This is worrying... [Archive] - Absolute Write Water Cooler

Eddyz Aquila

08-13-2010, 04:07 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/business/media/12bookstore.html?src=me&ref=general

For readers, e-books have meant a transformation not just of the reading experience, but of the book-buying tradition of strolling aisles, perusing covers and being able to hold books in their hands. Many publishers have been astounded by the pace of the e-book popularity and the threat to print book sales that it represents. If the number of brick-and-mortar stores drops, publishers fear that sales will go along with it. Some worry that large bookstores will go the way of the record stores that shut down when the music business went digital.

The NY Times article suggest exactly what AWers have been discussing - brick and mortar bookshops are slowly going away to be replaced by those damn Kindles. Printed books are better, I want to feel a book in my hand.

I want printed books. E books too, I think they help the author and the reader a lot. But nothing can compare to the amazing feeling you get when you stroll in the bookshop for hours stacking up with whatever you want to read.

Thoughts? :)

KTC

08-13-2010, 04:25 AM

i have purchased about 20-25 books over the summer. all but one were for my Kobo. the printed book was a friend's...at her book signing. in the past, every time a thread like this one popped up i ranted about e-books...and that i would never buy one and that paper was the only way to go.

now that i have a Kobo...i don't know how many print books i'll buy from this point forward. let's just say A LOT less.

Paul

08-13-2010, 04:28 AM

meh. long's the author gets a fair slice of the cake...

KTC

08-13-2010, 04:31 AM

meh. long's the author gets a fair slice of the cake...

i do wonder about this. what the author gets.

for example... The Passage...a big summer read. I bought it for Kobo for $10. It's selling in hard cover for 30-40...something like that. so what is the difference in what Justin Cronin gets paid, per copy. that's a big difference in price...but then there is less cost in the copy. I'd love to know how this effects the writer..of course.

NicoleMD

08-13-2010, 04:39 AM

the printed book was a friend's...at her book signing.

I wonder what will happen to book signings in the e-book revolution.

Nicole

Eddyz Aquila

08-13-2010, 04:40 AM

I wonder what will happen to book signings in the e-book revolution.

Nicole

The buyer will get the author's fingerprint. ;)

Wayne K

08-13-2010, 04:44 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsmybQKpmTw

M.R.J. Le Blanc

08-13-2010, 05:04 AM

When I was at Chapters the other week, there were plenty of people in there perusing the aisles. Business seemed to be doing just fine.

I know the reason I stopped buying cds (and I hear this a lot from others) is that it just wasn't worth it. Why would I want to pay $20-$30 for a cd that I only end up liking a couple songs from? It became a waste. Buying music online became preferable at least partly (in my opinion) because of the artists. If the majority of your music isn't catching listeners, you don't bitch and complain that online music sales are at fault. The only cds I pay money for now are Japanese imports, and they've all been worth the money for me.

I think comparing books to cds is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. The only valid comparison would be albums and anthologies - if you only like a story or two from an anthology, you probably wouldn't buy it. But a book, you either like it or you don't. And paperback prices haven't gone up, so I don't know if I buy the whole 'bookstores are going to go the way of the music stores' arguement. And with the issues of things like e-reader costs, format issues, and even rights issues still makes the industry a little unsettled. It's still new, and I think still too early to say whether it's going to shut down bookstores or not.

Wayne K

08-13-2010, 05:22 AM

I read here that e-books make up a small percentage of book sales. It's growing, sure, but it's not why bookstores are going out of business. Online buying is the reason. Someday e-books may do this, but not today

Bettedra

08-13-2010, 05:37 AM

As a reader, I know for a fact that while I may purchase ebooks from time to time for convenience or to save a few bucks, I will always prefer the print experience. From wandering the bookstore in search of something new, to the crisp feel and smell of a new book (or the rich, musty smell of a used one), to the last, satisfying page turn that ends the story and closes the book- I love the whole experience. I hope no matter how advanced we get as a civillization, we always respect and treasure our existing books and keep them safe and available in libraries, which are magical places to many, many children.

AnonymousWriter

08-13-2010, 05:54 AM

The thing I want to know is: do Kindles or other e-readers smell like a print book does? Huh?

