Jim Baen, publisher of the extraordinary science fiction line Baen Books, has passed away. I loved Baen for his radically sensible approach to electronic publishing: give away electronic editions of books and people will treat them as advertisements to buy more print books. —David Drake
I've been working through the 1634 series via a combination of used paperbacks,
free electronic books, and paid electronic books. Baen has been a pioneer of electronic distribution the right way—giving away material unencumbered by proprietary formats or digital rights management—and proving that in doing so he can make more money, not less. By experimenting openly, sharing usually secret sales figures, and advocating his own approach, Baen made the world better in his niche and, hopefully, his legacy will spread.
