Publisher Posts Free Books Online to Lure Net-Friendly Bookworms

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When a major publisher offers free books on its website, more than just book nerds take notice. HarperCollins’ decision to give away some books online points to its progressive thinking in a digital age.

Digital Journal — In a bold attempt to boost book sales, publisher HarperCollins is allowing people to read entire books free on its website. The select electronic editions of books include titles by Paulo Coelho, Erin Hunter and Food Network star Robert Irvine.

The free books, available to read in their entirety, will only be available for a month, and they won’t allow users to download them to eBook readers like the Kindle. Also, the print function will be disabled.

But HarperCollins hopes the free-book promotion will spur sales. Jane Friedman, chief executive of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, told the New York Times: “It’s like taking the shrink wrap off a book. The best way to sell books is to have the consumer be able to read some of that content.”

This week, free titles include: “The Witch of Portobello” Paulo Coelho; “Mission: Cook! My Life, My Recipes and Making the Impossible Easy” by Robert Irvine; “I Dream in Blue: Life, Death and the New York Giants” by Roger Director; “The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President: Who the Candidates Are, Where They Come from and How You Can Choose” by Mark Halperin; and “Warriors: Into the Wild” the first volume in a children’s series by Erin Hunter.

A new work by Coelho will be uploaded to the site every month.

HarperCollins has good reason to believe this idea will work wonders on sales. The children’s novel “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” was available free three years ago on Funbrain.com but the physical book flew off store shelves: it spent 42 weeks on the New York Times Children’s Chapter Books bestseller list.

Also, HarperCollins will giving fans sneak peeks of new books two weeks before they go on sale. Its website will offer excerpts of upcoming books, such as “Deep Dish” by Mary Kay Andrews; and “Friend of the Devil” by Peter Robinson.

HarperCollins’ latest initiative is a sign that publishers are trying new ways to take advantage of their digital developments. Like music labels, publishers need to lure attention to a product that could get stale in our Web-friendly society. And although publishers like Random House are embracing services such as iTunes, the other vanguards of the printed word aren’t clamouring to get on board the digital bandwagon.

If the free-book idea is any indication, publishers will want to let free content spark interest in books that may not be the next Atwood or John Irving release. Reading free books for a month is a good start; but let’s hope publishers take the project to the next step and begin offering free books for an indefinite period of time. Some of us can’t read that fast.