Google Book Search
 Google Book Search: News & Views

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"As an author whose books appear in Google Book Search, I want to express my support for the project. I appreciate potential readers being able to find my book, examine an excerpt – as they might do while leafing through the book at a store, or as they might do on a major seller like Amazon – and deciding for themselves if the book is for them…Google is not in any way alleviating the need for books to exist or be purchased, and in fact are making these books more noticeable and accessible than ever before."
– Don Jones, Author, 'Managing Windows with Vbscript and Wmi' and more

"Thank you so much for listing information and titles for my books; and thanks to my publisher for giving me this choice -- to opt into your book search engine at no cost to me. Now anyone can find my books more easily. The older ladies in my social circle are mostly retired university educators who like the texture of a paperback book (in contrast to surfing online). They enjoy bringing books on vacation. Books make great gifts. Google now makes it so much easier to find these books and browse the tables of contents."
– A. Hart, Author

"[Authors] would be thrilled to have their books on Google. Most authors make very little money from their books. They want to get their ideas out there. It is a cliche worth repeating that the web has the potential to allow the greatest expansion in knowledge dissemination ever."
– Michael Moskowitz, Author, Reading Minds: Why We Don't Know What We Know
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"Every author wishes that more people read his or her books. Most of us would happily stand on street corners with sandwich boards if we thought it would help. Anything that brings our work in front of a larger public should be welcomed as a good thing, not something to be feared…all authors should be working with search engines like Google to come up with new and creative ways to get people to know about and sample what we have often spent many months – and sometimes many years – working on."
– Jack M. Balkin, Author, 'The Laws of Change' and more
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"Having a super-efficient card catalog, Google-style, would be nothing short of amazing. It would help professors, students and other information-searchers and writers tremendously. Google's project could also revive interest in books currently gathering dust on library shelves."
– Julie Hilden, Author, 'Three' and more
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"Completing my first piece of journalism, in 1998, I downloaded a public domain translation of The Brothers Karamazov and searched it for references to a minor character called Marfa Ignatyevna, in order to add some texture to a discussion of the small but significant town of Marfa, Texas, a place supposedly named after this woman. Having an active text version of the novel — which I also owned and knew — provided me with one of those extremely rare moments of pleasure, clarity, and completion in the act of writing, when the puzzle of an idea clicks firmly into place with words on the page. I searched, I found, I quoted. What I never have enough of as a writer is time. Writing, for me, is all about finding the time to write. Far from being "grisly," a universal library of scanned and searchable books would be the greatest imaginable gift to writers and future readers alike. It will help us do what we do. (Age quod agis, in scannable Latin....)"
– Sean Wilsey, Author, 'Oh the Glory Of It All'
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"Google isn't giving away the book or selling its contents, it's indexing them so that others may search through books. You cannot print out a copy of the entire book through Google Book Search, which may actually entice you to buy the book outright. This could turn out to be a hugely useful research tool for people and a very successful marketing program for publishers."
– Nicholas C. Zakas, Author, 'Professional JavaScript for Web Developers'
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"I think it's a great way for the public to learn about books that might not normally get a lot of exposure. And those who produce these books will benefit from higher sales. I gave permission to include my book, Amanda Rio, in the library's database and I've seen the finished product. I'm delighted with it. Users can access parts of the book to decide if they like it, but they can't get the whole thing unless they buy a copy of it."
– Steven Donahue, Author, 'Amanda Rio'
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"As a self-published author, I can't imagine a better gift from Google than more opportunities for readers to find my book."
– Susan Foote Wagner, Author, 'The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique'

"It dawned on me that while I'm in the process of writing a new book, Google Book Search might be a useful tool for my research. I'm writing a biography, so I went to the site and typed in my subject's name. Instantly, I got all these references to books where he appeared. Each reference would give me the two to three pages where he was the subject, and I could tell from reading that short synopsis whether the book was something I could use. I went out and bought books, borrowed books from libraries, and even tracked down some from my own collection that I hadn't realized before were relevant. In the old days, it would have taken half a day to go the library, find the book, wait for the book and then determine if it helped or not. Now, I can do that work in five to ten minutes. That is truly amazing. I come down very strongly in favor of what Google is doing. The bottom line is that I wound up going and buying books that I never even knew about while also saving a ton of time on research."
– Warren Kozak, Author, The Rabbi of 84th Street: The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser

