Joyland was a novel by Stephen King and was released back in June of 2013. The author buckled the trend of a simultaneous release in trade and digital formats. Instead, he only published it only in hardcover, citing “I have no plans for a digital version. Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one.” Well, it looks like a full year later Joyland will finally be available as an eBook.
Stephen King is no stranger to digital and released a novel in 2000 called Riding The Bullet, that was only available as an ebook. This was during a time when no one really knew what a digital book was, other than the extremely tech savvy. Last year, King released a Kindle Single exclusive that was basically an essay. The industry was taken aback from Stephen decided to only do a physical book and not do a digital release. Many major news organizations, such as the New York Times, Washington Journal and others picked up on the story. Really, the buzz surrounding the entire situation got more people talking about the book, so mission accomplished, in terms of overall awareness.
Joyland, the coming-of-age story of a college student who works at a funfair where a murder has been committed will be available on Amazon, B&N, and Kobo April 4th 2014. The pre-orders are available right now, so you can insure an automatic download the day it comes out.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.