Time Warner to Launch iPublish.com
By Matt Paolucci

Time Warner Inc. (TWX) on Tuesday announced the launch of an electronic book-publishing business, called iPublish.com, which will explore new avenues for the production, distribution and sale of fiction and nonfiction developed strictly for the Web.

Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin talked about the iPublish unit last week at the Company's annual shareholders' meeting. The Company wants to revolutionize the way books are read in the age of the Internet.

The site, which is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2001, will contain original e-books by both new and best- selling authors including such as Walter Mosley, David Baldacci, and others, as well as traditional books that have been converted to the digital format.

The site will consist of three channels. The first, iRead, will specialize in previously published works, serving as a launch pad for distribution to a growing number of online outlets.

iWrite, the publishing engine of iPublish.com, will allow readers to submit new works. TWX editors and iPublish members will review submissions and choose new works to be published in both the digital and print formats.

Finally, iLearn, the third arm of iPublish, will be a forum for Time Warner's best-selling authors and in-house experts to share their knowledge with the site's users.

"After 500 years of standing in the spotlight, Mr. (Johann) Gutenberg is being nudged off center stage, or at least being given a sharp digital elbow,'' said Laurence Kirshbaum, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Trade Publishing.

Time Warner was not the only company announcing online book deals today. Microsoft announced partnerships with Viacom's (VIA) Simon & Schuster, Barnesandnoble.com (BNBN) and Random House to offer popular books for its Pocket PC product.

With Simon & Schuster, Microsoft will offer e-books based on the "Star Trek" TV series free for a limited time. Microsoft has partnered with Random House to offer Michael Crichton's latest novel, "Timeline," via Pocket PCs from Hewlett-Packard and Casio.

Gregory Voynow, who will be general manager of iPublish.com, said the Company, which will be part of the pending merger between Time Warner and America Online (AOL), will have promotional ties with companies like Microsoft, Gemstar International (GMST),Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com (AMZN).

Time Warner said certain AOL brands will become iPublish distribution partners. In additional to the partnerships with Microsoft and Gemstar, it intends to ink several partnerships with e-book software companies, device makers and online retailers.

"We believe that an established publishing house can make a bold leap and succeed in the wide-open space of the Internet," said Laurence Kirshbaum, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Trade Publishing.

Shares of Time Warner were down $0.9375 at $75.1875 per share in afternoon trading.