Novella Ur available on Kindle and for download

[Bev Vincent]

Since his first novel was published in 1974, Stephen King has stretched the boundaries of the storyteller as a writer who constantly redefines his readers' experience by working in various genres and formats.

Whether in an epic horror novel, like THE STAND, a serial-novel like THE GREEN MILE, or a novella like SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, King is able to deliver a reading experience like no one else can. As quickly as a spider spins its web, King reminds us why he's the master of the novella - a format which, up until now that is, one might have thought is fast disappearing.

In his new novella, UR, King is at his unsettling best as he examines the future of the written word - for better or worse. Following a nasty break-up, lovelorn college English instructor Wesley Smith can't seem to get his ex-girlfriend's parting shot out of his head: "Why can't you just read off the computer like the rest of us?" Egged on by her question and piqued by a student's suggestion, Wesley places an order for Amazon.com's Kindle eReader. The [pink?] device that arrives in a box stamped with the smile logo – via one-day delivery that he hadn't requested – unlocks a literary world that even the most avid of book lovers could never imagine. But once the door is open, there are those things that one hopes we'll never read or live through. Firm, gripping, and deftly written by a craftsman at the top of his game, this is King at his crisp, clear, page-turning best.

Check back soon for the complete press release...

Ur is available for pre-order beginning today and will be released later this month. For Kindle customers who pre-order, King’s new novella will download automatically when it becomes available.

[Ari_Racing]

Alright...learning right now how to break a book for kindle and read it in the computer...

[mae]

This is great, more new fiction from King. Hopefully this, like Riding the Bullet, will see print as well somewhere down the line. King still seems to be on a short fiction kick he described in Just After Sunset, so perhaps another collection is not that far behind. I don't read e-books, so I'm not planning on getting a Kindle or any other reading device, so hopefully it's sooner rather than later that I could get to read this one, despite the apparent fact that it sounds like a promotional story for Amazon.

[CRinVA]

At ~$350 the Kindle is too rich for my blood! :-(

Sooner or later UR will be availalbe in other formats! :-)

[herbertwest]

yeah am pretty sure it will leak somewhere...
Now, my question would be : will it, like for Riding the bullet, be published as chapbooks in Europe, and mainly : in France! (where Kindle didnt sell much IMO)

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

New e-novel called "UR" exclusive on Kindle.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/09...clusive-today/

What are your thoughts about this exclusive publication?

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

It will be available by P2P 10 minutes after it's released

[carlosdetweiller]

New e-novel called "UR" exclusive on Kindle.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/02/09...clusive-today/

What are your thoughts about this exclusive publication?

I read about that earlier today on Lilja's site. I will not be buying a Kindle.

[herbertwest]

Is the Kindle a big thing in the USA?
I mean, obviously among the people which can afford it...

[e_taylor]

Wait.... what the hell is a kindle?

Edit: Just looked it up. Seems interesting, but seems unfair of King to release a book that only Americans will be able to access. And it will cost them at that. $400? Really?

[Cutter]

Wait.... what the hell is a kindle?

Edit: Just looked it up. Seems interesting, but seems unfair of King to release a book that only Americans will be able to access. And it will cost them at that. $400? Really?

A Kindle is a rip off. I would love to have one, but I would like to pay $150 for one. For $400 I can buy a laptop.

[Ves'Ka Gan]

This actually really pisses me off. I have an e-book reader on my iPod touch in addition to Internet access, PDA functions & a load of other stuff--there is no way I'll be buying a Kindle--especially at that price. I'm sure the exclusive was meant to draw hardcore King fans to the Kindle, but all it's done is make me mad.

I think one of my friends is buying one--if he does I may see if I can pay him for the book so I can read it, but I'm not even sure I want to do that.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

The stories available on Kindle are electronic, therefore they can be "ripped" into any format you like. I will never buy a Kindle, but I will have the story the same day its released.

[Ves'Ka Gan]

I'll have to come to you for a more full explanation when the book is out--I don't do ebaooks very often.

[Matt]

Message from Ms. Mod on the SKMB

Steve just called in and this may help ease some of your disappointment. He told me that it was put in the contract that the story will be available for download (but it's not up yet and I don't know if it will be simultaneous with the Kindle release in about a month) through the Kindle site. As soon as I have more details, I'll get them posted.

[Matt]

Message from Ms. Mod on the SKMB

Steve just called in and this may help ease some of your disappointment. He told me that it was put in the contract that the story will be available for download (but it's not up yet and I don't know if it will be simultaneous with the Kindle release in about a month) through the Kindle site. As soon as I have more details, I'll get them posted.

[Chooch]

I'm going to wait for the hard copy

[Sir_Boomme]

i'll do the download and print a hard copy to read.... i hate reading off the screen...
just something mo betters about killing a tree and having a physical paper copy in hand when reading.
my girlfriend always reads her news off the web... i need a newspaper everyday.

in fact...i have to print all these threads and read the hard copies before i do a reply post...which is why i don't post very often.

[jhanic]

I'll wait for a hard-copy version. I don't do e-books.

John

[CRinVA]

ditto - what John said! :-)

[mae]

Download as in PDF? That would be nice in the interim, but I would of course prefer it be printed between covers of a King book.

[Ari_Racing]

I'll read it the day it's released...and then one more time when it becomes part of a future short story collection.

[jhanic]

As I said elsewhere in these forums, I don't do ebooks. I'll wait for a hardcopy version.

John

[Bev Vincent]

Q&A with King from USA Today

[jhanic]

Lilja has announced that Ur will be available in some other type of download version, not just Kindle. I hope it's in some type of format that I can download then print out. That's what I did with The Plant. (Yes, I paid for all six installments--in fact, I paid extra so that King would not stop the publication.)

John