Lots of people use the internet these days looking for electronic-format reprints of older edition books in the public domain. That's the beauty of the electronic revolution. Books that you might find accidentally in a used book store or antique shop can now be more easily found on-line, often for free, and in a variety of user-friendly formats (ASCII, PDF-types, HTML, Palm-downloadable....you get the picture).

Unfortunately, some web sites alter the books you are reading on-line in subtle ways that you, the reader may not be aware of: they use blended books.

What are Blended Books? Many on-line books are based on public domain books (here in the US, that would be books printed prior to 1923). Many books go though various editions in their print lifetime. Often only minor changes appear, but there are many books that may have major revisions to them, depending on the era the writer/editor is revising the edition. The latest trend in on-line publishing is to use the various editions of a particular work and "blend" these editions into what the on-line publisher believes is some form of "definitive" work. How the decisions are made by the on-line publishers of what to keep and what to cut is unclear and may well be arbitrary to the particular publisher. Sad to say, the general viewing public of these on-line editions may never know this -- many sites do not indicate up front that their works are based on blended (and homogenized) books. Signs to look for when viewing any on-line book are:

1. does the book list a specific (often pre-1923) date? If it doesn't, and the publisher doesn't indicate the book he/she is working from didn't have an original date in it, you are likely reading a blended book

2. A series of small books written by one author and known to have been published at different times, suddenly appears as one distinct book, again with none of the original publishing information evident. Yup, likely a blended book.

We at Kellscraft Studio believe this is a disservice to the authors and the readers of their works. We are offering a modest proposal to help the users of on-line books. Look for this symbol: with the phrase "ORIGINAL EDITION BOOK" to ensure you are not using any form of blended book. If you visit a website publishing on-line books that is not currently displaying this symbol, email the publisher about what their policy is for Blended vs. Original Edition books. If they don't use Blended books, feel free to direct them to this web page, where the publisher can use this image and phrase, "ORIGINAL EDITION BOOK" at their own web site.

On-Line Book Publishers: If you have an honest commitment to offer your viewers only Original Edition books whenever possible, please feel free to use the images below on your web site, along with the phrase, "ORIGINAL EDITION BOOK". Use it once, at the beginning of your on-line books page, use the smaller symbol next to each book listed, and you can feel confident you are providing the best information to your viewers. You also can link direct to this page (or copy it to your site) to provide additional information regarding the discussion of blended books to the public.