I don't know if this has been picked up by the board
dailynews.yahoo.com
Monday July 31 10:32 PM ET
Horror Author King to Write Online Tale III
PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Encouraged by the strong fan response to his online horror story ``The Plant,'' Stephen King plans to write a third installment for his Internet audience, his assistant said on Monday.
``The numbers are very promising,'' said Marsha DeFilippo, King's assistant. ``He is going to put up part three.''
King, who had committed to publishing at least the first two installments of the story, earlier warned readers on his Web site that at least 75 percent of those who downloaded ``The Plant'' must pay $1 if the full story were to make its way to the Web.
Through midnight July 30, King's first installment of ``The Plant'' was downloaded 152,132 times from the Internet, DeFilippo said.
About 76 percent of the readers paid immediately or said they would pay later, she said. The balance downloaded the story for free, stiffing the best-selling author of such stories as ''Carrie,'' ``The Shining'' and ``Salem's Lot.''
The first chapter of the book was made available on July 24, with 100,000 of the downloads coming during the first two days of its online offering, said Conxion Corp., the Internet distributor of the story.
``If you pay, the story rolls. If you don't, the story folds,'' King cautions on his site (http://www.stephenking.com).
The second and third installments of ``The Plant'' will be released on Aug. 21 and Sept. 25, DeFilippo said.
Internet readers using dial-up modems can download the book in two minutes. People with high-speed Internet access can get the story about the blood-sucking plant in 15 seconds, according to Conxion.
Demand for ``The Plant'' has been noted by the publishing industry. Random House Inc., the biggest English-language book publisher, said on Monday it will join other publishers in launching a unit for electronic books. The AtRandom titles will be published starting early in 2001. |
