Progress marches on, even in the world of books, where, until recently, it seemed like the only innovations were in marketing.
The selection committee for the Booker McConnell Prize, more commonly known as the Booker Prize, entered the electronic age by nominating The Angels of Russia, an historical novel written by Patricia le Roy. The book does not exist in print form; it was distributed solely over the Internet by Online Originals.
The online publisher handles works in English and French, and currently carries 33 titles, divided between fiction and non-fiction. There are a few plays thrown in, along with a youth-oriented detective story. Each month, one title is offered for free, while others can be ordered for US$7. The text arrives as a file attached to an email message. Read it onscreen or print it out. Titles can be also be ordered in special Palm Pilot format.
The Booker Prize, which will be awarded 27 October, last year went to Arundhati Roy for her novel, The God of Small Things, a work that, as usual, was published on paper.