Jessianodel

08-13-2010, 06:01 AM

I love bookstores. I always will. How can you peruse the e-books? by flipping through little thumbnail pictures? I find most of my reading material from walking around in the library or bookstore. And I just love how cozy B&N is, but big enough where you can sit in the corner and read surrounded by books.

Sorry to e-books, but the bookstore will never die. Not while I'm around :D

KTC

08-13-2010, 06:02 AM

I wonder what will happen to book signings in the e-book revolution.

Nicole

i know, i know. i have a book coming out in 2011 as an e-book. it doesn't come out in print until 2012. i'd love to figure out a way to do a 'book signing' for the e-launch. try as i may???

BenPanced

08-13-2010, 07:50 AM

I will admit I do love holding a book in my hands but it's becoming nigh on impossible to store them and rather difficult hold them. I bought a nook and have about 40 full novels stored on it, and I have to say it's one of the best tech-toy purchases I've made. I was afraid I wasn't going to use it much but I've read three books in the short month I've had it.

The Lonely One

08-13-2010, 08:20 AM

The smell of a paper book, the feel of holding it, of turning pages, etc. are nice, I agree. Though ultimately, I think these will eventually be a nostalgic set of sensations and emotions, and for newer generations the electronic world will take more and more of a foothold. I also don't think this is a bad thing, the industry will adapt like every industry has always adapted.

Plus, if people are reading e-books that's a GOOD thing for literature--it means people aren't dropping reading altogether.

I don't think e-books are going to take over as quickly as people predict. But I do think they'll become much more predominant, when all is said and done.

Final note: I've read at least five or six books and a copy of Fantasy & SF on my Sony Daily Edition touchscreen reader, and aside from the slight glare as a result of the touchscreen it's been a dream. I just purchased 90% of the books for my English honors seminar directly onto the reader, and between that and Project Gutenberg and all the paper books I still buy at mom&pops, I have more reading than I can handle.

The Lonely One

08-13-2010, 08:22 AM

i know, i know. i have a book coming out in 2011 as an e-book. it doesn't come out in print until 2012. i'd love to figure out a way to do a 'book signing' for the e-launch. try as i may???

If they have the Sony touch screen you can sign them with a stylus :)

Maxinquaye

08-13-2010, 08:43 AM

Plus, if people are reading e-books that's a GOOD thing for literature--it means people aren't dropping reading altogether.

Plus, I think it will lead to a renaissance for short fiction. Short stories and novellas are going to be viable again. You buy one while waiting for the tube (or subway) if you're short of reading.

Wayne K

08-13-2010, 08:52 AM

I don't think 2.9% is a big threat yet

But the threat that has the industry and some readers the most rattled is the growth of e-books. In the first five months of 2009, e-books made up 2.9 percent of trade book sales.

Someday, but not yet

Wayne K

08-13-2010, 09:03 AM

And by the time sales of e-books grow to 20 or 30 percent, major publishers will own the market. They'll have their books out in print and electronically. Unless they're really stupid.

mayaone

08-13-2010, 09:30 AM

i know, i know. i have a book coming out in 2011 as an e-book. it doesn't come out in print until 2012. i'd love to figure out a way to do a 'book signing' for the e-launch. try as i may???

I also have a book coming out in ebook form in 2011 and I being of the boomers have no idea what to say when my friends ask, so how do I get your book. and why does it have to come out in ebook first, I'm a newbie and this is my first pub book with a UK publisher. thanks Maya

Maxinquaye

08-13-2010, 10:07 AM

To be honest, what worries me is that publishers will screw it up by trying for force DRM on people, and by locking themselves into proprietary ebookfiles that you need specific pieces of technology to use.

That's going to drive piracy like nothing else. That's what worries me about this. If publishing gets it right, I think we're going to be fine, and see a vastly expanded market with more room for the competent newbies.

SPMiller

08-13-2010, 11:46 AM

I never developed a sentimental attachment to the printed method of book distribution. It's just one way to sell stories. We can also sell stories electronically. And as a reader, I have no particular preference for one over the other.

My problem with what's going on has been touched on by Maxinquaye. I hate DRM, and it has already been infecting the ebook/ereader market.

Another thing that worries me as a writer is the (generally) smaller advances from electronic publishers.

