Read an Ebook Week, March 8-14, 2009

Read an Ebook Week was created by Rita Toews in order to inform the public about the wonderful world of ebooks.

There are many benefits to ebooks, the most important ones being that they don't kill trees and that they're cheaper — sometimes a lot cheaper — than their print counterparts. For a full list of benefits, you may want to visit EPublishers Weekly.

Between March 8-14, publishers and authors on the web will be offering special deals and discounts on ebooks. Two of these publishers are Zumaya Publications and Twilight Times Books.

Zumaya Publications publishes books in both print and electronic formats in a large variety of genres ranging from romance to mystery to fantasy and science fiction. In celebration of Read an Ebook Week, 17 Zumaya authors will offer free copies of their books. All will be offered in eReader format suitable for reading on iPhone and iPod Touch and PDF, and many will be available in other popular ebook formats such as MS Reader.

Twilight Times Books also publishes books in both print and electronic formats.

Publisher Lida Quillen is offering Darrell Bain's autobiography, Darrell Bain's World of Books, as a free download, plus an additional free ebook each day. Among the selections will be Behold the Eyes of Light by Geoff Geauterre, Jerome and the Seraph by Robina Williams, No Place for Gods by Gerry Mills, Striking Back from Down Under by Dr. Bob Rich, The Last to Fall by Anne K. Edwards and Who is Margaret? by Celia A. Leaman.

Here is a list of ebook giveaways during Read an Ebook Week:

All week — Darrell Bain's World of Books by Darrell Bain
Sunday, Mar. 8th — Behold the Eyes of Light by Geoff Geauterre
Monday, Mar. 9th — Jerome and the Seraph by Robina Williams
Tuesday, Mar. 10th — No place for Gods by Gerald Mills
Wednesday, Mar. 11th — Striking Back from Down Under by Dr. Bob Rich
Thursday, Mar. 12th — The Last to Fall by Anne K. Edwards
Friday, Mar. 13th — Who is Margaret? by Celia A. Leaman
Saturday, Mar. 14th — Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine Issue Sept/Oct 2005
Saturday, Mar. 14th — Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine Issue Jan/Feb 2006

So why read ebooks? I asked Elizabeth Burton, Editor-in-Chief at Zumaya Publications:

Books are books – ebooks are just more convenient than their print brethren. If you have vision problems, if you can't leave the house without something to read, if you spend any amount of time waiting for something to happen, if you have arthritis in your hand that makes holding a book uncomfortable, if you like to read in bed but your partner doesn't appreciate the glare – these are all good reasons to consider ebooks. That there are some incredibly good writers whose work you'll only be able to read digitally is just an added bonus.

On the future of ebooks, this is what she had to say:

There was much lamenting when the mass market paperback crawled out of the pulp world that it would destroy the wonders of hardcover reading. The same, equally specious wail is not being aimed at ebooks. Ebooks are just another way to read, one that appeals to the younger generations who've grown up with digital media but that also draws those who for any or all of the above-listed reasons want an alternative to print. They won't replace print books anytime soon, but the market for them will continue to grow.

There's no question that ebooks are the reading format of the future. Feel free to spread the word about Read an Ebook Week and don't lose your chance to get some free ebooks.