Design industry pal Kristin Ellison recently left her position as acquisitions editor at Rockport Publishers to become an editor at the new online freebie book source WOWIO. WOWIO went live as a resource for downloading free books a couple weeks ago. I received an email from Ellison earlier today suggesting I visit WOWIO and register, because the four original issues of Critique: The Magazine of Graphic Design Thinking had been posted in PDF format for downloading. She mentioned that more issues would be coming in the future.I didn't need to be told twice.
A brief look at the site found classic fiction, articles and essays, historical nonfiction, comics and graphic novels among the first offerings on the site. Readers acquire ebooks via the WOWIO Web site by setting up an account, searching for the desired items and adding them to a shopping cart for checkout. I went through the relatively painless registration process and "ordered" the free Critique downloads. Within a few minutes I received an email containing a link to download the material and I was soon browsing through the issues on my PowerBook.
So, what's the catch? I don't think there is one. WOWIO makes a profit by selling advertising space in the book downloads. Advertisers place ads with WOWIO through corporate accounts with the company. Advertising campaigns are composed of full-page, full-color advertisements and a detailed profile of the target audiences. Advertisers create campaigns by targeting specific demographic groups and placing messages in ebooks ordered by customers who match the profile.
WOWIO is certainly in its infancy - but it's definitely worth an early look as a potential resource for great reading material. I know I'll be returning to check out future postings.
Trademarked logo is courtesy of WOWIO
© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
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