Baen Books
Encyclopedia
Baen Books is an American publishing
company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen
. It is a science fiction
and fantasy
publishing house that emphasizes space opera
, hard science fiction
, military science fiction
, and fantasy. Soon after Baen died on 28 June 2006, he was succeeded as publisher by long-time executive editor Toni Weisskopf
.
and Simon & Schuster
. Simon & Schuster was undergoing massive reorganization and wanted to hire Jim Baen to head up and revitalize its science fiction line of its Pocket Books
division. Jim Baen, with financial backing from some friends, counter-offered with a proposal to start up a new company named Baen Books and provide Simon & Schuster
with a SF line to distribute instead.
In the later nineties, the publisher embraced the newly emerging internet as a means of "spreading the word" about a book or author and created one of the first, if not the first, writer-to-fan discussion forums "Baen's Bar" capable of using a mix of technologies to support the overall promotion and interest in reading books for education and entertainment. The web board became very dedicated to expanding the shrinking reader base for printed works by using the electronic internet to recapture interest.
One project which came about from this focus was the compendium of great science fiction "The World Turned upside down", and the practice begun circa 2002, of republishing older good science fiction in collections and omnibus editions, such as the works of the sixties authors Christopher Anvil
and others.
service that provides a forum for customers, authors and editors to interact, beginning as a BBS
. In the early 2000s, a blogger wrote: "Like every other publisher, Baen set up a website. But several of his authors and fan friends convinced him to put a chat client on his site. Since he was interested, and since several of those authors (like Jerry Pournelle
, former columnist for Byte Magazine, for instance) were very Internet savvy, he did. The chat client grew into an incredibly vibrant community called Baen's Bar."
In recent years, beginning in mid 1999, Baen has emphasized electronic publishing
and Internet-focused promotions for its publications. The discussions on Baen's bar convinced him to do so.
Baen's electronic strategy is explained exhaustively in a series of "letters" or "essays" called The Prime Palaver by Baen Free Library
. "First Librarian" Eric Flint
, but in a nutshell, emphasizes distribution of unencrypted digital versions of its works free of Digital Rights Management
copy protection schemes through webscriptions
, misunderstood by many to be a part of Baen Books, but which only provides the services and is de facto
an independent e-publisher. Webscriptions does not apply DRM for Baen, and Baen's Webscriptions, but Baen is the customer and so defines the relationship by contract. It is fair to say that Baen and Flint scoff at Digital encryption strategies and feel they do more harm than good to a publisher. Consequently, Baen also makes its entire catalog available in multiple formats for downloading and typically prices electronic versions of its books at or below that of paperback editions—and makes a profit doing it. According to essays on Baen's science fiction e-magazine Jim Baen's Universe, also edited by Flint, the strategy is if anything, getting stronger and more fruitful with the passage of time, especially with the advent of e-book readers such as the Amazon Kindle, and the Barnes & Noble Nook.
versions of at reduced prices. These have been scheduled three months in advance of print publication. Baen called this Webscriptions, but contracted implementation to his web services consultant, who established Webwrights and its internet lifeline, Webscription.net which also features other publishers such as SF genre rival Tor Books
. Webwrights is credited as the e-published version copyright
holder while Baen does the accounting and pays the original copyright holders, the authors, their cut on the e-books.
Baen's standard setup is based on monthly bundles. Each month, whatever books Baen has coming out in paper (paperback or hardcover, new or reissued) are put together in a fixed price (currently $15) bundle regardless of a number of books (historically 4-9 books, average 5-6). The Baen's Webscriptions installments are as follows: first includes roughly a half of every book in the bundle, second includes roughly three quarters, and the third, coinciding with the print release, includes the full text. The first two installments are generally available only as HTML, while the last includes all formats supported.
Another avenue for distribution that Baen uses for some of its new titles is the offering of Electronic Advance Reader Copies (ARCs), or E-ARCs 3–5 months prior to actual publication. Marketed as a premium product for the fans who absolutely positively have to read it now, they are priced at full $15 per single title and can in fact differ from the final text (as they are in fact electronic proofs). What it means is that some authors (and Baen) can get paid as many as three times for the same book if the reader is a webscriptions regular - EARC, part of the webscription bundle, and actual printed book.
