Times to publish WikiLeaks e-book

January 27, 2011|Associated Press

NEW YORK — The New York Times is experimenting with another source of revenue: digital books.

The newspaper said yesterday it will publish its first e-book on Monday.

“Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War and American Diplomacy’’ will chronicle last year’s WikiLeaks saga, in which the group released State Department cables and other documents. The Times was among five publications that reviewed the material with WikiLeaks before its release.

The Times’ new e-book will sell for $5.99 through Amazon.com Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc., Google Inc.’s eBook store, and Apple Inc.’s iBookstore.

The Times, owned by The New York Times Co. which also owns The Boston Globe, has been looking to grow revenue in digital businesses to offset declines in print advertising.

Executive editor Bill Keller will write an essay on how the Times got involved with WikiLeaks and why it decided to publish the documents. The e-book will contain essays from Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd. It will also include the full text of the documents the Times has published on its website.