Version 1.0 of ReaderWorksTM Standard, Publisher and SDK Fuel eBook Revolution

 

CLEVELAND, OH – August 14, 2000 – OverDrive®, Inc. announced today the commercial release of its ReaderWorksTM Standard software which is available as a free download at OverDrive’s web portal, URL: www.readerworks.com.  ReaderWorks Standard is an authoring tool that allows educators, authors, publishers, business professionals and others to convert their documents, text, images, or web content into Microsoft® Reader eBooks.

Concurrent with the release of the free Standard version, OverDrive also announced the release of its commercial eBook product, ReaderWorks Publisher. Publisher provides all the capabilities of Standard plus the ability to customize cover art and other title data used by resellers and eBookstores to promote, manage and protect digital rights for online sales. Publisher is available at the readerworks.com web portal at an introductory price of $119, a 20% discount off the suggested list price.

Today’s announcement also included the release of ReaderWorks Software Developers Kit (SDK), Version 1.0, which provides an ActiveX toolset to automate the production of eBooks in Reader format, and allows developers to add “save as Reader” capacity to their applications. ReaderWorks software brings point and click technology to the ePublishing industry for conversion of text, HTML, images, and other content to Microsoft Reader and Open eBook format. The ReaderWorks suite also supports XML, XrML, meta-data and ONIX to Reader.

“OverDrive is one of the true pioneers in eBook publishing and we are delighted to have them as our partners in helping bring eBooks to the masses,” said Brass. “They have years of proven success in building world-class publishing tools and a great vision for the future of eBooks,” he added.  “ReaderWorks tools are impressive, and so easy to use, that I think I could have anyone build Reader eBooks,” stated Bob Anderson, Production Manager for Rodale Books.  He added that eBooks, built with ReaderWorks software, were sent directly to the Barnes and Noble.com eBookstore for sale.

ReaderWorks Standard was extensively tested by over 5,000 beta version users, and since the announcement of Microsoft Reader on August 8, 2000, over 2900 copies of ReaderWorks have been downloaded from the ReaderWorks.com website.

Throughout the development of ReaderWorks software, OverDrive worked closely with Microsoft ® Corporation, providing expertise in ePublishing gleaned from its 14-year involvement with all formats of digital publishing. Dick Brass, Vice President of Technology Development at Microsoft, stated that OverDrive’s depth and experience would provide publishers and others interested in the Microsoft Reader platform with powerful solutions.

 

About Microsoft Reader with ClearType technology

Microsoft® Reader with ClearTypeTM eBook technology was introduced in April 2000 with the release of Windows –powered PocketPC devices. On August 8, 2000, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) announced the release of a desktop computer version of Reader, which, like the PocketPC version, provides computer users with a reading experience very near that of paper.

About OverDrive ReaderWorks

OverDrive developed ReaderWorks software as a conversion tool for text, HTML, images and other digital content to be converted to Microsoft Reader format for viewing on personal computers.  OverDrive, Inc. is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and is a leading developer of electronic publishing solutions. It is a founding member of the Open eBook Forum, a group developing standards for the growing ePublishing industry. Its ReaderWorks products are sold throughout the world from its web site at www.readerworks.com.  For more information contact Michael Alick, director of marketing at (216) 573-6886 ext. 116 or malick@overdrive.com.

 

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