The electronic versions by Baen are produced in five common formats from webwrights (HTML, Palm Pilot/Mobipocket/Kindle format, Rocketbook, EPUB/Stanza, Sony LRF, RTF and MS Reader versions), all unencrypted in drastic contrast to the rest of the e-publishing industries strategy. Jim Baen disliked Adobe pdf format for reading purposes, but webwrights offers some titles in that format as well at the clients request.
After print publication, the "cleaned up and finalized" electronic copy is available both on line through webscriptions in bundles or as single titles (priced variably $3–6) and through the parallel practice Baen instituted of using promotional CD-ROM
s with permissive copyright licenses with many of its stable of authors works. Whether downloaded or by CD-ROM, the source material is available in all the formats Baen supports, which includes some for e-book readers.
Notably, when you purchase a title from Baen, you can read it online, download in any format you want as often as you want (as long as you remember your account information).
.
, an e-magazine anthology series specifically related to the popular Ring of Fire
alternate history
plenum.
: Jim Baen's Universe
and the reconfigured (after Grantville Gazette V ended the initial spin-off production mode using the E-ARCs mode as an e-zine.) Gazettes magazine.
In contrast, the general audience speculative fiction
anthology Baen's Universe
is available only on-line. At approximately 120,000 words, this latter publication is unusually large when compared to most traditional print editions of science fiction magazine
s, and the average size of the newly reconfigured Gazettes is similarly generous.
In 1999, Baen launched its "Webscriptions
" service, which provides customers with the opportunity to purchase access to a "bundled" discount package of electronic releases from Baen's catalog, varying in composition from month to month.
For a fee, a customer subscribes to a set of approximately five novel
s and/or anthologies. Each package is commonly a mix of new releases and older titles.
Upcoming titles (in both Webscriptions and as individual purchases) are released to the customer in increments in advance of the scheduled publication month. The usual method is to make the work available for reading as increments in HTML
-only encoding. Two months prior, the subscriber may read 30-50% of the work; one month before publication, 50-75% becomes accessible. The complete text becomes available in multiple digital formats in the day and month of the released print publication.
All titles in a particular month's Webscription remain available in that "bundle" henceforth (as do all of the packages offered since the onset of the Webscription service in December 1999), and may be purchased retroactively.
The subscription aspect of the term "Webscription" refers not only to the serial manner of treating with new releases, but also to the way in which the purchaser is obliged to accept all of the selections in a particular monthly package, in much the same way as he/she would accept all of an editor's choices when buying a copy of a monthly science fiction magazine. This actively encourages purchasers to read outside their usual preferences by making available to them works by authors (and materials in subgenres of speculative fiction) that might not have come into their hands otherwise.
Because Baen subsequently maintains the great majority of their electronically released publications on its Web site for purchase, the publishing house has been able to make midlist
titles available to readers long after they would typically have gone out of print
under traditional publishing practices.
Baen has made liberal use of free content in its marketing efforts. For example, free sample chapters of its books are typically available on the Baen Web site. The "Baen Free Library
" allows free access to dozens of titles from the company's backlist, often the first book published in a series by a Baen author. Baen also provides free electronic copies of its books to readers who are blind, paralyzed, dyslexic, or are amputees.
Baen's emphasis on electronic publishing has generated press coverage for the company. Wired magazine
has described Baen's Webscriptions service as "innovative". Charles N. Brown
, publisher of Locus Magazine, has praised Baen's approach in an interview in The New York Times
, saying "Baen has shown that putting up electronic versions of books doesn't cost you sales. It gains you a larger audience for all of your books. As a result, they've done quite well."
These electronic versions, whether full or partial releases, are produced by Webscriptions under contract for Baen Books in various (at least five) common digital formats which complicates the issue of identifying electronic versions, so that Baen and Webscriptions do not use the DOI registration system, though until circa 2005, webscriptions still listed DOI identifiers, and Baen's website continues to use the abbreviation into and as of 2008. Under the registered DOI system, each installment release, and the final e-work, in all the formats produced should have a unique and specific Digital Object Identifier, which in terms of economic costs, is simply too high to bear.
