Many people purchasing new e-book worldwide
Associated Press
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Features
NEW YORK (AP) -The Oprah touch doesn't just work for traditional books.
More than 1 million copies of Suze Orman's "Women & Money" have been downloaded since the announcement last week on Winfrey's television show that the e-book edition would be available for free on her Web site, oprah.com.
"I believe 'Women & Money' is the most important book I've ever written," Orman said in a statement released Saturday by Winfrey. "So this was not about getting people to buy the book, but getting them to read it, and that was the intention behind this offer."
According to Saturday's statement, more than 1.1 million copies of Orman's financial advice book were downloaded in English, and another 19,000 in Spanish. The demand compares to such free online sensations as "The 9-11 Commission Report," which the federal government made available for downloads, and Stephen King's e-novella, "Riding the Bullet."
The publishing community has endlessly debated the effects of making text available online, with some saying that free downloading is a valuable promotional tool and others worrying that sales for paper editions would be harmed.
The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers each have sued Google for its plans to scan and index books for the Internet. The offer for "Women & Money," originally released a year ago by Spiegel & Grau, a division of Random House, Inc., has not kept people from buying the traditional version.
More than 1 million copies of Suze Orman's "Women & Money" have been downloaded since the announcement last week on Winfrey's television show that the e-book edition would be available for free on her Web site, oprah.com.
"I believe 'Women & Money' is the most important book I've ever written," Orman said in a statement released Saturday by Winfrey. "So this was not about getting people to buy the book, but getting them to read it, and that was the intention behind this offer."
According to Saturday's statement, more than 1.1 million copies of Orman's financial advice book were downloaded in English, and another 19,000 in Spanish. The demand compares to such free online sensations as "The 9-11 Commission Report," which the federal government made available for downloads, and Stephen King's e-novella, "Riding the Bullet."
The publishing community has endlessly debated the effects of making text available online, with some saying that free downloading is a valuable promotional tool and others worrying that sales for paper editions would be harmed.
The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers each have sued Google for its plans to scan and index books for the Internet. The offer for "Women & Money," originally released a year ago by Spiegel & Grau, a division of Random House, Inc., has not kept people from buying the traditional version.
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