Press Release: New DRM-Free Ebook Retailer Launches
Starting June 3, 0s&1s Novels (0s-1s.com) will offer its inaugural catalog of e-books. Each book will sell for $6, DRM-free as a digital package: epub, mobi and pdf files. In addition to three original novels, the site features titles from 13 publishers, including Coach House Books in Toronto, Black Balloon Publishing and Tyrant Books in New York, Curbside Splendor in Chicago, and Red Hen Press in Pasadena, California.
The collective was formed by Andrew Lipstein, a 26-year-old industry outsider, in an effort to reimagine selling literary books online. Publishers have struggled to strike fair terms with their limited options, most notably Amazon and iBooks. Independent publishers, in particular, often are unable to afford the added expenses needed for exposure on the "world's largest bookstore."
Under the 0s&1s model, finances are generous to the publisher and transparent: Of the $6 book price, $0.47 goes to the e-commerce provider, $1.09 to 0s&1s, and $4.42 to the author/partner publisher (80% of profits). By removing Digital Rights Management, an encryption method that has proven easy to illegally strip, 0s&1s gives complete ownership of the files to the consumer.
0s&1s' original content is led by the debut novel from Victoria Hetherington, "I Have To Tell You." The story is a searingly honest, au courant depiction of the creative class, identity-building, and relationship structures of twenty-somethings-seen voyeuristically through two best friends.
Prior to starting 0s&1s, Lipstein worked in advertising in New York and founded the microfiction site thickjam.com (in 2011). He now lives in Gainesville, Florida and New York.
"We've received a lot of great feedback from both publishers and readers," Lipstein says. "Right now we have about thirteen presses, but I can see that number expanding in the future, as well as the number of titles from each. Given recent news, the e-book selling space should be considered open."
