HarperCollins is testing a new model of giving away content: it is making an electronic version of an exclusive short story by mystery author Charles Todd available for free for two weeks, starting August 31. Readers will be able to download the story at Amazon, BN.com, and other major e-retailers, and Amazon has already made the 3,400-word tale available for pre-order.
“The Girl on the Beach” features Bess Crawford, a recurring character from other works by Todd, the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team whom PW profiled last year. The story is a promotion tied to the August 31 release of Todd’s latest, An Impartial Witness. On September 14, the story will no longer be available from e-retailers. A rep from Harper said the house is releasing the story to “expand the world of the book beyond what is printed in its pages and offer readers a deeper look at their favorite characters.”
Readers who download "The Girl on the Beach" will also get free excerpts of Todd's book A Duty to the Dead, which was published last year; An Impartial Witness; and A Lonely Death, which pubs in January 2011. Harper plans to release two more promotional e-books by Todd later this fall.