The electronic e-ARC practices also complicates things in "publications dates", since the first released text starts two to three months before the release of the print copy, though the released text is not guaranteed to be fully copy edited—and so occasionally differs from the final released fully copy edited versions.
Thus, like the Grantville Gazettes the e-publication date antedates the print copy by about two months—the interval before the release of the last third and the hardcover print edition is simultaneously released.
s include:
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen
Jim Baen
James Patrick "Jim" Baen was a noted U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983 he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction and space opera genres...
. It is a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
publishing house that emphasizes space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
, hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
, military science fiction
Military science fiction
Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking place, normally in space, or on a planet other than Earth...
, and fantasy. Soon after Baen died on 28 June 2006, he was succeeded as publisher by long-time executive editor Toni Weisskopf
Toni Weisskopf
Toni Weisskopf is a science fiction editor and the publisher of Baen Books.Weisskopf is an alumna of Oberlin College, from which she graduated in 1987. She was immediately employed by Baen Books, where she served as executive editor up until the death of founder Jim Baen in 2006, at which point...
.
Founding of Baen Books
Baen Books was founded in 1983 out of a negotiated agreement between Jim BaenJim Baen
James Patrick "Jim" Baen was a noted U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983 he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction and space opera genres...
and Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
. Simon & Schuster was undergoing massive reorganization and wanted to hire Jim Baen to head up and revitalize its science fiction line of its Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
division. Jim Baen, with financial backing from some friends, counter-offered with a proposal to start up a new company named Baen Books and provide Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
with a SF line to distribute instead.
Growth and philosophy
From his days in magazine publishing, Jim Baen had a reputation for being able to recognize a gem in the rough and the ability to take a new author and nurture and train him up able to write salable material, and establish himself, which were some of the qualities desired by Simon and Shuster on their team.In the later nineties, the publisher embraced the newly emerging internet as a means of "spreading the word" about a book or author and created one of the first, if not the first, writer-to-fan discussion forums "Baen's Bar" capable of using a mix of technologies to support the overall promotion and interest in reading books for education and entertainment. The web board became very dedicated to expanding the shrinking reader base for printed works by using the electronic internet to recapture interest.
One project which came about from this focus was the compendium of great science fiction "The World Turned upside down", and the practice begun circa 2002, of republishing older good science fiction in collections and omnibus editions, such as the works of the sixties authors Christopher Anvil
Christopher Anvil
Christopher Anvil is a pseudonym used by American author Harry C. Crosby. He began publishing science fiction with the story "Cinderella, Inc." in the December 1952 issue of the science fiction magazine Imagination...
and others.
Electronic publishing strategy
Initially, the company invested resources in "Baen's Bar", its online communityOnline community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...
service that provides a forum for customers, authors and editors to interact, beginning as a BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
. In the early 2000s, a blogger wrote: "Like every other publisher, Baen set up a website. But several of his authors and fan friends convinced him to put a chat client on his site. Since he was interested, and since several of those authors (like Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
, former columnist for Byte Magazine, for instance) were very Internet savvy, he did. The chat client grew into an incredibly vibrant community called Baen's Bar."
In recent years, beginning in mid 1999, Baen has emphasized electronic publishing
Electronic publishing
Electronic publishing or ePublishing includes the digital publication of e-books and electronic articles, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. Electronic publishing has become common in scientific publishing where it has been argued that peer-reviewed scientific journals are in...
and Internet-focused promotions for its publications. The discussions on Baen's bar convinced him to do so.
Baen's electronic strategy is explained exhaustively in a series of "letters" or "essays" called The Prime Palaver by Baen Free Library
Baen Free Library
The Baen Free Library is a digital library of the science fiction and fantasy publishing house Baen Books where 112 full books can be downloaded free in a number of formats, without copy protection...
. "First Librarian" Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
, but in a nutshell, emphasizes distribution of unencrypted digital versions of its works free of Digital Rights Management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
copy protection schemes through webscriptions
Webscriptions
Webscriptions is a web services company that has sold e-books without DRM since 1999. It is closely associated with Jim Baen's Baen Books. Purchasers can download the same e-book in five different formats, even long after the initial purchase...
