Yet another sign that the book industry will have to catch up to movies and music, when it comes to electronic content — ChiZine Publications announced a new policy. Buy a trade paperback via their website, and you get an automatic digital download of that same title as an ebook. Convenient!

From the press release:

Since its founding, CZP has offered 30% off the cover price of trade paperbacks ordered directly from them. It has also been an advocate of the ebook format, performing its own in-house ebook creation and offering them via Amazon, Kobo, Wowio and other online sites. With the recent launch of its online shopping cart system, CZP has decided to bundle an ebook into the price of trade paperbacks.

"We believe strongly in the ebook format," says co-publisher Brett Alexander Savory. "And believe our prices are fair for those who just want to read on their Kobo or Kindle. But we've said all along we're in the story, not book, business. For someone who purchases a trade paperback, it's fair they should be able to start reading the story right away on their e-reader, tablet or smartphone."

"It's also a way for a small publisher to compete with the likes of Amazon," adds co-publisher Sandra Kasturi. "Amazon can offer deals on prices or shipping because of the volumes they're working with. Shipping costs for the physical books are often prohibitive for smaller outfits, so we hope this offer makes us competitive and gives a reason for readers to buy directly from us."

When the purchase is complete, buyers will be directed to log into the website to download a ZIP file containing the ebook in EPUB, MOBI and PDF formats. The ebook and trade paperback bundles are only available via the CZP site.