IdiotsRUs

08-13-2010, 01:26 PM

I don't think 2.9% is a big threat yet

Someday, but not yet

Depends on what genre you're in.

See point 3 of this post (http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2010/08/rwaorlando-florida-day-2-after.html) by Kristin Nelson. Huge uptick in eSales for romance. Stats are running close to 20% of 100% of the sales pie.;)

i do wonder about this. what the author gets.

for example... The Passage...a big summer read. I bought it for Kobo for $10. It's selling in hard cover for 30-40...something like that. so what is the difference in what Justin Cronin gets paid, per copy. that's a big difference in price...but then there is less cost in the copy. I'd love to know how this effects the writer..of course.
I get about the same (I think...) whether it's print or ebook. Royalty is higher on ebook, price is higher on print. *gets out calculator* I get slightly more for the ebook. Gonna depend on your contract though.

And yeah, I think any downturn is more Amazon/online purchases - buy it now! In your pants! No need to brush your hair! Ohh look it's used for £0.01p! than it is ebooks currently.

Momento Mori

08-13-2010, 01:32 PM

Eddyz Aquila:
The NY Times article suggest exactly what AWers have been discussing - brick and mortar bookshops are slowly going away to be replaced by those damn Kindles. Printed books are better, I want to feel a book in my hand.

I was discussing this with my agent yesterday. At the moment, no one quite knows what's going to happen with eBooks. They are clearly growing in popularity, hence the increase in market share but then manufacturers are finally getting the technology right on readers and the internet technology is there to make downloading easy.

However no one knows at the moment whether there's going to be a plateau, i.e. a point where the sales level out and two simultaneous markets exist - much in the way that there are separate markets for contacts lenses and glasses.

Such a plateau could be exacerbated by the fact that at the moment, there are DRM issues with different ereaders, which could serve to slow take up as people wait to see which becomes dominant (and then, when one does become dominant, expect the usual anti-trust actions that usually follow).

I think that eBooks are going to be important, but rumours of the death of the physical book and bookstores are currently premature - even Simon & Schuster in that article are only predicting eBooks to represent 40% of their sales market.

MM

MM

mattias

08-13-2010, 02:46 PM

I prefer printed books. It feels more valuable. The literature I used as a student looks quite impressive in my book shelf.

The same thing can be said about movies. My DVD collection looks nice in the book shelf, it is more appealing to find a movie there than it would have been to browse some files on a hard drive, even though it would have been possible to do all sorts of queries by using a database (i.e. movies could be sorted by genre, actor, year etc).

On the other hand I am a somewhat conservative person and I am also strongly influenced by my feelings.

Soccer Mom

08-13-2010, 06:02 PM

I don't read for the smell. I used to buy tons of mass market books and frankly they didn't smell all that great. I read for the content and since I got an e-reader, I've been nomming books at an alarming rate.

I don't understand all the worry. E-books are just another format, another market for the product. But don't mistake that it's growing. According to this Mashable report, Amazon sold more kindle books than hardcovers and e-book sales are up 207%. Every time I whip out my e-reader in public, I have someone stop and ask me about it.

Print isn't dead. E-books aren't going away. This isn't the end of publishing, but a new beginning.

DeadlyAccurate

08-13-2010, 06:18 PM

If I had an eReader, I would buy most of my books in electronic format. Right now I'm still trying to decide which one to get, and I'm most likely going to wait on the next iteration of the iPad or some other touchscreen technology that's similar.

ChaosTitan

08-13-2010, 06:31 PM

i do wonder about this. what the author gets.

Electronic sales generally net a higher royalty for authors. My mass-market royalty is 8% of cover price. Electronic royalties are 25%. So I really can't complain that, at least on Amazon, the Kindle version of my latest release seems to be outselling the MMP.

I love print books. The first time I held a printed copy of my book in my hands is one of the clearest, most emotional memories in the last few years. I can't hold an ebook in my hands. I can't sign an ebook this weekend at my booksigning (although I guess I could sign their Kindle cover?). I can't sign and mail an ebook to a contest winner.

I also can't find obscure ebooks at the nearest thrift store and marvel at my luck.

