Barnes & Noble Offers Free eBooks

If you've been reluctant to join the e-book revolution, you're not alone. But Barnes & Noble wants to turn you into a true believer—and they're willing to give you one for free to get you to try the technology.

The bookseller has announced an in-store promotion that will give anyone carrying a device loaded with Barnes & Noble's free eReader software—be it on B&N's own Nook eReader, an iPad, iPhone, Blackberry or even a laptop—a voucher for a free e-book.

Barnes & Noble has already begun to use e-books as bait in other ways. Nook users can now read unlimited e-books for free while in use inside Barnes & Noble's stores. The bookseller will give away a different e-book each week for five weeks starting May 15.

The first book to get the loss-leader treatment is Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The rest of the line-up, as reported by ZDNet, is:

• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

• Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg

• Storm Front by Jim Butcher

• One Shot by Lee Childs

So, if you need some summer reading, and don't mind doing it with something other than paper, here's your chance to stock up on bestsellers. Just don't drop your e-reader in the pool.