Comments on: 2008: The eBook Goes Mainstream

By: BadgerFiles » Blog Archive » Links 12-Jan-2008

BadgerFiles » Blog Archive » Links 12-Jan-2008 — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:18:17 +0000

[...] 2008: The eBook Goes Mainstream. Here’s a thoughtful post from Kassia Krozser from Booksquare on ebooks. The first step to understanding is ebooks is the realization that this is the modern world: you do not have to have an either/or mentality. If you like your books in print format, buy and read your books in print format. If you like your books in electronic format, ditto. [...]

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:10:52 +0000

As a cost-cutting tool, like Annie Frantz says, e-books can be an asset. They, nevertheless leave a lot to be desired by not being tangible. I like to underline my books with a pencil and to write notes on their marginsâ€”to say nothing of the uncomfortable position that one must adopt to read them. I donâ€™t believe that printed books will be replaced by e-books very soon.

By: Mlyn Hurn

Mlyn Hurn — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:19:34 +0000

I have had the privilege of having 20 ebooks published through Ellora’s Cave, a premier e-publisher for Romantica novels in new electronic format. What I found interesting was that only once I had a few of my books that had since come out in print on my bookshelf did it become a reality to my family and friends. Before that point I don’t know if anyone really believed me that people actually paid to read something I had written. Strange world.

By: Jeff Barry

Jeff Barry — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:37:59 +0000

When the e-book goes mainstream, then authors will have even more opportunities for bypassing the traditional publishing industry. An author with a popular Web site in a niche topic who is engaging in the online conversation swirling around that topic already has a better distribution channel than the traditional publisher. A successful author can’t do it alone (still needing an editor, designer, marketer) but e-book authors will have a harder decision to make as they consider whether to publish an e-book directly from their site or to share the expenses & revenue with a traditional publisher.

By: Isabel Martens

Isabel Martens — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:07:42 +0000

My only problem with Amazon is that if you don’t own a Kindle you can’t read their books. Big disappointment cause I got $200 in gift certificates for Amazon for Christmas and planned to stock up on ebooks for my Dell reader.
Isabel
“Johanna” contempory romance by Awe Struck
“Clementine” Regency romance by Awe Struck

By: Amy Corwin

Amy Corwin — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:10:24 +0000

This article comes at such an interesting time for me. As a writer published in both ebook and print formats, I have long felt the only big thing holding back ebooks was the lack of a really decent delivery and reading device that did not lock you down to one “store”. DRM in other words. I sincerely hope as the market matures, they realize how foolish DRM is and it begins to fall away.
As a reader, I am heartened by the new generation of ebook readers. It comes at an interesting time for me because I have noticed in my own reading behavior that I have slowly edged away from reading material in book form, even though I do love books and will continue to buy them. The issues I face now are a lack of shelf space and my inability to actually find a reference work when I need it or locate the page containing the reference.
For work, I have entirely abandoned printed matter in favor of references either online or at least on my computer where I can search and find what I need within minutes. Of course, for this to be practical, I’ve had to set up two monitors–one to display the reference material and the other to display what I’m working on.
The point, however, is that if I would break down and buy a real ebook reader, I would, in essence, have a third monitor from which I could search/read reference material. And for me, that would be a dream come true.
“Less is not more. More is more.” as Dolly Parton says.
So I’m finally ready to buy an ebook reader. I’m hoping the DRM bugaboos will work themselves out over time. (That stuff never works. Folks should have learned that by now–how many times do we computer geeks have to break a DRM protection scheme so that we can back something up and use it according to the software license before folks learn that DRM only hurts the honest people and causes customers NOT to buy?)
I can’t wait to be able to carry around fifty or sixty fiction and reference works with me when I travel. Or when I just want to read in bed.
Based upon my own experiences and my gradual (but inevitable) move toward favoring electronically delivered material, I really think ebooks have finally arrived.
Now if they could just perfect that “browsing” thing because I, for one, often prefer relatively unknown writers to the ‘big names” always offered as first choice. It really irritates me to have to scroll past page after page of authors I would never buy and have never bought, simply because they are, apparently, bestsellers. I wish some online booksellers had a block you could click on to say, “Never, ever offer me books by this author again.” It’s easier to walk past them in a bookstore than try to get beyond them in a estore.
Anyway, thanks for the article–I really enjoyed it!

By: J L Wilson

J L Wilson — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:11:50 +0000

I have 3 types of ebook readers, although my new Kindle may make the rest of them obsolete. I’m one of those people who seldom buys paper books any more. If a book isn’t available for download, I have to seriously think about whether I want it or not.

I’m published in print and in electronic format and it’s annoying to explain to people that an electronic book is a ‘real’ book. But when I pull out my Kindle or Ebookwise and show them, there’s an instant ‘wow’ factor that no paper book can give.

I view both media — print and electronic — as a way to reach a broader audience with my stories. But I look forward to the day when I can go into a bookstore, see a title, pull out my Kindle and download it (or go to a Kindle Kiosk and find it).

The one thing the Kindle has done for me — my TBR stack has increased ginormously. The fact that I can download a sample and read it then decide to buy the book means that I’ve sampled many authors and have purchased far more books than if I’d done a search for a particular title.

I am looking forward to a few long plane flights so I can get caught up!

By: Carolina Valdez

Carolina Valdez — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 06:50:05 +0000

I’ve been published in print and electronically. I love ebooks because I have arthritis in my hands now, and holding a paperback open is a killer.

Also, I’m out of space for print books. Standing in line at the post office or waiting in a physician’s office is tolerable when I pull out my ebook reader.

But I love going into bookstores! I can’t imagine a time when we won’t have them.

By: Teri Thackston

Teri Thackston — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:04:09 +0000

I agree with the statement that ebooks compliment p-books. It’s just a new choice, not a death knell for print. I love reading paperbacks and always will. But I also love being able to download a novel at 3 am without ever leaving my bed. I love being able to adjust the font. And the books I’ve written are available in both formats. I love that, too. There’s room for both.

By: Lynne Connolly

Lynne Connolly — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:23:20 +0000

Interesting to hear what the outside world thinks of ebooks. I’ve been e-published for 5 (6?) years now, so I was there in the Wild West of epublishing.
I’m still here. Mainly because I’m in the UK, and epublishing gives me an opening to the world. I remember the first time someone from India wrote to me to say how much they enjoyed my books. Revelation and sheer delight from small party sitting on her sofa in England. Living here, we don’t get American authored romances. Our bookstores don’t stock them. But I can go online to Simon and Schuster, or Pocket, or wherever and buy the book on the day of release at its American price.
Fabulous.
I also have shelf on shelf of dead-tree books. Why does there have to be a choice?
And I have my lovely ebookwise to read them on.
Oh, and when you get 30% and up in royalties, you can, if you’re with the right company, make a decent living.
What the ebook industry needs now is a JK Rowling phenomenon, somebody who sells, sells, sells. We’ve had our bestsellers, and many ebook authors also sell to New York, (MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Linnea Sinclair et al) but what we really need now is an out and out JK of a bestseller.
It won’t be long coming.