Publishers Experiment With Online Editions

For the next month, HarperCollins (owned by News Corp., the world’s largest media conglomerate) is providing some books online, for free. You’ll have to read the books online (no downloading or printing). (tip)

This pilot will be used to track sales: “We will know very soon if we sense any kind of cannibalization,” chief executive Jane Friedman told the NYT. Two interesting titles: Mission: Cook! My Life, My Recipes and Making the Impossible Easy by Robert Irvine and The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President: Who the Candidates Are, Where They Come from and How You Can Choose by Mark Halperin.

The WSJ reports that Random House, the largest English-language publisher, is experimenting with selling book chapters. Random House, owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann, is beginning with Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The price: $2.99 each.

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