Cory Doctorow has just made his new book, Eastern Standard Tribe available for download in a variety of formats.
This is the second novel I've made available as a free download (the first, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times and sold like hell). I'm delighted to do it a second time.
Here's the deal: I don't believe that there's any market-demand for teasers or for “Digital Rights Management” technology: none of you woke up this morning and said, “Damn, I wish there was a way I could get less of the books I enjoy and a way I could do less with them once I have them.” My goal here is to figure out what people actually want out of electronically delivered text, and so I'm giving this novel to you …
A note for downloaders: download this book. Enjoy it. If you feel so motivated, drop me a note and tell me how you used it and what you thought (and forgive me if I don't get back to you!). If you want to, go ahead and buy a copy and I'll get my royalty. But there's no obligation on you to buy it if you've read — you're not ripping me off — and forgive me, but I'm not interested in “tipjar” payments — I'm not in competition with my publisher here. Thanks for understanding, and I hope you enjoy the book.
I could’ve read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom over the Net instead of waiting for the paperback and then dropping ten or fifteen bucks at Barnes & Noble? Dang!