- Baen Free Library
The Baen Free Library is a
digital library of thescience fiction andfantasy publishing house Baen Books where (as of February 2007) 94 full books are available for free download in a number of formats, withoutcopy protection . It was founded in autumn 1999 byscience fiction writerEric Flint andpublisher Jim Baen to determine whether the availability of books free of charge on theInternet encourages or discourages the sale of their paper books.The Baen Free Library represents an interesting experiment in the field of
intellectual property andcopyright . It appears that sales of both the books made available free and other books by the same author, even from a different publisher, increase when the electronic version is made available free of charge. [http://www.baen.com/library/palaver6.htm]In 2002, Baen also started adding
CD-ROM s into some hardcovers of newest titles in successful series. They contain the complete series of novels preceding the printed book (for those books that were the latest in a series), other works by the same author, some works by other authors, and multimedia bonuses. The CD-ROMs have a prominent permissive copyright license which expressly encourages free-of-charge copying and sharing, including over the Internet.Baen also operates
Webscriptions , a subscription-basede-book program.Current titles
Current as of
2008-03-05 .
#"1632" byEric Flint
#"1633" by Eric Flint
#"" by Eric Flint
#"Agent of Vega" byJames H. Schmitz
#"Anti-Grav Unlimited" byDuncan Long (removed?)
#"The Apocalypse Troll" byDavid Weber
#"Bedlam Boyz" byEllen Guon
#"Berserker Throne" byFred Saberhagen
#"Beyond World's End" byRosemary Edghill
#"Black on Black" byK. D. Wentworth
#"Born to Run" byMercedes Lackey
#"Changer of Worlds " by David Weber
#"The Course of Empire" by Eric Flint and K. D. Wentworth
#"Crawling Between Heaven and Earth" bySarah Hoyt
#"The Creatures of Man" by Howard L. Myers
#"Cross the Stars" byDavid Drake
#"Crown of Slaves" by David Weber and Eric Flint
#"Crusade" by David Weber
#"Demon Blade" by Mark A. Garland and Charles G. McGraw
#"Destiny's Shield" by Eric Flint and David Drake
#"Diamonds Are Forever" byRyk Spoor and Eric Flint
#"Digital Knight" by Ryk Spoor
#"Doc Sidhe" byAaron Allston
#"Emerald Sea" by John Ringo
#"The Excalibur Alternative " by David Weber
#"Fallen Angels" byLarry Niven ,Jerry Pournelle , and Michael Flynn
#"Far Edge of Darkness" byLinda Evans
#"The Far Side of the Stars" by David Drake
#"Fiddler Fair" by Mercedes Lackey
#"Fire In the Mist" byHolly Lisle
#"The Forlorn" byDave Freer
#"Fortune's Stroke" by Eric Flint and David Drake
#"Forward the Mage" by Eric Flint and Richard Roach
#"Freehold" byMichael Z. Williamson
#"Future Imperfect" by Keith Laumer (edited by Eric Flint)
#"Genellan: Planetfall" by Scott Gier
#"Genie Out of the Bottle" by Eric Flint
#"The Grantville Gazette ", Vol. 1, edited by Eric Flint
#"Great Kings' War" byRoland Green andJohn F. Carr
#"Gust Front" byJohn Ringo
#"A Hymn Before Battle" by John Ringo
#"The Honor of the Queen " by David Weber
#"The Hub: Dangerous Territory" by James H. Schmitz
#"In the Heart of Darkness" by David Drake & Eric Flint
#"Inherit the Stars " by James P. Hogan
#"Interstellar Patrol" byChristopher Anvil
#"The Lark and the Wren" by Mercedes Lackey
#"Legions of Space" by Keith Laumer
#"The Lighter Side" byKeith Laumer (edited and compiled by Eric Flint)
#"The Lion of Farside" byJohn Dalmas
#"Lt. Leary Commanding" by David Drake
#"A Logic Named Joe" byMurray Leinster (edited and compiled by Eric Flint)
#"March to the Sea " by David Weber and John Ringo
