, looking in the wrong places or 'covering up' the truth. No, the truth is far, far more frightening, Jason. Your scientists are looking at falsified evidence. The geological record . . . the traces of the greatest civilization ever to exist . . . all of them erased, and rewritten, rewritten so as to make it as though they never existed at all, to expunge from all memory the knowledge of what was."

I tried to imagine a power capable of such a thing; to wipe out every trace of a civilization, to remove fossil traces of one sort, replacing them with another . . . I couldn't do it. "Impossible. Verne, you've flipped your vampiric lid."

"If only it were so simple. Do you understand now, Jason? Why even after all this time I must be terribly, terribly careful not to reveal the truth to any save those who absolutely must know it? Power such as that is beyond simple comprehension. Although much of that power would now be useless here, with magic closed off from this world, still there remains the potential for unimaginable destruction."

Not really.

If you search for Tor as the publisher on the webscription store, you'll find that Tor has a whopping ONE book available for sale (by David Weber, who usually writes for Baen anyway). They list a dozen others, but don't actually sell them.

There was a burst of hype, and even an /. article about Tor selling their stuff using Baen's DRM-free model a year or so ago, but they seem to have chickened out (or at least dragged their feet for a good long time, if this new mystery website has to do with selling DRM-free ebooks).