, misunderstood by many to be a part of Baen Books, but which only provides the services and is de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
an independent e-publisher. Webscriptions does not apply DRM for Baen, and Baen's Webscriptions, but Baen is the customer and so defines the relationship by contract. It is fair to say that Baen and Flint scoff at Digital encryption strategies and feel they do more harm than good to a publisher. Consequently, Baen also makes its entire catalog available in multiple formats for downloading and typically prices electronic versions of its books at or below that of paperback editions—and makes a profit doing it. According to essays on Baen's science fiction e-magazine Jim Baen's Universe, also edited by Flint, the strategy is if anything, getting stronger and more fruitful with the passage of time, especially with the advent of e-book readers such as the Amazon Kindle, and the Barnes & Noble Nook.
Baen's Webscriptions
Baen has distributed serialized e-bookE-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
versions of at reduced prices. These have been scheduled three months in advance of print publication. Baen called this Webscriptions, but contracted implementation to his web services consultant, who established Webwrights and its internet lifeline, Webscription.net which also features other publishers such as SF genre rival Tor Books
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
. Webwrights is credited as the e-published version copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
holder while Baen does the accounting and pays the original copyright holders, the authors, their cut on the e-books.
Baen's standard setup is based on monthly bundles. Each month, whatever books Baen has coming out in paper (paperback or hardcover, new or reissued) are put together in a fixed price (currently $15) bundle regardless of a number of books (historically 4-9 books, average 5-6). The Baen's Webscriptions installments are as follows: first includes roughly a half of every book in the bundle, second includes roughly three quarters, and the third, coinciding with the print release, includes the full text. The first two installments are generally available only as HTML, while the last includes all formats supported.
Another avenue for distribution that Baen uses for some of its new titles is the offering of Electronic Advance Reader Copies (ARCs), or E-ARCs 3–5 months prior to actual publication. Marketed as a premium product for the fans who absolutely positively have to read it now, they are priced at full $15 per single title and can in fact differ from the final text (as they are in fact electronic proofs). What it means is that some authors (and Baen) can get paid as many as three times for the same book if the reader is a webscriptions regular - EARC, part of the webscription bundle, and actual printed book.
The electronic versions by Baen are produced in five common formats from webwrights (HTML, Palm Pilot/Mobipocket/Kindle format, Rocketbook, EPUB/Stanza, Sony LRF, RTF and MS Reader versions), all unencrypted in drastic contrast to the rest of the e-publishing industries strategy. Jim Baen disliked Adobe pdf format for reading purposes, but webwrights offers some titles in that format as well at the clients request.
After print publication, the "cleaned up and finalized" electronic copy is available both on line through webscriptions in bundles or as single titles (priced variably $3–6) and through the parallel practice Baen instituted of using promotional CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s with permissive copyright licenses with many of its stable of authors works. Whether downloaded or by CD-ROM, the source material is available in all the formats Baen supports, which includes some for e-book readers.
Notably, when you purchase a title from Baen, you can read it online, download in any format you want as often as you want (as long as you remember your account information).
Magazine experiments
Baen's first run at magazine-style book publishing took place in the late 1970s, in the form of Destinies, a quarterly 'bookazine' that featured fiction and non-fiction by well-known and new authors that Baen was promoting. It was published by Ace, where Baen was employed at the time. Under the aegis of Baen Books in the 1980s he published two more bookazine series. The first was Far Frontiers. The second was New Destinies, edited by Baen, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Michael A. BanksMichael A. Banks
Michael A. Banks is a science fiction writer and editor. He is perhaps best known for nonfiction works about the genre and collaborations with Mack Reynolds. Banks has several other novels to his credit, Michael A. Banks (born 1951) is a science fiction writer and editor. He is perhaps best...
.
The Grantville Gazettes
Baen's began the experimental publication of The Grantville GazetteThe Grantville Gazette
The Grantville Gazette is the first of a series of professionally selected and edited paid fan fiction anthologies set within the 1632 series inspired by Eric Flint's novel 1632...
, an e-magazine anthology series specifically related to the popular Ring of Fire
1632 series
The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books...
alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
plenum.
