Agatha Christie goes electronic

HarperCollins Publishers and Agatha Christie Limited, a Chorion company, today announced a program for the publication in e-book format of 85 works by Agatha Christie -- the world's bestselling author. The program will include Agatha Christie’s classic mysteries that feature Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, and such genre-defining crime titles as And Then There Were None.

The five titles available for sale today to consumers -- directly from e-book retailers worldwide and from PerfectBound's retail websites are:

· The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the first Hercule Poirot mystery, and Agatha Christie's first novel;

· The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the Poirot mystery whose solution created an international sensation and that is widely regarded as Agatha Christie's masterpiece;

· The Murder at the Vicarage, the first Miss Marple mystery;

· The Body in the Library, the hugely popular Marple mystery;

· and They Came to Baghdad, a less-well-known but electrifying and apropos spy thriller in which a young heroine must take on a Baghdad-based conspiracy that threatens world peace.

Each title contains special e-book features that are not available in any print edition. They Came to Baghdad, for example, contains the lengthy essay 'Agatha Christie in Baghdad,' the author's own account -- taken from her autobiography -- of her many years in Baghdad and the Middle East as tourist, occasional archaeologist and resident, and where she wrote some of her most important works.

In addition, a FREE e-book sampler, the Agatha Christie E-Reader, containing excerpts from Poirot and Marple mysteries, and from They Came to Baghdad, is also available to readers today. It is the first of two such FREE e-readers (the second will be published in January), and may be downloaded directly from PerfectBound's retail websites and from participating retailers -- as listed below.

Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson and Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd, a subsidiary of brand creation and management company Chorion plc said, 'We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with our longtime publishing partner HarperCollins in bringing the classic works of Agatha Christie to this exciting and important new reading format.

The enduring popularity of Agatha Christie's books in print and audio formats are testimony that she is an author for the ages; the publication of her works in electronic format certifies that she is an author for the twenty-first century.'

'It is very gratifying to me that after publishing Agatha Christie in the Commonwealth for more than 75 years, HarperCollins will now introduce her works to a global readership in e-book format,' said Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers worldwide.

'PerfectBound has the unique ability to publish Christie’s timeless classics, enhanced with special features to attract first-time readers and delight those who return to Christie again and again. There can be no stronger signal of the future of e-books than Chorion's commitment of its most important author to this major project.'

PerfectBound plans to publish 5-6 Christie titles approximately every six weeks. The next round of titles, publishing on 28 October, is: Murder on the Orient Express, Murder in Mesopotamia, Hallowe'en Party (all featuring Hercule Poirot); At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple); and Sparkling Cyanide, which has been adapted with a modern-day setting by Company Pictures for television broadcast later this year. Rounding out 2003 will be the publication, on 25 November, of Miss Marple’s A Murder Is Announced and four Poirots: Lord Edgware Dies; The ABC Murders; Cards on the Table; and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas.

Also See: ebook publishing tool.

About The Author:

Bruce Langdon is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-ebooks.com. A source of information on creating, writing and publishing an e-book.