A word about this downloadable file:

I've been releasing my books online for free since my first novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, came out in 2003, and with every one of those books, I've included a little essay explaining why I do this sort of thing.

I was tempted to write another one of these essays for this collection, but then it hit me: this is a collection of essays that are largely concerned with exactly this subject.

You see, I don't just write essays about copyright to serve as forewards to my books: I write them for magazine,s, newspapers, and websites -- I write speeches on the subject for audiences of every description and in every nation. And finally, here, I've collected my favorites, the closest I've ever come to a Comprehensive Doctorow Manifesto.

So I'm going to skip the foreword this time around: the whole book is my explanation for why I'm giving it away for free online.

If you like this book and you want to thank me, here's what I'd ask you to do, in order of preference:

●  Buy a copy: http://craphound.com/content/buy

●  Donate a copy to a school or library: http://craphound.com/content/donate

●  Send the ebook to five friends and tell them why you liked it

●  Convert the ebook to a new file-format (see the download page for more)

Now, on to the book!