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After hearing the news, Sara Baker and Jennifer Lott from the neighboring state of Washington launched a fundraising drive to purchase 350 copies of the book, raising nearly around $3,000 to do so. While this book was a World Book Night title in 2012, it was not a part of this year’s WBN celebration; however, Kissel, Baker, and Lott distributed their purchased copies of the book this year on April 23rd to coincide with WBN. After learning of the situation and the resulting purchase of its books, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, who published the title, made an additional donation of 350 copies of the book for the group to distribute. This is not the first time Alexie’s book has been challenged or banned. In fact, according to the ALA, it is currently the second most often challenged book in the US. But this may be one of the first times that individuals have fought censorship by buying the book and giving it away, and certainly one of the rare times that a publisher has given away this much stock of one of its titles in order to fight book banning. Unfortunately, it was a cost that didn’t have to be fronted. With the incredible tools available through digital publishing, the cost to purchase and give away the ebook for the individuals who fund raised could have been negligible compared to the cost of a print edition (note: unfortunately, the publisher has set the ebook edition price of this title at $9.99, higher than the $8.52 per print copy that the protest organizers spent through Rediscovered Books). And despite the misunderstood belief that publishers are simply swimming in piles of printed books that they can afford to give away, LBYR could have distributed digital editions of the book for nearly nothing, or at the very least lowered the price of the ebook in protest. With the thriving choke hold that censorship has over public education and libraries, protests of this kind will be too costly to keep up. As it stands, 700 people were given a copy of this brilliant book that critics don’t want them to read, but the distribution and the resulting fight against censorship could reach so much farther through digital. The Impact of eBooks on the Fight Against Censorship is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The Impact of eBooks on the Fight Against Censorship
Encyclopedia Britannica to Distribute Kids eBook Titles
| Encyclopedia Britannica has just signed a distribution agreement with Indian childrens publisher Katha. Britannica intends on digitizing the 300 titles translated from 21 Indian languages on a worldwide basis. Times are a changin for Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is primarily known for their 32 volume set. The company is starting to diversify into broader consumer markets with a focus on education and digital learning. Britannica intends on marketing the childrens books to schools in all major markets for ages one to eight. Basically the big goal is to digitize the eBooks and then market them right back into India. A special emphasis will be in giving big deals with Katha schools and learning centres for underprivileged children. Encyclopedia Britannica to Distribute Kids eBook Titles is a post from: Good e-Reader |
