Press Release

AOL Time Warner Book Group and Franklin Electronic Reach Out to Growing Handheld Market

Franklin to distribute eBooks from AOL Time Warner Book Group

May 3, 2002

BURLINGTON, N.J. -- Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc., has commenced distribution of eBook titles from AOL Time Warner Book Group, an AOL Time Warner Company. Franklin will distribute AOL Time Warner Book Group eBooks including titles by best-selling authors from Warner Books and Little, Brown and Company.

"We are continuing to support eBook publishing," stated Laurence J. Kirshbaum, chairman of AOL Time Warner Book Group. "Working with Franklin's expertise in the eBook marketplace is an example of that commitment. Franklin's ability to reach more handheld eBook reading devices and PDAs with one secure file format is very inviting."

"Working with AOL Time Warner Book Group allows us to offer our current and future eBook customers and distribution partners a forever growing vast variety of eBook content from today's top trade authors and sought after best- selling titles," said Barry J. Lipsky, CEO and president of Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. Lipsky added, "The addition of a major publisher like AOL Time Warner Book Group is a further endorsement that we have the most logical solution. The Franklin solution is a clear winner for consumers, e-tailers and publishers alike."

About Franklin

Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. is the worldwide market leader in handheld electronic books, including the popular BOOKMAN series. The Company is also the exclusive producer and distributor of ROLODEX Electronics brand of personal information management products. Franklin has sold more than 27,000,000 electronic books and currently publishes more than 200 titles, including dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries; encyclopedias; Bibles; entertainment titles; education and tutorial publications; and medical reference works. Franklin products, available in 16 languages, are sold in 45,000 retail outlets worldwide, through catalogs and online at http://www.franklin.com/. The Company has sales and distribution subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and Mexico, and production management offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong.