Microsoft Announces $100,000 Frankfurt eBook Awards

Frankfurt, Germany (PROTEXT) - To Promote Excellence in theEmerging eBook Industry, Microsoft Sponsors One Of Publishing'sGreatest Prizes. Today at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) announced its founding sponsorship of the Frankfurt eBookAwards, the first awards designed to honor literary achievementsin the emerging eBook industry. Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, said, "We aredelighted to be able to recognize and celebrate achievement inwriting. The widespread availability of great electronic titleswill not only help the young eBook industry, it will also helpencourage literacy and the love of reading, learning andknowledge." A total of seven awards will be presented annually for worksin various categories, including a grand prize of $100,000 forthe best work published originally in electronic form each year.Alberto Vitale, chairman Emeritus of Random House and formerchairman, president and CEO, will serve as chairman of theorganization that will select the winners and present the awards. The first recipients of the awards will be announced at nextyear's Frankfurt Book Fair, which will be the permanent site forthe awards. Submissions for the Frankfurt eBook Awards will beaccepted starting in January 2000. eBooks are handheld electronic reading devices, or PCs andlaptops running special reading software, designed to allow thecomfortable on-screen reading of books, periodicals or otherdocuments. An international panel of judges, including educators, membersof the media, authors and other publishing-industryprofessionals, will determine the winning entries in thefollowing categories: -- $100,000 - Grand Prize, for a work originally published in

eBook form -- $10,000 - Best fiction work originally published in eBookform -- $10,000 - Best nonfiction work originally published ineBook

form -- $10,000 - Best recent fiction work converted from print to

eBook form -- $10,000 - Best recent nonfiction work converted from printto

eBook form -- $10,000 - Best spoken-word or audio book title deliveredin

digital form -- $10,000 - Technology Achievement award for the advancementof

electronic publishing Vitale, former head of Random House and previously BantamDoubleday Dell, has spent decades leading important newinitiatives in publishing. "These awards are exactly the sparkthe eBook industry needs to ignite a worldwide change in the waywe publish, distribute and read books," Vitale said. "I amexcited and pleased to be chairman of this new organization, andI believe it will help usher in and develop the next era ofpublishing." "eBooks are pointing the way to the future of reading andpublishing," said Dick Brass, Microsoft's vice president forTechnology Development, who manages the firm's efforts in eBooksand related technology. "It's going to be a future of more titlesand lower costs. Instant delivery and on-screen reading thatrivals paper. You'll see 30,000 titles in a single laptop, or1,000 in the palm of your hand. And because of great advances incomputer technology and the Internet, it may be coming soonerthan many have expected." "It is a pleasure for us to participate in these awards forseveral reasons: Most importantly, we want to support andencourage literary achievements in this medium," Brass said. "Wealso want to help ensure the widespread availability of high-quality eBook titles for the reading public and, more generally,to spur industry growth." "We are especially pleased to be working with the FrankfurtBook Fair because it captures the truly international quality ofreading, including the new electronic medium and demonstratesthat this is a worldwide phenomenon, involving many countriesbesides the United States," Brass continued. "The total prizeamounts make these one of the largest publishing awardsworldwide. We believe it will highlight the importance ofelectronic books and help attract the very finest talent toelectronic publishing." Also sponsoring the awards are NuvoMedia Inc., makers of theRocket eBook, and SoftBook Press Inc., an early pioneer indigital publishing. "We are proud to be a co-sponsor of theseeBook awards and look forward to the great variety of literaryworks that will appear in electronic form as a result," saidJames Sachs, chairman and CEO of SoftBook Press, makers of theSoftBook Reader, a new generation of eBook reader. "Byrecognizing important works, this award will make a major impacton the emergence of eBooks as a vital component of the globalpublishing industry." "The establishment of the Frankfurt eBook Awards is a landmarkevent in the world of publishing," said Martin Eberhard, CEO andco-founder of NuvoMedia. "By honoring the works of those cutting-edge authors and publishers who have made their works availablefor eBook reading devices, the industry is sending a clear signalthat this medium is one that authors and publishers around theworld must embrace. As a co-sponsor of this groundbreaking newpublishing event, we are delighted that we can express in a moreformal way the debt of gratitude we owe the authors andpublishers who have been pioneers in putting this new industry onthe map." The prizes will be awarded for works that are formattedaccording to the Open eBook (OEB) specification for eBook titles,which was announced last month as a proposed internationalspecification for electronic publishing. The Open eBookorganization ( http://openebook.org/ ) is a collective effort bymore than 30 publishers, printers, academic organizations, eBookpioneers, and other hardware and software firms working under theauspices of the U.S. government's National Institute of Standardsand Technology. The idea of a standard way to format eBook titles was firstproposed a year ago by Microsoft to make it easier for publishersto produce titles in electronic form. The OEB specificationdefines the format that a book or other publication will takewhen it is readied for electronic distribution, or converted froma print version to electronic form. Today's announcement was made at the Frankfurt Book Fair, theworld's largest book publishing trade show. (For more informationabout the Frankfurt Book Fair, visit http://www.frankfurt-book-fair.com/ .) It closely follows the recent demonstration ofMicrosoft(R) Reader with ClearType(TM) display technology, a newsoftware reading program for PCs and laptops that provides anexceptionally clear and high-quality reading experience withtitles formatted to the OEB specification. The Web site for the Frankfurt eBook Awards can be found athttp://frankfurt-ebook-awards.org/ , which will be operational onNov. 1, 1999. Rules for entry and other information will beavailable on the site. Information about next year's FrankfurtBook Fair can be found at http://frankfurt-book-fair.com/ . Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in softwarefor personal computers. The company offers a wide range ofproducts and services for business and personal use, eachdesigned with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyableto take advantage of the full power of personal computing everyday. NOTE: Microsoft and ClearType are either registered trademarksor trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/orother countries. Other product and company names herein may betrademarks of their respective owners. ots Original TextService: Microsoft Corp. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.deContact: Press only, Ann Junod Burkart, (USA) 408-986-1140, orannjb@wagged.com, or Phil Missimore, (USA) 408-986-1140,philm@wagged.com, or Rapid Response Team, (USA) 503-443-7000, orrrt@wagged.com, all of Waggener Edstrom, for Microsoft Corp. Website: http://www.microsoft.com

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