• The Trespasser by controversial Hollywood biographer Charles Higham
• A Coal to His Lips by Anthony Starke, film actor and star of "The Magnificent Seven" on CBS
• A Rocky Life: the Story of Sylvester Stallone by film critic and biographer Frank Sanello
• Hog Heaven by Otis Carney, best-selling writer of books and screenplays

Why does it often seem that everything new in American culture seems to get started in California?

The latest buzz in the book biz is no exception, as 'virtual' books by and about Hollywood and network TV stars have now become available on the World Wide Web.

For those still unfamiliar with the term, virtual books are not physical objects made of paper and ink; instead, they are books that can be downloaded from the Internet as data files directly to the computers of millions of readers around the world.

The world's leading distributor of virtual books is The 1stBooks Library, a revolutionary online service with more than 1,300 titles available from the following Web location:

http://www.1stbooks.com

The lure of online publishing is irresistible to celebrities and those who write about them. It offers writers a vast worldwide audience, 'round-the-clock availability 365 days a year, and the ultra convenience of making books available at the click of a mouse .

Here a few recent releases from Tinseltown types, which are now available online:

• The Trespasser is a novel by internationally known celebrity biographer Charles Higham, author of eight bestsellers, including the controversial Errol Flynn: the Untold Story, which exposed Flynn's connections to the Nazi Party.

• A Coal to His Lips, the debut novel of Anthony Starke, currently seen as Ezra in "The Magnificent Seven" on CBS.

• A Rocky Life: the Story of Sylvester Stallone by Frank Sanello, a veteran journalist and author of the current bestseller Eddie Murphy: the Life & Times of a Comic on the Edge.

• Hog Heaven by Otis Carney, best-selling author of When the Bough Breaks and New Lease on Life, as well as numerous screenplays and scripts for actors such as Marlon Brando, Jack Webb and John Wayne.

These books, and hundreds of others, can be downloaded from the Web in a matter of minutes, at prices 25% to 50% below those of softcover books. The 1stbooks Library also offers hundreds of classic selections, available free of charge to anyone in the world with a connection to the Internet.

"Internet publishing is undoubtedly the wave of the future," says Higham. "Its potential is unlimited." His choice of 1stBooks over traditional pub- lishing houses was made without hesitation.

He is not alone. With an estimated 50 to 70 million Internet users now online, and numbers growing rapidly, more and more writers are jumping ship from traditional imprints to online publishing every day.

As usual, the California mindset seems to be embracing this new medium ahead of others -- but it appears certain that virtual books will rapidly revolutionize the way writers everywhere deliver their work to a vast worldwide audience in the years ahead.

Notes to editors: free review copies of these books, and hundreds of others in The 1stBooks Library, are available via e-mail by calling 800-839-8640 or sending e-mail to: 1stbooks@1stbuys.com

A virtual or printed media kit is also available upon request.

The Web location and e-mail address above, both starting with the number '1,' must be used exactly as shown in order to receive more info.

For more information, contact:

Dan Snow
The 1stBooks Library
800-839-8640
1stbooks@1stbuys.com
http://www.1stbooks.com/?bookflash