New Stephen King eBook Exclusive to be Available through NetLibrary and peanutpress.com

NetLibrary and peanutpress.com offer downloads to multiple platforms

BOULDER, COLO. – March 8, 2000 – NetLibrary, the world's premier provider of eBooks over the Internet, today announced that it is one of the companies selected to distribute "Riding the Bullet," the new eBook-only story by best-selling author Stephen King. The eBook will be released on Tuesday, March 14 (12:01 a.m. EST).

NetLibrary (www.NetLibrary.com) is the only eBook distributor allowing consumers to download "Riding the Bullet" in multiple formats. At NetLibrary, readers have the option of downloading eBooks to their personal computers or to a variety of popular handheld computing devices through peanutpress.com, a division of NetLibrary.

"Riding the Bullet," described by King as "a ghost story in the grand manner," will be sold exclusively as an eBook—no print versions will be sold. The 16,000-word story, priced at $2.50, is a co-publication between Scribner and Philtrum Press, King's own press, and electronically published through Simon & Schuster Online.

"We are thrilled that major best-selling authors such as Stephen King are leading the way by releasing their work in eBook form," said NetLibrary President and CEO Timothy R. Schiewe. "We are confident that once consumers begin downloading and reading their favorite authors' works in electronic format, they will find eBooks to be a flexible, portable addition to the hardbound and paperback books they normally buy."

The distribution of "Riding the Bullet"as an eBook bypasses the traditional yearlong publishing cycle. "What's exciting is that we are able to go from Stephen King's computer to the reader in a fraction of the print-book publishing arc," said Kate Tentler, vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Online. "And, we can offer this wonderful story to readers in whichever electronic format they are comfortable with: on an eBook device, a handheld Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or on a computer."

"I'm curious to see what sort of response there is and whether or not this is the future," said King, who wrote "Riding the Bullet" shortly after his near-fatal accident when he was hit by a car in June 1999. King has since written several works. "Riding the Bullet" is his first work to go directly to readers via eBook.

NetLibrary's acquisition of peanutpress.com, announced last month, enables the eBook provider to offer Stephen King's new work for download to multiple platforms. Through NetLibrary, readers can download "Riding the Bullet" to their personal computers or to handheld computing devices such as those running the Palm OS (Palm and Handspring Visor) and the Windows CE operating system.

Additionally, peanutpress.com now offers Peanut Reader 3.0, eBook reader software that enables users to enjoy rich graphics, hyperlinks, and enhanced HTML utilities.

About NetLibrary

Founded in August 1998, Boulder, Colo.-based NetLibrary (www.NetLibrary.com) has forged relationships with more than 160 publishers of trade, reference, academic, and scholarly books, resulting in a digital library of more than 15,000 titles and counting. Publishers with eBooks in the NetLibrary collection include AMACOM Books, Harvard Business School Press, Houghton Mifflin Company, McGraw-Hill, and O'Reilly & Associates.

peanutpress.com, a division of NetLibrary, offers eBooks for download to popular handheld computing devices through its website, www.peanutpress.com.

Simon & Schuster, the publishing operation of Viacom Inc., is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed and multi-media formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Trade Publishing, Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster New Media, Simon & Schuster Online, Simon & Schuster U.K., and Simon & Schuster Australia. For more information about Simon & Schuster visit: http://www.SimonSays.com

Contact:
Brian Bell
NetLibrary, Inc.
(303) 381-8703
bbell@NetLibrary.com