"[Book Search] does exactly what it says it does: It allows you to "Search the full text of books and discover new ones." As [a] relatively new author, [I] like the idea that people will be able to find [my book], preview it, see the table of contents and some of the pages, compare prices, order it, and see who already may own it in the area (through WorldCat). How cool is that! Google Book Search. I think I like it! No, I know I love it!"
– Donna Baumbach, author of Less is More: A Practical Guide to Weeding School Library Collections
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"I discovered that my book has been excerpted on Google Book Search. I sat back with my coffee and gave that some thought. Nobody writes a fiction work so that it will not be read. Google's posted excerpt is if anything a form of positive advertisement, and free advertisement, at that. In fact, Google's posting may do what my friends haven't been able to: encourage me to finish the second novel I've got stuck up on a shelf in my closet, and perhaps give a try to publishing those other two I've got gathering figurative dust in various storage media. And so, consider this a positive vote for Google Book Search, at least from one author. I plan to become irate and offended by this when I've sold my millionth copy, but until then— thanks Google."
– Michael McGrorty, Author, The Sewing Machine Murder
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"As a publicist I'm front line everyday trying to push my authors into the spotlight and the facts are brutal. I have seen authors with great books struggle to get *anyone's* attention. To me, Google Book Search is another way for them to get noticed in a noisy world and it's another way for readers to find the books they might not otherwise be exposed to. Forgive the cliché, but it sounds pretty win-win to me. "
– Penny Sansevieri, Author, 'Get Published Today!' and more

"The bottom line: From a book marketing standpoint, [Google Book Search] is a good thing. Why? It's simple. People can't buy what they don't know about. Google has created a way for author's and publisher's current and back-listed books to be found, read and purchased. Book marketers, authors and publishers should embrace this enthusiastically. [Google is] truly trying to move the world forward and improve distribution of knowledge while still protecting copyrights and ownership of that information. As a book marketer, the one thing that's very clear to me is that any serious promotional campaign must make use of Google Book Search since search engines are the first step taken by people seeking information. Google is being bold in their efforts and should be applauded by the publishing industry and authors alike."
– Scott Lorenz, President, Westwind Communications
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"I'm the author of two books, and I want mine online. I'm all for having someone who's doing a research project land on a page from one of my books and decide it looks interesting enough to want to buy the whole thing. I tried Google Book Search the same day it was announced. This experience quickly led to a $25 book purchase at Amazon."
– Mitch Gould, Author, 'Electronic Publishing Unleashed' and more

 "Google Book Search is making sure my two out-of-print books – like millions of other long-lost titles – will be preserved in perpetuity."
– Ben Hills, Author, 'Blue Murder' and more

"The leap to Google Book Search is like the ones from the blind bard to the papyrus to the codex to the printed book. It really is a brave new world. I am enormously proud that my book is in your collection. I will be citing scholarly works in Google Book Search rather than ones that aren't."
– Mary deForest, Author, 'Apollonius'Argonautica'

"My book just went live. I'm very pleased that I could present my work on Google Book Search. I'm not a computer expert, but I completed the upload and now golfers can find golf's top secret!"
– Carl Barrett, Author, 'Golf's Top Secret'

"I have written about five books so far, but my first book, Sins of Sunset County, is the first book to be published by Publish America. I was blown away when I found out that my name and book could be Googled. My book's official release date is in July of 2006, but can be bought now on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Waldens ect...Thanks so much for making my new journey so very exciting! God bless you."
– TL Moore, Author, 'Sins of Sunset County'

Google's project could also revive interest in books currently gathering dust on library shelves.

– Julie Hilden, Author, 'Three' and more

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