The Signpost

Wikipedia books launched

Wikipedia books launched worldwide

Worldwide launch of the book feature

Wikipedia in print

6 May 2010 marked the launch of the book tool on the English Wikipedia.[1][2][3] Previously, the creation of Wikipedia books was limited to logged-in users because of scalability issues, but now anyone in the world can take collections of Wikipedia articles, arrange them into chapters, and get them delivered to their door by PediaPress, the official print-on-demand partner of the Wikimedia Foundation. The books come as A5 format paperbacks, and users are able to select an image and background color for the book's cover. The books ship within two business days, and start at US$8.95 for a 100-page book. The books can also be freely downloaded as A4 format PDFs, as well as in ODT format, which can be printed at home and further edited. There are plans to make hardcover and color versions available by the end of August.


The book tool is currently enabled for 17 languages, and books have been delivered to 33 countries.[2] The launch of books caught the eye of several media outlets, such as TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Mashable, and The New Yorker.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Screencast explaining how the book tool works

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More articles

PediaPress released a new screencast for the book launch, explaining how to create books with the book tool.

Confused by the book tool? See this video guide on how to create a book!

Users interested in creating and maintaining "community books", that is books which can be edited by everyone (such as Book:Canada and Book:Messier objects), can join WikiProject Wikipedia-Books, which is a collaboration of editors who are interested in creating and maintaining Wikipedia books.

100 free books

To celebrate the launch of Wikipedia books to the world at large, PediaPress is giving away 100 coupons for free printed books. Each coupon has a value of $20 (USD) and will be awarded on a first-come first-served basis to editors who create a community book (books uploaded in the Book namespace). If the price of the book comes to more than $20, then a $20 discount will be offered instead. For the full details, see User:Headbomb/Coupons.

References

  1. ^ Moka Pantages (6 May 2010). "More Ways to Share". Wikimedia Blog.
  2. ^ a b c d "Wikipedia Starts Offering Books: The free encyclopedia's newest feature lets users create their custom printed books based on Wikipedia content" (PDF) (Press release). PediaPress. 6 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Who on Earth Needs Wikis in Print? An interview with Heiko Hees, Managing Director of PediaPress" (PDF) (Press release). PediaPress. 6 May 2010.
  4. ^ Leena Rao (6 May 2010). "Wikipedia And PediaPress Now Allow You To Create Books From Content In English". TechCrunch.
  5. ^ Jolie O'Dell (7 May 2010). "Wikipedia Now Lets You Order Printed Books". Mashable.
  6. ^ Andrew Liszewski (7 May 2010). "PediaPress Takes The Offline WikiReader One Step Further By Providing Printed Books From Wikipedia Content". OhGizmo.
  7. ^ Kevin Hall (7 May 2010). "New service turns Wikipedia pages into printed books". DVice.
  8. ^ Noel (7 May 2010). "PediaPress Lets You Compile Wikipedia Entries Into A Custom Book". CoolThings.
  9. ^ Kat Hannaford (7 May 2010). "Buy You Favorite Wikipedia Subjects in Books Form, for 9$". Gizmodo.
  10. ^ Meredith Blake (10 May 2010). "The Book Bench: Wiki Books". The New Yorker.

















Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-05-10/Wikipedia_books_launched