Free Book - Finitude

Hamish MacDonald is giving away, for a limited time, copies of his book Finitude, in several formats. Mobi/PRC isn't one of the formats, unfortunately, but I simply took the EPub version and used Calibre to both add a cover and create a Mobi version that I copied onto my Kindle.

Book Description
A light-hearted climate change adventure story about an insurance salesman at the end of the world.

After a thirty-year rationing plan called “The Effort” the prime minister declares VC Day: “Victory over the Climate”. Chronically depressed insurance salesman Jeremy Chutter, however, knows that it’s all hot air. The end is nigh — and he can’t wait!

But then Jeremy’s world is suddenly turned upside-down…

You can download the book using one of these two links (right-click and choose Save As):

EPub
HTML

or you can get a PDF copy by sending an email request to bikolang@gmail.com (he is handling the requests for Mr. MacDonald).

If you'd rather purchase a copy of this one another of Mr. MacDonald's books, he sells them direct from his website. Here is what he says about the paper and process used to create the paper books:

Each novel is a hand-made perfect-bound paperback, and the journals are hand-stitched hardcovers. The paper used inside my novels is 100% recycled. The "pulp novel" style paper I use is actually made from "de-inked low-grade post-consumer waste material, which is generally in low demand and hence more likely to be consigned to landfill. Manufactured at the Steinbeis mill in Germany, this 80gsm paper passes the Blauer Engel/Blue Angel certification". It even comes with Greenpeace's stamp of approval.

Pragmatic Bookshelf Sale / Free Magazine

Pragmatic Bookshelf is having a pre-Thanksgiving sale on all their paper books, ebooks and paper/ebook combinations. This is a terrific publisher for technical computer books, one that has been around for years. From their email:

40% off all our titles. Now through Wed Nov 25. Just use the coupon code PRAGTHANKS40 when checking out. Please note that orders placed on or after Tuesday may not get shipped until Monday, November 30, as our shipping facilities will be closed for the holiday. So order now, and stock up for some dynamite holiday reading. Feel free to use the coupon as many times as you need to before it expires, and pass it on to your friends and relatives.

Tell your friends! Tweet this

And now for the fine print: Offer valid on all books, ebooks and screencasts currently published by the Pragmatic Bookshelf (we won’t be releasing any new books between now and the end of the sale). Does not include The Pragmatic Programmer or titles we carry from our friends at Sitepoint. Offer valid now through 11:59AM GMT November 25, 2009. Void where prohibited. Paper books should not be used in water or in damp locations. eBooks require electricity; batteries are not included. Publisher cannot be held responsible for your increased knowledge, popularity, or general awesomeness as a direct or consequential result of experiencing our books and screencasts.

Starting last July, their editor Michael Swaine (whose writings I have enjoyed for years) has been putting out a free magazine each month as well. Available in PDF, EPub or Mobi format, all DRM free. There are active links in the Mobi version that I haven't tested with the Kindle yet (although they work well in Mobipocket reader), as well as code fragments -- I picked up the PDF copy as well as the mobi, as cutting and pasting from Adobe Reader is just easier for code.

Click HERE to browse thru their available books and/or HERE to get the free magazines.

GUD Magazine - Pay What You Want

GUD (Greatest Uncommon Denominator) Magazine has a special going on for the PDF versions of the first five issues of their magazine (issues 0 thru 4). You can pay them any amount you want for each issue, with a one penny minimum (they actually don't see any of it unless you pay at least five cents, due to PayPal fees). I picked up issue 4 at Fictionwise a while back (when they had a sale) and grabbed the epub of issue 3 using the link below (easily converted to Mobi format using Calibre), leaving me only 3 issues to complete the set. The short stories in the magazine are are science fiction and horror (some with adult language/subjects/violence and not suited for children). The first three are in the Kindle store for $3.50 each (click on the pictures above to see any comments at Amazon).

Now's the best time to get a PDF of any issue of GUD--for whatever price you like (minimum one US cent; though we don't see a cent unless you pay more than 5 cents; and half the net of every sale goes back to our contributors. Help us bump their advances from semi-pro to earned-out pro rates? Every penny helps, and tell your friends!

GUD (pronounced "good") is Greatest Uncommon Denominator, an award-winning print/pdf magazine with two hundred pages of literary and genre fiction, poetry, art, and articles.

We're available for multiple ebook devices via Fictionwise, but we could only really set up the "pay what you want" for PDFs. If you have any suggestions for making them more accessible, we'd love to hear them. Don't know if we'd be able to implement anything, but we're willing to try.

Issues 3 and 4 are not in the Kindle store (at least, not yet). If you have a Sony Reader or Nook or don't mind running a conversion program (or reading on your PC), you can get the epub of issue 3 HERE completely free.

Click HERE to pick up the other issues as PDF's. You'll have to purchase them one at a time (via PayPal), rather than picking them all up in one transaction.

Get $50 Gift Card with Wii and Wii Fit

I just saw over at Amazon that you can get a $50 gift card if you buy the Nintendo's Wii console along with a Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (and it looks like today is the last day). I already have both and keep finding games that use the Balance Board, although (so far) Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party ($19.33, also on sale) is my favorite (I especially like the ones where you sit on the board and steer various races with your butt and the dance moves; great at parties).

Click HERE for the deal page. You have to add all three items on the page to your cart at the same time, which is easily done there, and you should clearly see the $50 discounted on the order page before finalizing the order.

Early Black Friday Sale at Fictionwise

From Fictionwise's twitter feed:

We say TODAY is Black Friday. This weekend only, use coupon "thanksgiving25" and get 25% OFF your entire eBook purchase at Fictionwise.com

The code doesn't work on magazine subscriptions, but does work on both Multiformat, DRM-free and DRM'd books (multiformat books will work on Kindle, the DRM'd books will work on other readers, depending on the format selected). All their Multiformat books are already 30% off this weekend. That works out to roughly 47.5% off for non-members and 55% off for members.

For those with readers other than Kindle (or who read on their phones or PC's), they also have a great deal on selected authors this weekend:

Presenting our top authors at Fictionwise: the best of the bests are here, and they've got 50% Micropay Rebates on all their titles! Choose from: Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Dan Brown, Stephanie Laurens, Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Lora Leigh!

Combined with the 25% off coupon, you can pick up books that list for $7.99 for a net of $2.54 and can use your existing micropay credit to make the purchases. As an example, if you have $25 in credit and buy four books that list for $7.99. You'll pay $5.99 each ($5.09 for members) or $23.96 ($20.36 members). You'd then get half back in credit - $11.98 ($10.18 members) - resulting in a ending credit of $13.02 ($14.82 members). I used some of my credit to buy the backlist of a couple of favorite authors.