Jim Baen's Universe
That semi-failure led in turn to a separate establishment of two self-sustaining e-zine enterprises with a separate staff for each, both spearhead by Eric FlintEric Flint
Eric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
: Jim Baen's Universe
Jim Baen's Universe
Jim Baen's Universe was a bimonthly online fantasy and science fiction magazine created by Jim Baen . It is recognized by the SFWA as a Qualifying Short Fiction Venue. JBU began soliciting materials in January 2006 and launched in June 2006...
and the reconfigured (after Grantville Gazette V ended the initial spin-off production mode using the E-ARCs mode as an e-zine.) Gazettes magazine.
In contrast, the general audience speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
anthology Baen's Universe
Jim Baen's Universe
Jim Baen's Universe was a bimonthly online fantasy and science fiction magazine created by Jim Baen . It is recognized by the SFWA as a Qualifying Short Fiction Venue. JBU began soliciting materials in January 2006 and launched in June 2006...
is available only on-line. At approximately 120,000 words, this latter publication is unusually large when compared to most traditional print editions of science fiction magazine
Science fiction magazine
A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
s, and the average size of the newly reconfigured Gazettes is similarly generous.
In 1999, Baen launched its "Webscriptions
Webscriptions
Webscriptions is a web services company that has sold e-books without DRM since 1999. It is closely associated with Jim Baen's Baen Books. Purchasers can download the same e-book in five different formats, even long after the initial purchase...
" service, which provides customers with the opportunity to purchase access to a "bundled" discount package of electronic releases from Baen's catalog, varying in composition from month to month.
For a fee, a customer subscribes to a set of approximately five novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and/or anthologies. Each package is commonly a mix of new releases and older titles.
Upcoming titles (in both Webscriptions and as individual purchases) are released to the customer in increments in advance of the scheduled publication month. The usual method is to make the work available for reading as increments in HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
-only encoding. Two months prior, the subscriber may read 30-50% of the work; one month before publication, 50-75% becomes accessible. The complete text becomes available in multiple digital formats in the day and month of the released print publication.
All titles in a particular month's Webscription remain available in that "bundle" henceforth (as do all of the packages offered since the onset of the Webscription service in December 1999), and may be purchased retroactively.
The subscription aspect of the term "Webscription" refers not only to the serial manner of treating with new releases, but also to the way in which the purchaser is obliged to accept all of the selections in a particular monthly package, in much the same way as he/she would accept all of an editor's choices when buying a copy of a monthly science fiction magazine. This actively encourages purchasers to read outside their usual preferences by making available to them works by authors (and materials in subgenres of speculative fiction) that might not have come into their hands otherwise.
Because Baen subsequently maintains the great majority of their electronically released publications on its Web site for purchase, the publishing house has been able to make midlist
Midlist
Midlist is a term in the publishing industry which refers to books which are not bestsellers but are strong enough to economically justify their publication...
titles available to readers long after they would typically have gone out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
under traditional publishing practices.
Baen has made liberal use of free content in its marketing efforts. For example, free sample chapters of its books are typically available on the Baen Web site. The "Baen Free Library
Baen Free Library
The Baen Free Library is a digital library of the science fiction and fantasy publishing house Baen Books where 112 full books can be downloaded free in a number of formats, without copy protection...
" allows free access to dozens of titles from the company's backlist, often the first book published in a series by a Baen author. Baen also provides free electronic copies of its books to readers who are blind, paralyzed, dyslexic, or are amputees.
Baen's emphasis on electronic publishing has generated press coverage for the company. Wired magazine
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
has described Baen's Webscriptions service as "innovative". Charles N. Brown
Charles N. Brown
Charles Nikki Brown was the co-founder and editor of Locus, the long-running news and reviews magazine covering the genres of science fiction and fantasy literature. He was born on June 24, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended City College until 1956, when he joined the military ; he served in...
, publisher of Locus Magazine, has praised Baen's approach in an interview in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, saying "Baen has shown that putting up electronic versions of books doesn't cost you sales. It gains you a larger audience for all of your books. As a result, they've done quite well."
