With book discovery and exclusive content in the news today, we serendipitously have an announcement of our own: After last year's successful experiment, today we are publishing BUZZ BOOKS 2013: Spring/Summer as a free ebook, in multiple versions.
The new edition of BUZZ BOOKS--available on all major ebook platforms--presents substantial excerpts from 28 highly anticipated books set for release between March and July. For trade readers, it builds on the ABA's Winter Institute 8, convening later this month in Kansas City, helping to amplify what has become the unofficial spring/summer launch event. For everyone who can't make it to WI8, we feature excerpts from 11 authors appearing there. (And for booksellers in particular, thanks to our partners at Ingram and the ABA, a 480-page printed galley complete with color jackets will go out in March "white boxes" and will be available in the Winter Institute galley room.)
BUZZ BOOKS 2013 combines excerpts from major new works of nonfiction--Michael Pollan's COOKED; bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch Chip Heath and Dan Heath's DECISIVE; and Lily Koppel's THE ASTRONAUT WIVES CLUB (already in film development)--alongside potential breakouts from established novelists. There's Kate Atkinson's LIFE AFTER LIFE, Joe Hill's NOS4A2, Meg Wolitzer's THE INTERESTINGS, Ruth Ozeki's A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING, Philipp Meyer's THE SON, Therese Anne Fowler's Z: A NOVEL OF ZELDA FITZGERALD, Alexander Maksik's A MARKER TO MEASURE DRIFT, and Benjamin Percy's RED MOON.
We also feature samples from such highly anticipated debuts as Pushcart winner Anthony Marra's A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA, Caine Prize winner NoViolet Bulawayo's WE NEED NEW NAMES, and Anton DiSclafani's THE YONAHLOSSEE RIDING CAMPF OR GIRLS. For YA fans, there's an excerpt from Sarah Dessen's THE MOON AND MORE, and still others.
Plus, to cover the coming season of new releases even further, our news editor Sarah Weinman has a lengthy preview of notable books on the horizon that covers over 100 more titles.
Last year's first edition, released right before BEA, introduced trade readers and passionate booklovers everywhere to such new voices as Kevin Powers (The Yellow Birds), ML Stedman (The Light Between Oceans), Amanda Coplin (The Orchardist), and Peter Heller (The Dog Stars), along with previewing major works such as Junot Diaz's This Is How You Lose Her and Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior--with over half of the adult books featured making Book of the Year and bestseller lists. (It also drove the "most requested" list at NetGalley.) This year we hope to help launch even more books of note.
Some things are staying the same--a special "trade edition," available here--includes important promotional, rights and contact information for each title, along with links to click-through and request the full digital galley from NetGalley. That version is available in a protected EPUB download right from our site, and there are links to versions at Amazon and NetGalley itself.
Our "consumer version"--all the same great excerpts, without the additional trade information--will be available from all major ebookstores. (The files are up at Kobo and Sony right now, and should populate elsewhere imminently.)
In a new twist, international readers can download their own edition for the first time (look for ISBN 97809854991062), offering the 11 excerpts for which our participating publishers had world rights.
Last time around, the biggest surprise reported by readers was delight at how substantial the excerpts were (most run 2,000 to 5,000 words or more), and how much great writing is packed into one volume. (Our Buzz Books ebooks are much bigger that most free samplers on the market.) We hope you enjoy it, and we hope you share the word with readers everywhere. (We'll be back later this year with a second volume to cover and promote fall/winter books.)
As with the first edition, this would not have been possible with the enthusiastic support of a wide range of partners, and we are very grateful for their participation and efforts: In particular, the publishers, authors and agents who made available the excerpts; our ebook distribution and PDF printing partners at Ingram's Core Source and Lightning Source; the ebook building experts at eBook Architects; and NetGalley. Once again Amazon made it possible for us to offer the special Kindle version of the trade edition; the iBookstore and Kobo and the ABA are working on special promotions to share Buzz Books with readers; GoodReads is supporting us in calling attention to a giveaway of the printed version; and AuthorBuzz.com and others are helping with promotion as well to spread the word.
Download here (and share the short link publun.ch/Buzz2013 for the consumer version)
