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'The Casual Vacancy' e-book suffers technical problems

Some readers were upset by the font size of early releases of the e-book version of 'The Casual Vacancy,' in addition to concerns about its price.

The e-book version of 'The Casual Vacancy' has been fixed after users reported errors.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

A problem with the formatting of the e-book version of J.K. Rowling’s new novel “The Casual Vacancy” meant that some readers were unable to dive into the “Harry Potter” author’s newest work when they received their electronic version.

The book, which is published by Little, Brown, a division of Hachette Book Group, had problems with font size when first released. For some e-book users, the type was too big to read comfortably, while for others, it was too tiny.

The publisher has released a fixed version after being alerted to the problem by consumers.

Some customers were not happy with the glitch, with one anonymous user on the Barnes & Noble website writing, “Tiny font size, won't enlarge, Don't buy on nook, impossible to read!”

The problems with the e-book version came after some had complained about the price of the e-book, which was $17.99.

“I refuse to pay hardcover prices for an ebook,” a user named Chris Rowley wrote on the Amazon website. “So I will either wait till it drops to about $7.99, or I will just borrow it from the library. Anything over ten dollars for an ebook is ridiculous.”

Other e-books have also suffered technical problems, including Neal Stephenson’s 2011 book “Reamde,” which had typos and other errors in its e-book format when it was first released.

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