Baen Digital Object Identifiers (DOI)
Baen Books has since 1999 been releasing electronic versions of forthcoming books by subscription as e-ARCs ("electronic Advanced Reader Copies"), released in roughly, one-third of whole installments, the last coinciding with the print release, and incorporating the installments, as a full e-book. Later marketing innovations have seen Baen include copies of the e-books as free material on CD-ROM discs, bundled with a hardcover book release.These electronic versions, whether full or partial releases, are produced by Webscriptions under contract for Baen Books in various (at least five) common digital formats which complicates the issue of identifying electronic versions, so that Baen and Webscriptions do not use the DOI registration system, though until circa 2005, webscriptions still listed DOI identifiers, and Baen's website continues to use the abbreviation into and as of 2008. Under the registered DOI system, each installment release, and the final e-work, in all the formats produced should have a unique and specific Digital Object Identifier, which in terms of economic costs, is simply too high to bear.
The electronic e-ARC practices also complicates things in "publications dates", since the first released text starts two to three months before the release of the print copy, though the released text is not guaranteed to be fully copy edited—and so occasionally differs from the final released fully copy edited versions.
Thus, like the Grantville Gazettes the e-publication date antedates the print copy by about two months—the interval before the release of the last third and the hardcover print edition is simultaneously released.
Baen Books authors
Baen authorAuthor
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
s include:
- Poul AndersonPoul AndersonPoul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
- Catherine AsaroCatherine AsaroCatherine Asaro is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire.- Biography :...
- Robert AsprinRobert AsprinRobert Lynn Asprin was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, best known for his humorous MythAdventures and Phule's Company series.- Background :...
- Robert BuettnerRobert BuettnerRobert Buettner is an American author of military science fiction novels. He is a former Military Intelligence Officer, National Science Foundation Fellow in Paleontology and has been published in the field of Natural Resources Law. He has written five volumes of the Jason Wander series and two...
- Lois McMaster BujoldLois McMaster BujoldLois McMaster Bujold is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo...
- Paul ChafePaul ChafePaul Chafe was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1965 and grew up in Hamilton, Ontario. He is a Canadian science fiction author who frequently publishes with Baen Books. In addition to his own original work, he has published several stories in Larry Niven's Man-Kzin Wars series, including Destiny's...
- C. J. CherryhC. J. CherryhCarolyn Janice Cherry , better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is a United States science fiction and fantasy author...
- L. Sprague de CampL. Sprague de CampLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
- Larry CorreiaLarry CorreiaLarry Correia is a New York Times bestselling novelist who originally self-published in 2008. His self-published novel, Monster Hunter International, reached the Entertainment Weekly bestseller list in April 2008. He then received a publishing contract with Baen Books...
- Andrew Dennis
- Virginia DeMarceVirginia DeMarceVirginia Easley DeMarce is a historian who specializes in early modern European history, as well as a prominent author in the 1632 series collaborative fiction project. She has done prominent genealogical work on the origins of the Melungeon peoples.-Biography:DeMarce received her Ph.D...
- Ann DownerAnn DownerAnn Downer is an American writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and young adults, as well as short fiction and poetry....
- David DrakeDavid DrakeDavid Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the premier authors of the military science fiction subgenre.-Biography:...
- Eric FlintEric FlintEric Flint is an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also writes humorous fantasy adventures.- Career :...
- Esther FriesnerEsther FriesnerEsther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for her humorous pieces.- Life :...
- Dave FreerDave FreerDave Freer is a South African-born science fiction author writing mostly humorous or alternate history novels.He was conscripted into the South African Defence Force and sent to the Angolan Border as a medic....
- Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
- P. C. HodgellP. C. HodgellPatricia "Pat" Christine Hodgell is an American fantasy writer, artist and professor.Dr. Hodgell holds a master's in English literature and a doctorate in 19th-century English literature, both of which were earned from the University of Minnesota...
- James P. Hogan (writer)James P. Hogan (writer)James Patrick Hogan was a British science fiction author.-Biography:Hogan was born in London, England. He was raised in the Portobello Road area on the west side of London...
- Sarah A. Hoyt
- Tom KratmanTom KratmanTom Kratman is a United States science fiction author specializing in the subgenre of military science fiction.His works are published by Baen.-Biography:...
- Mercedes LackeyMercedes LackeyMercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...
