The Brave New Digital World
As a micropublisher, the new world of Google Books and e-books and online book marketing can be challenging, to say the least. Idylls Press was an early adopter of print-on-demand; indeed, we couldn’t have opened without it. But we’re a little behind the curve when it comes to ebooks, and are just now working toward the introduction of ebook editions of our titles.
A new dawn for “De Classics”?
But as a lover of what Tony Curtis in Spartacus called “de Classics,” owning a Kindle this last year has brought a whole world of free Great Books to my fingertips, and I couldn’t be more grateful. (Especially as someone with failing eyesight—you can jack up the font size on these e-readers just about all you want.) I even have a faint hope that the lush availability of free classic ebooks (not just at Google Books but at sites like Gutenberg.org) may go a ways towards connecting our Brave New Digital World with the literary traditions of our ancestors.
I can dream, can’t I?
Either way, here’s a screenshot of some seriously Good (Web) Stuff, a supercool new web app from those inventive Googlers: an infinitely turnstiling bookcase containing (supposedly) the entire Google Books library. (Click on the screenshot to go to the site.) Me, I headed straight for their “Free” section and downloaded a dozen books in epub format to send to my Kindle.
Click on the screenshot to go to the Google Bookcase
