Moderator’s note: I’ve changed the time on Chris’s post from this morning so that it’s closer to the top of today’s blog, given the post’s importance. The related press release is here. – D.R.

This morning I received an email from Steve Pendergrast telling me he had a scoop for me. And what a scoop it turned out to be!

Today at noon eastern, Fictionwise will issue a press release stating that Fictionwise has officially licensed the eReader format—both unencrypted and encrypted—to Lexcycle for use in Stanza, and will be opening and running a Stanza store. This feature was incorporated into the new version of Stanza that was released on Friday.

Fictionwise is interested in getting its format out there to be used by as many people and as many readers as possible—they realize that the books are where their money is to be made. Or, as the old saying goes, “give away the razor, sell the blades.”

I also took the opportunity to ask Steve about some other matters that had puzzled me, and elicited a few other newsworthy items over the course of the conversation.

Format Licensing to Publishers

Back when eReader went by the names of Peanut Press and Palm Digital Media, there was a license fee for any commercial e-book vendor to release its titles in the eReader (well, it was called Peanut Reader or Palm Reader back then, but you get the idea) e-book format—that is, if the titles were available as eReader files, eReader got a cut. This meant that publishers like Baen could not release titles in that format without being charged for it.

However, As of two months ago, Steve said, the licensing terms had been completely changed and the format was now freely available for use by anyone. He was contacting publishers and letting them know about the change.

I mentioned to Steve that I had heard from Arnold Bailey at Baen that they were waiting until those terms were reflected in the version of the EULA on the website. Steve replied that the version of the EULA bundled with the software had been changed, but it was possible something had been missed on the website.

Steve went on to mention that Fictionwise has a team assigned to going through and revising the eReader website to modernize it, as there is still a great deal of legacy material on the site and some of it is hard to find.

However, that was not the biggest news to come out of our call.

New Platforms for eReader

Since Fictionwise took over eReader, expanding the format to additional platforms has been one of their major goals. The OS X and iPhone eReader applications were a big example of that, but Fictionwise is far from finished.

Although Steve was hesitant to name a specific timeframe, as any number of things can happen that might change developer priorities and delay completion, he did mention two new platforms that will get eReader applications of their own.

The Blackberry smartphone should get an eReader application sometime in the first quarter of 2009.

The Linux platform, which has been waiting for an eReader application since 1998, should get one sometime in the first half of 2009.

But that’s not all that will happen in 2009.

ePub for eReader

The current form of eReader markup is a sort of pseudo-HTML that uses backslashes instead of brackets. With minor updates, it dates all the way back to 1998. Although it still looks good in the reader, it is very much a legacy platform.

But that may soon change. Steve mentioned that Fictionwise plans to update the eReader applications to handle ePub books wrapped in eReader DRM, with a completion goal of sometime in 2009. He was hesitant to name a timeframe any more specific than that, because nine separate platforms’ clients will have to be updated to handle the new format, and a snag in any one of them could delay the release for all.

eReader Editions of Mobipocket-Only Books On the Way

Another bit of news for iPod owners frustrated by the lack of a Mobipocket client: be patient just a little longer! Just within the last couple of weeks, eReader has “fired” the transcription services it had been using to transform publishers’ files into eReader books. They have set up their own transcription division to create eReader-format books, with conversion software that can convert from other formats such as ePub or MS Reader.

It appears that many if not all of the Mobipocket-only format books on Fictionwise are that way not because of publisher restrictions, but because of delays in the eReader-format version coming back from the transcription service. The new transcription service has just added 500 new titles in eReader, and Steve said that most if not all of the Mobi-only titles will get eReader versions.

Unfortunately for those who have already bought the Mobipocket versions, the publishers still consider each different format of a book to be a different edition, and require separate payment for each. Steve has been talking to publishers, trying to convince them that customers buy the title, not the format, but it is slow going. Still, we can perhaps hope that eventually the restriction will be raised and we will be able to redownload Mobi-format books in eReader instead.

Kitty Norville and the Missing eReader Files

Speaking of which, one series that I have purchased, the Kitty Norville books, was available on Fictionwise in mostly Mobipocket format (only one of the four titles had an eReader version) but all four books were in eReader format on the eReader site. When I called this to Steve’s attention, he remarked that if they have an eReader version on one site, it should be on both. Since the Kitty books were not, he would look into the causes.