- Sharon LeeSharon Lee (writer)Sharon Lee is an American writer. She is the co-author of the Liaden universe novels and stories, as well as other works, and individually the author of two mystery novels....
and Steve MillerSteve Miller (writer)Steve Miller is the grandson of poet and WBAL radio personality Dorothea Neale. He graduated from Reisterstown, Maryland's Franklin Senior High School in 1968 after learning how to make chapbooks as editor of the school’s literary magazine, Junto.- Biography :Steve attended University of Maryland,... - Holly LisleHolly LisleHolly Lisle is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels. She is also known for her work in educating writers, including her e-book Mugging the Muse: Writing Fiction for Love And Money, the Forward Motion Writers' Community web site, and her...
- Larry NivenLarry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
- Andre NortonAndre NortonAndre Alice Norton, née Alice Mary Norton was an American science fiction and fantasy author under the noms de plume Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston...
- Jody Lynn NyeJody Lynn NyeJody Lynn Nye is an American science fiction writer. She has frequently collaborated as a co-author or the author of a sequel....
- Dr. Jerry PournelleJerry PournelleJerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte and has since 1998 been maintaining his own website/blog....
- John RingoJohn RingoJohn Ringo is an American science fiction and military fiction author. He has had several New York Times best sellers. His books range from straightforward science fiction to a mix of military and political thrillers...
- Spider RobinsonSpider RobinsonSpider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...
- Joel RosenbergJoel Rosenberg (science fiction author)Joel Rosenberg was a Canadian American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his long-running "Guardians of the Flame" series. Rosenberg was also a guns rights activist...
- Charles SheffieldCharles SheffieldCharles Sheffield , was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society....
- S.M. Stirling
- Travis S. Taylor
- Mark L. Van NameMark L. Van NameMark L. Van Name is an American science fiction writer and technology consultant. As of 2009, Van Name lives in North Carolina.-About:With John Kessel, Van Name co-founded the Sycamore Hill Writer's Workshop in 1985, and in 1996 he, Kessel, and Richard Butner edited an anthology of stories written...
- David WeberDavid WeberDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
- K. D. WentworthK. D. WentworthKathy Diane Wentworth , known as K. D. Wentworth, is a science fiction author. She got her start winning the Writers of the Future Contest in 1988, and then later won Field Publications' Teachers as Writers Award in 1991. She currently is the editor for the Writers of the Future Contest...
- Steve WhiteSteve White (science fiction)Steve White is an American science fiction author best known as the co-author of the Starfire-series alongside David Weber.He is married with 3 daughters and currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. He also works for a legal publishing company...
- Michael Z. WilliamsonMichael Z. WilliamsonMichael Z. Williamson is a science fiction and military fiction author. Born in Birkenhead, England, he and his family emigrated to Canada, then the United States in 1978. Williamson frequently utilizes the pen names "Mad Mike", and "Crazy Einar". He is retired from the United States...
- Timothy ZahnTimothy ZahnTimothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
The market for SF in the United States
In 2004, more than 2,500 titles in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror were published in the U.S. by 248 publishers. According to the 2004 Book Summary, Baen Books was the ninth most active publisher in terms of most books published in the genres indicated, and the fifth most active publisher of the dedicated SF imprints, publishing a total of 67 titles (of which 40 were original titles). It is difficult to judge the issue of quality but, based on the number of times a title published by Baen Books appeared in the bestseller lists produced by the major bookselling chains, it is ranked the seventh most popular SF publisher. In 2005 Baen moved up to the eighth position in the total books published with 72 books published (of which 40 were original titles). It was the sixth most active publisher of the dedicated SF imprints, and the fifth most popular SF publisher based on the number of bestseller list appearances.Baen Books series
- 1632 series1632 seriesThe 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by Eric Flint and published by Baen Books...
/Ring of Fire series - The Bard's Tale: A series of books based on the RPG computer game series of the same name.
- Belisarius seriesBelisarius seriesThe Belisarius Series is a fictional saga in the alternate history and military history sub-genres of science fiction, written by American authors David Drake and Eric Flint...
: The premise of this science fiction (more specifically alternate history) series is that a war between two competing societies in the future spills over to 6th century Earth. - BoloBolo (self-aware tank)A Bolo is a fictional type of artificially intelligent superheavy tank. They were first imagined by Keith Laumer, and have since been featured in science fiction novels and short story anthologies by him and others.-Description and fictional history:...