#"March Upcountry" by David Weber and John Ringo
#"Med Ship" by Murray Leinster
#"Mother of Demons" by Eric Flint
#"The Mountains of Mourning" byLois McMaster Bujold
#"The Multiplex Man" by James P. Hogan
#"Mutineers' Moon " by David Weber
#"Northworld" by David Drake
#"Oath of Swords " by David Weber
#"An Oblique Approach" by David Drake & Eric Flint
#"Odyssey" by Keith Laumer
#"Old Nathan" by David Drake
#"On Basilisk Station " by David Weber
#Original versions of edited Godwin Stories byTom Godwin
#Original versions of edited Schmitz Stories by James H. Schmitz
#"Pandora's Legions" byChristopher Anvil
#"Paying the Piper" by David Drake
#"The Philosophical Strangler" by Eric Flint
#"Planets of Adventure" by Murray Leinster
#"Primary Inversion" by Catherine Asaro
#"A Plague of Demons" by Keith Laumer (edited by Eric Flint)
#"Pyramid Scheme" by Dave Freer and Eric Flint
#"Rats, Bats and Vats" by Dave Freer and Eric Flint
#"The Rats, the Bats and the Ugly" by Eric Flint and Dave Freer
#"Redliners" by David Drake
#"Retief!" by Keith Laumer
#"Ring of Fire" by Eric Flint
#"The Road to Damascus" by John Ringo and Linda Evans
#"The Sea Hag" by David Drake
#"Seas of Venus" by David Drake
#"Sentry Peak" byHarry Turtledove
#"The Shadow of the Lion" by Mercedes Lackey
#"Sheepfarmer's Daughter" byElizabeth Moon
#"Sisters of Glass" byD. W. St. John
#"Slayer" byKaren Koehler
#"Sleipnir" byLinda Evans
#"Star Soldiers" byAndre Norton
#"Stars Over Stars" by K. D. Wentworth
#"Sunrise Alley" byCatherine Asaro
#"Sympathy for the Devil" by Holly Lisle
#"The Tank Lords" by David Drake
#"Telzey Amberdon" by James H. Schmitz
#"Time Traders" by Andre Norton
#"The Two Faces of Tomorrow" by James P. Hogan
#"The Tyrant" by David Drake
#"There Will Be Dragons" by John Ringo
#"This Scepter'd Isle" by Mercedes Lackey andRoberta Gellis
#"TNT-Telzey & Trigger" by James H. Schmitz
#"The War God's Own" by David Weber
#"The Warslayer" by Rosemary Edghill
#"Werehunter" by Mercedes Lackey
#"West of Honor" by Jerry Pournelle
#"Windows of the Soul" byPaul Chafe
#"Wisdom of the Fox" by Harry Turtledove
#"With the Lightnings" by David Drake
#"Wizard's Bane" byRick Cook
#"Wizardry Compiled" by Rick Cook
#"Wolf Time" byLars Walker Letters to and from Baen's First Librarian
This section lists letters from readers to Baen's "First Librarian",
Eric Flint , and responses he made in return about the Free Library and its offerings, but more importantly these discuss the experiences of Baen with offering free titles and further discuss issues in ePublishing in general. Of particular note, are the grateful letters from blind and handicapped individuals, and the wide geographic demographic of the Baen experiment. However, most of the material is historically interesting 'snapshots' of the arguments over intellectual property rights in the early days of the Free Library and development of the Baen Books publishing style of offering titles both by download and in print.External links
* [http://www.baen.com/library/ Baen Free Library]
* [http://www.speculations.com/?t=189167 "Building the Baen Free Library" by Eric Flint] - a 2002 essay, republished from Library's news at the link above
* [http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=tlEn9.47642%24xI5.9721%40sccrnsc02&output=gplain Flint's description of the inspiration for the Library] in anUSENET post "Sat, 05 Oct 2002 16:22:49 GMT"
* [http://www.allensmith.net/SciFi/Baen/Free.htm Annotated Baen Free eBook Listing] - Baen Free Library and Baen CD-ROM Library
* [http://dak180.dynalias.com:8080/PHP/tracker/ Baen CD Torrents]
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