He asked if there were any other titles with eReader versions on one site but not the other. I could not think of any off the top of my head, but perhaps if other TeleReaders know of any they might mention them to him.

It was an exciting conversation, and I am looking forward to all the neat new things in the offing from Fictionwise and eReader.

Update: Ars Technica covers the Stanza story.

10 COMMENTS

  1. As an owner of a large library of eReader, DRM-shackled titles (purchased when my Palm was the only game in town), I want to 1) add an eReader application to my Cybook, or 2) convert eReader books to the MobiPocket format (I’ll even accept keeping the DRM-shackles). What I will not do is buy the same electronic book again. I would not feel the least bit guilty about using a non-approved application to convert eReader to something I can use on my Cybook.

  2. Kevin: ereader2html is the “non-approved” app you are looking for. It strips the DRM, but I don’t think a non-approved application that format shifted from DRMed eReader to DRMed MOBI would be any different from a legal (DMCA) standpoint.

    When eReader has a Linux version, it going to be interesting to see if it can be added to EInk devices that support DRMed MOBI. This will have to be done without any assistance from the device vendor (because they have all signed MOBI-only DRM contracts with Mobipocket). At a minimum, I would expect this to work if the device is reflashed with the OpenInkPot open source firmware for EInk readers. This would lose DRM-ed MOBI but gain DRMed eReader (and eventually ePub).

  3. I found another book on eReader, but not available in that format at Fictionwise…”Untouched” by Anna Campbell. I sent an email to the Fictionwise Yahoo group, as well as the Fictionwise customer service link. Let’s see if I get an answer from either.

  4. Well, the answer from the Fictionwise Yahoo group was “the two sites use different databases” and “don’t clutter this group with support tickets”.

    So, if any of your readers find more book examples where the book is on eReader.com, but not available in the same format at Fictionwise.com, they should send it to Fictionwise’s “help/support” email address.

    And they shouldn’t expect anything beyond a canned response.

  5. Miki, as I said to you in our newsgroup, I wasn’t responding to you — I was responding to someone else who specifically asked where to get help: our newsgroup or our support system. My response was that it is best to use our support system.

    We’re continuing to work on our systems as well as work better with our suppliers and publishers. We’re definitely making progress! Thanks.

  6. I have been looking at getting an eink ebook reader and am a little lost. I have a palm and have always used fictionwise, but not sure if fictionwise is now at all compatible with all the ereaders out there. None that I know of have the secure ereader software. Kindle will not convert DRM Mobi books, so if I bought mobi, I could not load it on the kindle. It seems the fictionwise is trying to make a change over to mostly ereader ebooks, which is not good for the new wave of eink readers flooding the market… meaning not good for fictionwise. Maybe I am missing something, but does anyone know how eink readers and the ereader format will or won’t work together?

  7. It is good that Fictionwise is making Mobi-only ebooks available in another format. It is even better that they are moving to epub (although with DRM). I understand why some people still think DRM is necessary, although I don’t agree.

    For myself, I will continue to only purchase DRM-free ebooks. I can’t see financially supporting a system that I hate, even if this means that I have to do without some selections. There are enough DRM-free ebooks to keep me reading for years. Hopefully, DRM will go away before I run out of things to read 🙂

  8. On re-reading the story within the context of March 09, one aspect of the announcement jumps out at me: Fictionwise’s stated intent to wrap epub in their drm. Given the recent cracking of the inept adobe scheme, might B&N convince the publishers that their social DRM makes more sense than the leaky sieve Adobe is peddling?
    I’m no fan of DRM but ereader’s approach merely discourages illegal publishing without seriously encroaching on fair use. I can live with that, as I have no desire or intent of depriving people of their proper due. I just want to be able to read an ebook I buy on any device I might choose.

  9. I do hope they do something. I have decided to get the new sony reader touch coming out at the end of this month, as it reads the largest filetypes. Problem is it doesn’t read ereader. I love Fictionwise and used to buy all my books there when I read on my palm, but so many of the books I find I want are in ereader or microsoft format, neither of which will work on the Sony. I actually look forward to them making them in ePub format, which I hear is most likely to be the ebook standard in the near future.

The TeleRead community values your civil and thoughtful comments. We use a cache, so expect a delay. Problems? E-mail newteleread@gmail.com.