I wonder how long this will be. It seems that lately anything longer than a few pages is being called a novella, but to me a novella is a short novel, like The Body or The Langoliers. Those were novellas.
I wonder how long this will be. It seems that lately anything longer than a few pages is being called a novella, but to me a novella is a short novel, like The Body or The Langoliers. Those were novellas.
The file should be available for download (apparently not just Kindle) on 2/24:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001RF3U9K/
I guess the next question is can you download the story and print it without a Kindle?
Geoff
CNET says Scribner may publish the physical book:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10159324-1.html
Just say no.....to ebooks
Sloth Love Chunk
I totally agree. Call me a tree killing traditionalist, but nothing beats a solid, paper book. And nothing ever will!
YOU MUST CHILL. I HAVE HIDDEN YOUR KEYS.
Download-able, yes - but if the Kindle owners have to pay for it, my guess is that us regular folks will, too.
This collecting stuff is a sickness! ~Patrick
SK has mentioned his love for his Kindle in a few of his Pop of King columns, so this isn't a total surprise. I'm glad we'll be able to download it without buying one of those things though. As discussed upthread, the $400 price tag is not at all attractive.
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
eBooks suck. Hard or soft physical copy is the way to go, or audio. I will wait however long I have to until this new story is released in a real format.
Its starting to catch on at the university I go to. In fact, you can borrow them from the library like you would a book, but the data is not transferable and that goes for anything you download.
One of the cool things about it is that you can download the New York times free via wi-fi. Its a lot less bulkier than a physical newspaper and I think it has the same content instead of the stripped down version that's available online.
Its ahead of its time and its not something you see all over the place, but I think it will become more popular for better or worst.
This short story actually sounds very interesting. We get in all sorts of debates at school about the loss of the written word...
I guess I will be the only one to say anything good about the kindle. I would not have bought one, but my Mom (after seeing it on Oprah) got me one for christmas and I actually love it. I read Brisinger on it, it was easy on the eyes and the hand and my first edition is still mint. I still want to own the book and will still read a lot of actual books but I will definately use the kindle (next up The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, keeping my 1st edition unread)
Thanks for that feedback, Dave. So, are you saying it does not feel like reading a computer screen?
The screen is very readable and attempts to emulate paper unlike a normal LCD screen. I was extremely skeptical at the beginning, but its actually pretty cool and it is neat to be able to have so many books with you at once. I actually lugged two messenger bags full of books and a regular backpack to the library to work on some papers- not easy. My major thing about the digitization of texts is that I like to annotate and the marginalia software just isn't good enough for me yet. Fiction and newspapers is good on the Kindle, but the academic books in the codex form are still a necessity for me...though the idea of being able to have hundreds of them on the same drive is appealing sometimes.
Here's cellphone video from the reading: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTBxqjGm7fk"]YouTube - Stephen King reading "Ur" from his Kindle 2[/ame]
Thanks, Bev, here's another one:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoFwm-apl90&fmt=18&"]YouTube - Horror Master Stephen King Reads "Ur" on an Amazon Kindle 2[/ame]
This should make a future short fiction collection. King seems to still be on that short fiction kick he described in the intro to Just After Sunset. As much as I'd like to read a new story, I doubt I'll be downloading it from Amazon on 2/24, even if it's just three bucks. I don't want to contribute to the demise of the printed page, I'm a book collector for god's sake!
Its an interesting discussion for sure. I think the small press world will undoubtedly save the printed book, if nothing else - for collectors. While the eBook offers a continued diversification of available authors. They are so much cheaper to release, it would make up and coming authors less of a risk to publish, and could be a good thing for "books" in general.
I'm divided. I love printed books, but see the future being ebooks. That said, I can't read a PDF on the computer. This kindle, with the unique screen really intrigues me. I would never stop collecting books, but for reading copies, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, this seems like a great idea.
An Amazon official estimates that Ur would run about 100 traditional print pages, calling it a more of a novella than a story.
Great news on the length. That's more of a novella than some of the others King recently published that were billed as novellas (technically novelettes, probably). A new short fiction collection can't be that far behind. After all, only six years passed between his latest two.
Oh, I think we are a long way away from a new short fiction collection. Many years.