News

Of Kiosks and King: Horror novelist available for downloading

March 21, 2002

NEW YORK - Fans of legendary horror writer Stephen King have grown accustomed to his electronic publishing tendencies, and the popular writer added another chapter to his e-publishing legacy this week when snippets of his latest work became available through kiosks in New York.

A free excerpt of King's latest work, a collection of short stories entitled Everything's Eventual, is available for several weeks through 100 sidewalk kiosks in midtown Manhattan. The excerpt, which is about 400 words long, is available to download on personal digital assistants.

The kiosks, designed by interactive media company Streetbeam Inc. in partnership with Viacom Outdoor, are attached to payphones. The kiosks beam information to PDAs using infrared signals.

The downloading campaign is part of an effort to promote the sale of King's book online through Palm Digital Media, which is making the book available for downloading to PDAs through its Web site.

King has experimented in recent years with publishing his work online. One of his short stories that was available for downloading several years ago, "Riding the Bullet," is included in Everything's Eventual.