- Chicks in ChainmailChicks in ChainmailChicks in Chainmail is an anthology of fantasy stories, edited by Esther M. Friesner, with a cover by Larry Elmore. It consists of works featuring female protagonists by female authors. It was first published in paperback by Baen Books in September 1995, with a hardcover edition following from...
: A series of anthologiesAnthologyAn anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
centered around this theme, edited by Esther FriesnerEsther FriesnerEsther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for her humorous pieces.- Life :...
. - Freehold WarFreehold WarFreehold War is a series of science fiction novels created by Michael Z. Williamson, and is set in the distant future.There have been three novels, and twoshort stories from Baen Books, with a fourth novel coming in 2011.-Books in the series:...
- Heroes in HellHeroes in HellHeroes in Hell is a series of shared world fantasy books, within the genre Bangsian fantasy, created and edited by Janet Morris and written by her, Chris Morris, C. J. Cherryh and others...
- Honor HarringtonHonor HarringtonHonor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington is a fictional character, the heroine of a series of military science fiction books set in the "Honorverse", written by David Weber and published by Baen Books....
- Legacy of the AldenataLegacy of the AldenataThe Legacy of the Aldenata, also known as the Posleen War Series is the fictional universe of one of John Ringo's military science fiction series.- Premise :...
- The Man-Kzin Wars: A shared universeShared universeA shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
based on the Kzinti Conflicts in Larry Niven's Known SpaceKnown SpaceKnown Space is the fictional setting of some dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....
universe, featuring writers personally selected by Niven - March Upcountry Series
- Raj Whitehall
- Vorkosigan SagaVorkosigan SagaThe Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of these were published between 1986 and 2002, with the exceptions being “Winterfair Gifts” and Cryoburn...
- Wing CommanderWing Commander (franchise)Wing Commander is a video game media franchise consisting of space combat simulation computer games from Origin Systems, Inc., an animated television series, a feature film, a collectible card game, a series of novels, and action figures...
: Baen published seven Wing Commander novels from 1992 to 1999 (starting with Freedom Flight by Mercedes LackeyMercedes LackeyMercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...
and Ellen GuonEllen GuonEllen Guon Beeman is an American fantasy and science fiction author, television screenwriter and computer game designer/producer. She has published four novels and has worked on over 40 video games.-Career in the game industry:...
, and ending with False ColorsWing Commander: False ColorsFalse Colors is a science fiction novel set in the universe of Origin Systems' computer game Wing Commander. Published in 1998, the book was written by Andrew Keith and William R. Forstchen, though William H...
by William R. ForstchenWilliam R. ForstchenWilliam R. Forstchen is an American author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina...
and Andrew Keith), including the novelizations of two of the games, Wing Commander III: Heart of the TigerWing Commander III: Heart of the TigerWing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger is the third main game in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulation video game series, developed and released by Origin Systems...
and Wing Commander IV: The Price of FreedomWing Commander IV: The Price of FreedomWing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom is the fourth main game in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulator video game series, produced by Origin Systems and released by Electronic Arts for the PC in 1995 and the Sony PlayStation in 1997...
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External links
- Baen Books official Web site
- Baen's Grantville Gazettes - First (originally experimental) e-zine, the gazette is unique in that it is canonicalCanon (fiction)In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
for the best selling Ring of Fire series. - Jim Baen's UNIVERSE the publishers second foray into e-zine publishing.
- Jim Baen's UNIVERSE Columns archives-- various columns, Editors and otherwise, no subscription needed.
- Prime Palaver essays, most discussing copy protection and Baen's e-policies.
- Editor's columns of JBU -- "Salvos Against Big Brother" and "The Editor's Page"; "Salvos" are similar essays by editor Flint specifically focused on DRM and Baen's electronic publishing policies.
- Baen's Bar Online - All e-manuscript submissions for either of the above ezines have to go through this door into the two sub-forums 1632 Slush or JBU "Universe Slush" conference. Baen's Bar is the only submission mechanism for submitting stories to two professional SF Magazines.
- Baen Free Library
- Baen e-books via Webscriptions
- Index of Baen on-line resources at www.allensmith.net
- Free Baen materials for the disabled at www.ReadAssist.org