Digital Clancy

This report from encorebuzz.com

NEW YORK (AP) – Tom Clancy is going digital.

The author of such blockbusters as “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger” is finally making his work available electronically, starting today with his breakthrough novel, “The Hunt for Red October.”

Clancy’s books will be available in all e-formats.

Executives Laura Porco of Amazon.com and Chris Smith of Sony Reader said Thursday that Clancy had been in great demand by customers.

In other book news, historians Robert Dallek and Sean Wilentz and author-essayist Barbara Ehrenreich are among the more than 100 writers who have signed an open letter asking The Washington Post not to shut down its stand-alone Sunday Book World section.

“Few forums besides Book World introduce so many readers to so many important new works of literature and thought each week,” the letter reads. “As part of one of our most venerated papers, it carries prestige and influence. It enriches our culture with its thoughtful criticism.”

Other signees of the letter sent Thursday include fiction writers Roxana Robinson and Peter Straub, and historians David Greenberg, David Garrow and Douglas Brinkley.

Citing a need to cut costs, the Post announced Wednesday that it was ending regular publication of Book World, eliminating one of the few stand-alone book review sections left among daily newspapers. The Post said it will review books in its Style and Outlook sections.

The Book World will publish its final weekly edition Feb. 15.