Business Editors & High Tech Writers

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2001

OverDrive Jamaica, 1 Over Drive, Montego Bay, Jamaica, W.I.

OverDrive, Inc. a world leader in software, eCommerce, and content conversion services to the book industry, announced today the opening of its OverDrive Jamaica eBook Technology Center in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The new center is a state-of-the-art facility expanding OverDrive's eBook content conversion and management services. eBooks are electronic or paperless versions of books sold by Internet bookstores for reading on a PC or PDA. Leading eBooks formats include Microsoft Reader with ClearType introduced last year and being sold by eBookstores such as barnesandnoble.com.

"In 2000 we opened our first facility in Jamaica and now are expanding to add 200 additional eBook editors. The new OverDrive Jamaica facility is a world-class eBook conversion center, utilizing the latest technologies from Microsoft, OverDrive, Quark and Adobe to produce all popular eBook formats," stated OverDrive CEO Steve Potash.

OverDrive, Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, expanded production capacity to keep pace with growing demand for conversion services from its clients that include divisions of McGraw-Hill, Random House, Harper Collins, Microsoft Press, and other leading education and textbook publishers.

"Everyone we are partnering with in the US and worldwide has been very excited and delighted by the tremendous success and quality of eBook production from OverDrive Jamaica," Potash added. "Jamaica has tremendous untapped talent in its young people. Jamaica is the largest English-speaking nation in the Caribbean and their educational and technical programs provide us with a wealth of quality candidates for careers in electronic publishing," according to Potash.

"We are proud that OverDrive has selected Jamaica to extend its leadership in eBook technology," stated the Hon. Phillip Paulwell, Minister, Jamaican Ministry of Industry Commerce & Technology. "OverDrive is benefiting from the investments Jamaica has made in developing the needed infrastructure for IT companies to locate and build skilled workforces here," the Minister added.

"OverDrive is one of the premier content conversion businesses in the industry. We are very pleased with both our relationship and the quality of their work," said Steve Stone Microsoft eBook General Manager. "We could not have had this success without the support and responsiveness of the Jamaican government and its agencies," according to Potash. "At every stage the agencies assisted us in opening our technology center and staffing it with trained and competent eBook professionals," he added. These agencies include the Jamaican Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), the Human Employment and Resource Training Trust (HEART), as well as the Montego Bay Free Zone. "We are proud that Jamaica was selected by OverDrive to establish its Caribbean office. What is significant is that OverDrive Jamaica's operations involves high-end information technology applications and that Jamaica has provided this platform as well as the work force that can deliver the expected high level of service" stated Patricia Francis, President of JAMPRO.

"OverDrive Jamaica will be pioneering many of the advances for extending books, reference materials, textbooks, literature and journals into new digital channels -- and will shortly become the foremost center for eBook automation serving both US and international markets," Potash predicted. Jamaica was selected by OverDrive after it researched global business, education, and technology resources. "With Jamaica and Cleveland, Ohio sharing the same time zone (EST), we have our US and Jamaican production teams in sync," stated Druanne Martin, OverDrive's Director of Publishing Services. "Jamaica provides a beautiful and warm climate, literally, for us to build long-term partnerships and to invite our publishing and content clients to come and visit their books in production," Ms. Martin was quick to add.

About OverDrive, Inc. (www.overdrive.com) is a worldwide leader in Open eBook (OEB), .LIT, XML, PDF and Print on Demand (POD) conversion and services for the ePublishing industry. Its products for eBook authoring include its free online service at www.ebookexpress.com and ReaderWorks for commercial eBook authoring and "on-the-fly" eBook authoring from Web sites. The Company provides secure eBookstore hosting and digital rights management as part of its MIDAS Technology incorporating Microsoft Digital Asset Server from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). OverDrive also operates www.ContentReserve.com, a global wholesale digital book service for secure distribution of eBooks and Print-on-Demand files.

More Praise for OverDrive Jamaica

"We have been very pleased with our relationship with Overdrive. They have been providing e-book conversion services for HarperCollins for the last few months, consistently delivering us the highest quality product, always on schedule. Their staff is extremely knowledgeable about book publishing standards as well as current ebook technologies, resulting in a smooth transition from the print medium to the digital medium." - David Steinberger, President of Corporate Strategy and International for HarperCollins Publishers.

"Overdrive has proved a valuable partner in building our presence in the e-book market. Their file-conversion process is reliable and innovative. We owe the strength of our McGraw-Hill Professional e-book title list in large part to Overdrive's efforts." - Roger Kasunic Director -- Editing, Design, and Production The McGraw-Hill Companies.