August 30, 2010

I’ve been reading a lot about e-books lately. For a long time, I didn’t pay much attention. Then I tried my hand at it with my e-booklets 50 Tension Techniques and Writing Mysteries for Young People.

E-books have exploded lately. Now that about half the books sold on Amazon.com are e-books, it’s time to take them seriously.

Since it may highly impact your own writing future–especially if you hope to make a living at writing–I’d encourage you to check out these articles:

“The Future of Publishing” by Randy Ingermanson is a good overview of the rise of e-books and what the next few years are going to mean, especially for fiction writers.

“The High Cost of Self-Promotion” and how author Jon Konrath was able to go back to writing full-time because of e-books.

“It’s All Hard Work” by Sherryl Clark–with e-book cautions for the new writer breaking into print–and advice on how published authors can make e-books work for them.

The More Things Change…

What do you think about all the news about e-books? Do you personally read a lot of e-books? Do your children read e-books? Would you buy more e-books if the readers were less expensive?

Give me your opinions on this!

9 Comments »

1. 

   In a way it’s silly to me, because I don’t BUY books unless I want to keep them forever, in which case I want a hard copy. If I just want to read a book and don’t care about keeping it, I get it out of the library. I wouldn’t mind having an e-reader, but I would use it primarily for reading long things I find on the Internet, or manuscripts from critique partners, or other transient sort of things. I understand there are people who actually BUY most of the books they read, who pick up huge piles of paperbacks that they read once and then throw away (or attempt to donate to their library– WE DON’T ACTUALLY WANT THEM, YOU KNOW, WE’LL JUST SELL IT AT OUR BOOK SALE FOR 50 CENTS); but that way of doing things is just so foreign to me.

   I do worry about the money aspect of the e-book revolution. Even if readers do become incredibly cheap, people still have to pay for content, and for new batteries after the ones you have don’t hold their charge anymore, and for repairs or entirely new readers if they break, and if anything that will just make books and reading even LESS accessible to the lower classes than it already is. I work every day with people who cannot afford a home computer, and have little idea how to use one, who then are stuck trying to figure out how to apply online for a minimum-wage job because the bigwigs in that corporation have naively decided that since everyone has a computer nowadays, applying online will be easy! I see entirely too much “everybody’s as well-off as I am” assumptions happening in most of the e-book revolution talk, and that still bothers me.

   The other thing that bothers me is the insistence that e-books are “greener” than paper. What, replacing something made from a renewable resource (trees) with something made from non-renewable resources (synthetics, petroleum, metals, whatnot), which takes electricity to run, which becomes hazardous waste (you don’t throw electronic equipment in the regular trash you know!) when it goes bad, is that really all that greener?

   But I’m not against the concept of e-readers. I think they’d be handy for transient and often-updated content. I think there are many situations– textbooks, user manuals, things like that– when an electronic version just makes WAY MORE SENSE than a paper version. I actually like the idea of a more all-purpose type reader, a kind of book-shaped computer, where you can read the Internet and so forth too, a multimedia-type thing, I guess like the iPad. But it’s two different things: reading is reading, content is content– but a book is a physical entity, A Book. In other words, there’s no such thing as an e-book, it’s just content delivered electronically.

   Comment by rockinlibrarian — August 30, 2010 @ 12:46 pm

2. 

   My son gave me a kindle which I do enjoy, though I prefer REAL books still.
   I think that e-books will make for a publishing revolution and make it much easier for niche interest groups.
   All best wishes

   Comment by Elizabeth — August 30, 2010 @ 1:29 pm

3. 

   I still love the feel of a real book, and an e-book doesn’t seem real. But I can see how they have their place. I’ll always have shelves of books, myself. No batteries required!

   Comment by Beth Mac — August 30, 2010 @ 3:11 pm

4. 

   I don’t know what I think about e-books! I’m such a traditionalist! I don’t know what I would do without multiple bookshelves full of books made from paper. But, I’d be willing to publish that way, if that’s what people are reading. I’d carve my stuff into treetrunks if I thought people would read it that way! lol! I sure can’t afford to be choosy.

   Comment by Yvette — August 30, 2010 @ 8:21 pm

5. 

   Hello,
   From what I’ve heard/read about e-books they seem to have a lot of advantages… but one big draw back, if you don’t have power (dead battery & no way to charge it) you can’t use them.
   Still… I would love to have an e-reader & would purchase e-books if I had one, great for traveling, but I still love the feel/weight of a good book in my hands when I’m relaxing.
   For me nothing will replace a real book.
   My 2 cents… Cheers

   Comment by Ally M — August 31, 2010 @ 7:20 am

6. 

   Technology is fascinating and can benefit us in so many ways, but sometimes I’m sad about the way technology is taking over the way we read books. I have read a couple of e-books and I can understand how e-books can save on publishing costs, but I still prefer the feel of a “real” book or magazine in my hands.

   Comment by Trudy — August 31, 2010 @ 9:31 am

7. 

   I didn’t think I would like the whole ebook thing, but I have to say I’m a huge fan now. I spent several weeks in the hospital earlier this year and got my Nook during that time. It was so convenient to have everything I wanted to read right at my fingertips when I was unable to do much else. When I buy new books now, I get the ebook rather than the regular version, unless the book does not come in digital form. It’s nice for traveling, too! Of course, I don’t think traditional books are going anywhere…there’s still something lovely about the look, feel, and smell of a regular book. I just love both!

   I also have your two digital books on my Nook, Kristi…I found them both to be extremely helpful when it comes to writing!

   Comment by Emily — August 31, 2010 @ 12:29 pm

8. 

   I have absolutely nothing to do with e-books; they just can’t satisfy my reading senses. Narrow minded? Maybe, but there are just some things you can’t get from an e-book that you can from a printed book. I like to place the spine of a book in the palm of my hand and feel the weight, I like to fan through the of pages and smell the paper and ink smell, but most of all I love turning the pages one at a time – especially when I am so far caught up in the book that I feel like I am a part of the story itself – I haven’t read an e-book that can do all that for me.

   Comment by Andrea — August 31, 2010 @ 3:04 pm

9. 

   Several of my children’s and YA books have been developed as ebooks after being released as print books. Only now are they beginning to sell well.

   My first adult book, “Woman in the Glass” a short, easy-to-read mystery concerning domestic violence, has just been published as an ebook only, at Write Words Inc. I find promotion is quite different for an ebook, so am interested to see how well it sells over the next months.

   Comment by Dayle Gaetz — February 18, 2011 @ 2:43 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website