[Updated July 16, 2013: Go to this post for an updated and correct account of ebook version of MSCD.]
Huzzah! The third edition of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting is now available on iTunes.
You can buy it from the iBookstore on your computer and on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. But to buy it on your computer, you’ll need to have the latest version of iTunes installed. Books you purchase from iTunes on a computer must be read with the iBooks app on an iOS device. For more information, go to this Apple support page.
At US$39, the iTunes version of the book is a bargain. And barring glitches, it features something that the print copy doesn’t have, namely hyperlinked cross-references—perhaps a couple of thousand of them. (I haven’t counted!)
I suspect that people outside the U.S. will be pleased to have the option of buying the iTunes version: if you add international shipping costs to the regular price of US$99.95, buying the print copy can get expensive. But I suspect that sheer convenience will cause some U.S. readers who own the print copy to buy the iTunes version too.
I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t own an iOS device. If you buy a copy on iTunes, please add a comment to this post saying what you think of it.
It’s likely that the book won’t be issued in any other ebook format. In particular, there won’t be a Kindle version.
By the way, for those who are considering buying the print version, you can save an additional 20% if you order it from the ABA Web Store (at this page) by August 31 and use the discount code NEWANDFAV13.
I can’t find it on the Canadian store
Nor I in the New Zealand store. Any chance of a direct link, Ken?
Well, that’s unhelpful! I’m not sure that one can provide links to stuff on iTunes.
Someone in Germany purchased it, so I know that it’s not somehow limited to U.S. buyers. I’ll have people at the ABA look into this, but it won’t happen today, as it’s a holiday.
It doesn’t appear in the UK store either :-(
WTF!
It seems to be only available in the US store, which means that we foreigners without a US credit card cannot get it. So, in Britain, we are left with the option of buying the paper version through the ABA and taking the hit on international postage or waiting until December when it becomes available on the UK Amazon.
Rest assured that this isn’t what the ABA and I had in mind. I’ve asked the ABA to look into it, and I’ll report back once I know more.
Ken,
I think that it’s great it will be available in ebook format. However, it’s unfortunate that the publisher went with iTunes. Because that format is tied to Apple devices, it’s simply too restrictive to be useful. Also, I tried the sample in my iPad and, other than the table of contents, did not see any hyperlinks.
If it was available in Kindle format, which can be read on just about any devide, including my PC, which is where I would use it, I would buy it in a minute.
I guess I will wait until it’s available from Amazon in hard copy.
Regards,
Tom
I bought the ebook and all of the cross-references are hyperlinked. I see the point about the format, but as an iPad user who works out of a couple different offices (plus home) it has worked well for me.