Palm and Simon & Schuster Beam Stephen King Excerpt

Posted on March 28, 2002

In an effort to promote Everything's Eventual, Stephen King's latest short story collection, Palm and Simon & Schuster are beaming an excerpt from the book directly to Palm owners in Manhatten. For the next several weeks, New Yorkers with a Palm Powered handheld can get a free excerpt from King's new book by pointing their handheld at one of the 100 kiosks set up on the sidewalks of midtown Manhattan. Designed by interactive mobile media company Streetbeam Inc., in partnership with Viacom Outdoor, the kiosks are set up to beam information to Palm Powered handhelds using infrared signals.

The hardcover edition and the ebook of King's Everything's Eventual, both published by Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, have already been released. Stephen King has been involved in numerous ebook projects and electronic promotions from Riding the Bullet to The Plant. The Plant was a solo project where he sold a serial ebook from his website, but most of his epublishing adventures have been promotion-oriented projects with his publisher.

"Working with Palm Digital Media, Viacom Outdoor and Streetbeam lets us communicate with readers in a way that was not possible before," said Kate Tentler, vice president, Simon & Schuster Online. "It's a very exciting time for the publishing industry as it begins to incorporate ebook and other digital technologies into the many layers of its business, and for Simon & Schuster as we break new ground with this promotional campaign."