Fictionwise Launches Secure Mobipocket eBooks
Best Sellers from Major Publishers Now Available in Cross-Platform eBook format

April 2, 2002 -- Chatham, NJ, USA -- Fictionwise.com, a leading independent eBook publisher and distributor, announced today that it has launched Secure Mobipocket formatted eBooks, including best selling titles from Random House, Inc., St. Martins, Time Warner, and McGraw Hill. Secure Mobipocket eBooks can be read on popular handheld devices including PalmOS, Pocket PC, WIN CE, Psion, and Franklin eBookMan, and soon on personal computers.

“Fictionwise previously sold only unencrypted eBooks and we are completely dedicated to continuing to add many more such titles each week,” said Scott Pendergrast, co-owner of Fictionwise. “But our members have been increasingly asking for access to current best sellers from the major trade publishers, all of whom require strong encryption. Mobipocket allows us to meet this need.”

Fictionwise (http://www.fictionwise.com) has over 41,000 registered members and has nearly 2000 titles available. The Fictionwise website continues to sell unencrypted “MultiFormat” eBooks, which can be downloaded from a member’s bookshelf as needed in up to eight formats for PCs and every major type of handheld device. In addition, with the launch of Secure Mobipocket eBooks, members can now purchase nationally best-selling titles from major publishers in Mobipocket’s cross-platform format. A single Mobipocket formatted eBook file can be read on every major handheld device, with a PC based reader becoming available within the next few weeks.

“The Mobipocket solution is a very good one,” said Stephen Pendergrast, co-owner of Fictionwise. “Their encryption system is both very secure and unobtrusive because it does not require users to remember per-title passwords. It was very important to us that any encryption system be easy to use, unobtrusive, and as convenient as possible. Mobipocket also has the added benefit of being the only format that allows one single file to be useable on all major handheld devices as well as PCs.”

Random House, Inc., the world’s largest trade book publisher, is releasing a number of major titles through Fictionwise, including works from Anne McCaffrey, Harry Turtledove, James Clemens, R.A. Salvatore, Terry Brooks, David Sherman and Dan Cragg. The publisher is also featuring several of its most popular series through a special “Buy One, Get One Free” promotion.

Jeff Gomez, the eBooks and Print on Demand Manager at St. Martin’s Press
said: “The industry may think that no one is selling eBooks, but Fictionwise proves that this just isn’t true; they’re a good example of a website that generates income and whose sales are steadily expanding. St. Martin’s Press is happy to be in business with them. We’re also excited about the Mobipocket format because it ends all of the format confusion that currently exists. Consumers don’t know which software goes with which device, but if an eBook is in the Mobipocket format, it doesn’t matter what kind of device the user owns.”

By summer, Fictionwise expects to have several hundred Secure Mobipocket titles, and over a thousand by the end of 2002. Unencrypted titles will also continue to expand rapidly, from a current catalog of about 1700 titles to over 3,000 by the end of 2002.

For more information, go to: http://www.fictionwise.com

Contact: Scott Pendergrast
973-701-6770
pr@fictionwise.com