Read an eBook Week is one initiative we have been strongly behind the last few years. It encourages readers from March 3-9th to pick up a digital edition and start discovering new authors. Many mainstream companies are backing this project which normally sees hundreds of free digital books available.
We caught up with the head coordinator of the project to see how last year went and what we can expect in 2013. Rita Toews explained “Last year went very well. We had 60 publishers, vendors, and/or authors participate with free downloads. As well 14 sites that didn’t have actual free ebooks contributed with ebook information or links. Participants came from all corners of the globe including Greece, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Indonesia, and South America. Partnering with us were E-Ink, Kobo, EPIC, and eBound Canada, to name a few.” She went on to elaborate on what people can expect this year. “The South American ebook market is showing strong interest this year and a entity from Brazil has begun a website to run with the event in South America. So far this year we have had contact from Greece, Quebec, and a host of home grown publishers, vendors, and authors. We anticipate another successful event.”
So how did Read an eBook Week originally start, and what was the mentality behind it? Rita says “I originally started Read an eBook Week to give ebook authors a ‘banner’ under which they could come together to educate the public about ebooks. As a lone voice it was difficult for them to spread the word and market their books. The week gave a collective voice to authors and it worked very well. Now that ebooks have become mainstream, the week helps readers connect with new authors and publishers. eBooks in languages other than English have not been easy to find. Over the years the selection on Read an E-Book Week has grown nicely.”
As always, Good e-Reader is an official media sponsor of this event! We will be announcing various partners and a list of ebooks that people can get for free. Keep checking back to find the latest news, and in the meantime you can check out the official website.
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.
