‘ABG to Web Publishing’ in Google Book Search

abgwp.jpgI hadn’t thought much recently about Google Book Search until this weekend, when I had reason to drive from Jackson to Nashville and back again in the course of 48 hours. The trip, which takes about 6.5-7 hours each way, was made palatable only by my iPod, which had hour after hour of NPR’s “Fresh Air” mixed in with NPR’s “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me.” They were chosen quickly, as I’d already had some of them downloaded to iTunes and just needed to sync quickly in my office; I was happy to have them, as both were entertaining and got me through the 14 hours of driving.

Meanwhile, I get back in the office today and decide to Google a book of mine, the Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Creating Web Pages, because I noticed on royalty statement that a few copies of a PDF version of the book had sold, as I was wondering how that worked. Haven’t figured that part out yet, but what I did find is this Google Book Search version of ABG to Web Publishing. Pretty cool. You can’t read the whole thing, but from what I gather on NPR, the tool may be pushing some sales of books through online services; according to some of the publishers who track these things, people who come in from Google Book Search are more apt to finish the purchase of a specific book title than those who just hit upon the title on Google or MSN.

And what about that ‘PDF’ version of the book? Still looking…

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