Start up WOWIO was launched 8 months ago by artist-author-designer-entrepreneur William Lidwell with a remarkable objective: “Our long-term goal is to make all books available to everyone on the planet for free.” A lofty goal to which is immediately added the humorous disclaimer that the goal will take awhile and “please be patient.”
The site, which carries the subtitle Free Books + Free Minds, more fully describes its mission:
WOWIO opened on the World Wide Web in August 2006 endeavoring to dramatically expand access to important written works by eliminating the economic, geographic, and logistical barriers of readers while also ensuring that content owners are fairly compensated.
WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally download high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.
How does it accomplish its goals? Through sponsorship. Each free book downloaded is set up to display an advertisement by the book’s “sponsor.” Readers, to qualify for these free eBooks, must register and share some personal details to facilitate targetted messages from sponsors. Lidwell explains the workings this way: “Sponsors subsidize the cost of the books — one sponsor per book. Sponsors get a digital dust jacket and a book plate and that’s it — the work itself is not interrupted by messaging of any kind. Sponsors can target by age, gender, region, preferences, etc.” With this income stream, WOWIO will in turn be able to pay publishers and authors. It’s a win-win-win concept.
Now in its 8th month, WOWIO is already offering a surprising range of material, from old classics to recent specialized books. Both sponsors and book publishers are trying out this concept, to see how well it works. Currently, only registrants from within the US can download books. Founder Lidwell, however, hopes to spread its coverage to Mexico and Canada sometime in 2008.
I was allowed, for this review, to download a few books to get a sense of what’s available. The books are packaged as PDF files, maintaining precisely all the typography. graphics, photography and layout. Readers can view the books on their desktop or laptop computers using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
I looked over the children’s classic [which still means a lot to some of us misfit adults!] The Velveteen Rabbit, presented in a new graphic design. Attractive, readable and well illustrated, I enjoyed reading through the book once again. One major benefit of PDF files is the ability to “zoom in” on the text: at small size one can jump through the pages quickly, while at larger sizes, folks with challenged eyesight can read in comfort.
Next I examined the Avant-Guide to San Francisco by Daniel Levine. Others have suggested that this travel series may herald a new approach to travel literature. I concur. While presented as a traditional book available at leading stores, it reads well in the WOWIO rendition. Moreover, Avant-Guide has set up a website to facilitate searches for hotels and restaurants its books recommend — another example of the blurring of lines in publication. Writers take note.
On several occasions, I have come close to buying Digital Darkroom: The Complete Guide to Image Processing For Digital Photographers by Peter Cope and Joel Lacey [Rotovision, 2004] when passing through Pasadena’s branch of Barnes & Noble during my intergalictic travels. I always passed it up, not wanting to lug the book around during my journey. Now I have it in my laptop, available for instant reference.
What a book it is! And WOWIO preserves it in its full graphic glory.
In preparation for this review, I sent Lidwell several questions via email, which he promptly answered. The most important one was: Will you eventually support one of the emerging
portable eBook readers?
Lidwell replied: “We believe that emerging reading devices need to evolve to support the true potential of digital books (color, rich-media, interactivity, quality type/fonts, variable trim and layout, etc.), not be reduced to a form that is inferior to paper books — i.e., the medium should not cripple the message. So, when such devices become available, we will support them.”
WOWIO’s current offerings certainly underscore the significance of Lidwell’s answer, which also reflects his values as an artist-author-designer. His stance also sets WOWIO apart from the Gutenberg Project, whose awesome and growing library present books in simple TXT format, with no graphics at all.
I raised another question, from the point of view of aspiring writers: Do you envision opportunities for writers to publish eBooks directly through your website, without going through an intermediary publisher first?
Lidwell replied: “Perhaps in the long-term … we do this on a limited basis now. However, our goal is to provide access to the highest-quality written works available, and overwhelmingly these currently come through publishers.”
This new venture illustrates just how much in flux the world of the writer and publisher is. Writers should follow these developments closely.
For people who are hesitant to register, WOWIO offers a Book of the Month, which can be downloaded even without registration. For enthusiasts, anyone who arranges for 10 people to register can, during the current promotional period, earn a free iPod Shuffle. And anyone attending Book Expo America at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, June 1-3 can meet with WOWIO staff at Booth #454.
For me, now I want to track down a copy of Lidwell’s best known book Universal Principles of Design [Rockport Publishers, 2003]. His other books, by the way, deal with management — and I certainly hope these skills will assure success for WOWIO’s noble venture.
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