Ebook sales are definitely on the rise, but they are still a small piece of the overall sales numbers. I have no idea how this will look in five years, but I like to hope that paper books will still be around (and not just at the flea markets). I imagine print runs will shrink. Hardcover printings might become more rare. Maybe they'll go away all-together. Dunno.

But every time I drive past my local Barnes & Noble, the parking lot is packed. And I doubt all of those people are there to buy a Nook. ;)

Kathleen42

08-13-2010, 06:35 PM

KTC

08-13-2010, 06:43 PM

I've been thinking about getting one (honestly just can't decide between Kobo or Kindle) but I suspect it will be a supplemental thing. I'll still by traditional books but I'll buy ebooks to read on the bus to work, at the gym, etc.

I actually think it might lead to me buying more books, in the long run, because the price point means I'll be more likely to take a chance on a book I'm iffy on.

i lOVE my Kobo. kindle has a keyboard and more functions. i decided i just wanted to read books. it's the easiest to use...no bells and whistles. just read your book. i love it. it was on sale last week for $128.

Sydewinder

08-13-2010, 06:49 PM

KTC

08-13-2010, 06:54 PM

I'm still not satisfied with the readers. I've tried Kindle, Kobo, iPad and all of them hurt my eyes when I try to read out-doors. I'm with Kathleen, though, I might get one as a supplemental thing. I can take more books with me when I travel for extended periods without breaking my back.

see...my kobo is great for traveling. but it's also great for laziness. i can set it on the arm of my muskoka chair and eat a sandwich with one hand and drink a beer with the other...and READ. there are so many reasons i love having it. to turn a page, i just press a button..my hands are FREE to do other things while i read. i know...lazy...but liberating!

Kathleen42

08-13-2010, 07:26 PM

i lOVE my Kobo. kindle has a keyboard and more functions. i decided i just wanted to read books. it's the easiest to use...no bells and whistles. just read your book. i love it. it was on sale last week for $128.

I know. I'm kind of kicking myself for not picking one up when they were on sale. I keep thinking the highlight and note features of the Kindle woudl be nice but, realistically, I don't know how often I woudl use them. Also, I kind of like that I can buy books for Kobo through a Canadian site because then I don't have to think about exchange rates.

The Lonely One

08-13-2010, 07:30 PM

Grrarrgh

08-13-2010, 07:32 PM

I've had a Kindle for almost 3 years now, and I've moved to almost exclusively buying e-books. I still buy a paper book if there is an author signing that I'm attending, and there are certain authors who I still get in hardback the day they come out though. And I still read a lot of library books. But I just can't beat being able to take as many books as I want with me when I leave the house. And, not having to lug around the 800 page The Passage as I read it was a huge bonus. :)

However, brick-and-mortar bookstores have been slowing declining in business for years, even before e-books were as popular as they are now because of internet shopping. I've done all my Xmas shopping online for at least the last 6 years, and I get plenty of books for people as gifts. Still, I don't think they're going to go away any time soon. There are still plenty of people who feel the same way a lot people here do, and get as much enjoyment out of the sensory experience of reading as they do out of the story itself. Unfortunately, the little independent bookstores will be the first to go, and that's the real tragedy. I would suspect that used bookstores will see an upsurge in inventory, too, for a while.

The Lonely One

08-13-2010, 07:35 PM

Also, another value of print originals (not sure how publishing houses go about with keeping paper copies of authors' work, but...): however unlikely, as a science fiction reader/writer, I like to think it's at least possible that there could be a solar flare or something that would wipe out everything electronic. If there's no hardcopy, what's left? Intangible tangibles are nice but there's got to be something real to transcribe if we start at zero.

Though I'm sure we'd have bigger problems than reading at that point.

Maxinquaye

08-13-2010, 10:40 PM

What's DRM?

DRM = Digital Rights Management, an umbrella-concept encompassing everything from software restrictions to licensing problems. Ie everything from copy protection schemes that lock you to a specific device and a specific geographical region of the world, to having ownership of bought books removed and replaced with licensing schemes that limit what you can do with copies that you've bought.

What the clear lesson from the music industry is, DRM truly pisses off users and drives piracy.

Bubastes

08-13-2010, 10:54 PM

Huge uptick in eSales for romance. Stats are running close to 20% of 100% of the sales pie.

