E-books as p-book sales boosters–and sites with free samples

Details in the International Herald Tribune via LISNews. Novelist and blogger Cory Docotorow, shown here, is among the freebie-related examples, along with Michael Pilan, a former Monty Python trouper. So is anti-hoaxer James Randi. Other info from the IHT: “In the third quarter of 2004, according to the International Digital Publishers Forum, sales of e-books jumped 25 percent from the year before–to a paltry $3.2 million, divided among 23 publishers.” I suspect those numbers are on the low side, but they’re still disgraceful–thanks to factors ranging from Draconian DRM to overpriced e-books and the Tower of eBabel.