December 15, 2010

BAEN BOOKS LAUNCHES WEBSITE WITH A WEALTH OF FREE OFFERINGS!

Baen Books, a leading publisher of science fiction and fantasy, is relaunching its popular website with loads of new features. Each month new fiction and nonfiction will be available free of charge on the redesigned webpage, at www.baen.com.

The first free fiction to be featured is “Space Hero” by Patrick Lundrigan. This story is the 2010 winner of the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Contest, co-sponsored by Baen Books and the National Space Society. The contest was designed to promote and reward forward-thinking science fiction authors who write exciting and innovative stories about the near future of manned space exploration and to honor the memory of Baen Books innovative founder, Jim Baen. This year’s judges were Baen Books Senior Editors, Hank Davis and Jim Minz, and bestselling science fiction author David Weber. For more information about the contest go to: http://www.williamledbetter.com/contest.htm.

New tools for teachers, librarians and book groups will also be available. Interviews with authors, an updated our list of Baen Books suitable for YAs, all-new teacher’s study guides and reading group discussion question topics will be available free of charge. The first offering is a guide to Robert A. Heinlein’s classic YA novel, The Rolling Stones, written by Felecia McDuffie, PhD. Future fiction and nonfiction will include original works by New York Times bestseller Larry Correia, Gregory Benford, Robert Buettner, Tom Kratman, Michael Z. Williamson, Travis S. Taylor, and more. Other popular features, like the on-line bulletin board Baen’s Bar and the Baen Free Library (featuring over 80 free downloadable e-books), will also remain.

The website redesign was accomplished by Principled Technologies, best known for its industry-leading independent technology assessment services.

Baen Books was founded in 1983, and is distributed by Simon & Schuster. It is hailed for its bestselling books in space opera, military science fiction and urban fantasy, and its ground-breaking e-books program dating from 1999.

For more information contact Laura Haywood-Cory at: 1-800-ITS-BAEN or info@baen.com.