Buy a New Printed Edition and Get the "Electronic Book" Too

This September, Chûkei Publishing is beginning a new venture called "Internet Book Service," in which readers who purchase new printed editions will also have access to electronic versions. Chûkei is also starting a new service called "Internet Editions," electronic republications of books which have been converted to electronic form, or books with pending reprintings. Sanseidô set the precedent last year by making electronic versions available to customers who bought printed works such as the Daijirin Dictionary. For Chûkei, these current ventures are part of efforts to "strengthen the value of book stores dealing in new editions" and "counteract new-used bookstores, the Internet and cell phones," while at the same time encouraging the growth of the company.

The "Internet Book Service" begins on September 1, with Business English for Tech People the first book with CD to be released. Also planned for September are Droplets of Literature With Recitation CD, Procedures for the Creation of Business Plans and Practices, and Practical Expressions for English Conversation, for a total of four new titles.

At the end of the main text of each book will be a page entitled "important information for customers who have purchased books," explaining that those who buy printed editions can read the electronic versions for free, and providing information on accessing those versions.

In concrete terms, this means those who have made a purchase will be directed to a special link on the Chûkei Publishing Homepage, where they will input the last five digits of the ISBN code found on the last page of their book, and a registration number for each volume. Next, they will answer a question which only a person in possession of the book would know, such as, "what is the first letter on the second line of page four?" Then after inputting some basic information such as name, e-mail address and password, they will be given access to the electronic version with functions such as a digital keyword index, memo, and bookmark functions.

In the first year, Chûkei plans to put about 60 new titles on the "Internet Book Service."


*Some of the book titles are tentative translations.
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