The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Penguin's e-book push follows US

29.07.08 Benedicte Page

Penguin has promised to have 1,500 of its bestselling titles available in epub format, together with all of its new books, by the time the Sony Reader arrives in September.

The announcement came as the publisher said that Penguin Group US had exceeded its total 2007 e-book sales figure in the first four months of this year. Digital director Genevieve Shore commented: "We know from our experience in the United States that there is a consumer appetite for e-books once an appealing device is available."

Waterstone's announced last week that it was to stock the Sony Reader from September.

Penguin's e-book list for September will include current top 10 titles such as Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care and Lesley Pearse's Gypsy, as well as the backlist of big names like Marian Keyes and Nick Hornby, popular classics like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, and high-profile new titles including Zoe Heller's autumn novel The Believers.

By the end of the year, a total of 2,500 Penguin Group titles would be available as e-books, the company added. Dorling Kindersley would have 1,000 e-books by the end of 2008, with most new titles from September being published in simultaneous print and e-book formats.

However the publisher said that DK's highly illustrated reference books "are best suited to the PDF format which is readable on all desk and laptop computers".

Rough Guides travel and reference titles, already available in e-book form in the US, would also be made available in all markets.

US Benedicte Page Penguin Home ebooks Sony Reader