Read an E-Book Week has been celebrated every March since 2004. The purpose of the week-long event is to educate readers about e-books and promote electronic reading.
This year, Read an E-Book Week is celebrating the 40th anniversary of e-books. You can read about Michael Hart creating the first “e-book”—a copy of the Declaration of the Independence—in 1971, the beginning of Project Gutenberg, which gives away e-books in the public domain.
You can probably tell just from looking around my website that I’m a big fan of e-books. My first novel, Stroke of Luck, was published an as e-book in 1999, and it is still available as an e-book (albeit from a different publisher). Now, all of my books are available as e-books at Smashwords.
In the early days, when I told people my novel was an e-book, the most common response was,”What’s that?” After I explained what an e-book was, the most common response was, “Oh, I want to read a real book.”
I gave talks to local writers groups and published an article in the newsletter of the San Antonio Romance Authors entitled “Is an E-Book a Real Book?” You won’t be surprised to hear that my answer is a resounding “yes.”
During Read an E-Book Week, you can download a free copy of my contemporary romance novel Fern’s Fancies. You can download the PDF file here on my website; if you prefer other formats, you can download from Smashwords using a discount code I will provide.
I offer the following free e-books all the time:
- Trapped by Love (contemporary romance novelette)
- Self-Publishing Primer
- Editing Primer
Many publishers, authors, and companies are participating in Read an E-Book Week. Each will offer something of value during the week, so be sure to check them out and stock up on great e-books for free!