I suspect that the sales pie is getting larger, though. I buy both e-books and print books, but, like Soccer Mom, I've been nomming books like crazy (both e-books and print) ever since I got my Kindle. For some reason, the Kindle has made me more impulsive in my book purchases. I'm spending more money on both paper and electronic books now, which took me by surprise. I doubt I'm the only one.

Print isn't dead. E-books aren't going away. This isn't the end of publishing, but a new beginning.

What she said.

KTC

08-13-2010, 11:00 PM

I know. I'm kind of kicking myself for not picking one up when they were on sale. I keep thinking the highlight and note features of the Kindle woudl be nice but, realistically, I don't know how often I woudl use them. Also, I kind of like that I can buy books for Kobo through a Canadian site because then I don't have to think about exchange rates.

Yes...and if you join their email list...you get special offers every now and again too. may not seem like a lot, but they always seem to be on books i actually want. a dollar off here, two dollars off there. AND...if you join their facebook group...the CEO hangs out there and actually answers questions regarding issues. i like asking the CEO of the company why this or that is happening, etc.

FOTSGreg

08-13-2010, 11:02 PM

KTC

08-13-2010, 11:07 PM

I have an enormous book collection and a collection of Analog SF Magazine dating from 1960 and, quite frankly, speaking as a person with asthma, some if those books and magazines are virtually unreadable because of their smell (not to mention the accumulated dust and detritus picked up inside the pages over literally decades). In addition, some if those books and magazines have grown fragile and yellow over the years due to the paper they were printed on.

E-copies would alleviate all those problems and make reading some of them much less of an"experience" for some of us.

True. I have comics from the early 70s. yes...they do STINK. BUT...I adore my first edition of Hemingway's Movable Feast. You don't get the physical collection with the e-copies. I will always buy those essentials for the print collection. I buy the latest Chabon in print the day it comes out. Stuff like that will never change.

Kathleen42

08-14-2010, 02:06 AM

Yes...and if you join their email list...you get special offers every now and again too. may not seem like a lot, but they always seem to be on books i actually want. a dollar off here, two dollars off there. AND...if you join their facebook group...the CEO hangs out there and actually answers questions regarding issues. i like asking the CEO of the company why this or that is happening, etc.

Hmmm... You're swaying me towards team Kobo. It can read PDFs too, right?

KTC

08-14-2010, 02:07 AM

Hmmm... You're swaying me towards team Kobo. It can read PDFs too, right?

yes. I tried that recently. The only thing is...you have to toggle to see the full page. Unless there is a way to set it to view full page? not quite sure. It wasn't that bad of a problem...but i only did it the one time, just to see if i could.

KTC

08-14-2010, 02:17 AM

My mistake. I just checked my Kobo...I have a PDF of This Side of Paradise on it...It shows the toggle arrows on all four corners of the screen...BUT I'm getting the whole page left to right---which would be my biggest issue. SO...PDFs work fine. The font is smaller, but no biggy. Also, you can read them LANDSCAPE too.

Had I known this before I would have uploaded my own manuscript to do line edits on it...I think mistakes would stick out more on the Kobo screen than on the laptop screen or on paper. Now I'm excited to do this. (-:

efkelley

08-14-2010, 03:27 AM

As part of their proofing process some authors will use a different machine (or paper) and work over their manuscripts in different parts of their residence (or even go somewhere else entirely). The theory is that if you're in the same place reading the same words on the same screen, you're more likely to gloss over mistakes. I've tried this, and it's hard to gauge just how effective it is, but the manuscripts do seem to come back with fewer red marks on them.

Mileage totally varies on this one, I'm sure.

Kathleen42

08-14-2010, 05:15 AM

KTC

08-14-2010, 05:18 AM

Ohhh. I could read work docs on it, then. Which would be nifty.

How would you do line edits on it, though? Someone told me that you couldn't do notes or underlines on Kobo?

No...you can't. There are no bells and whistles with Kobo. Just a book reader. (this is actually what I liked about it---i tested the Sony and there were so many distractions. As a slow reader, I can't take distractions.)

I would make notes while reading it on my Kobo. I actually used to get one copy printed by LULU...for the same thing. Just making a PDF copy and throwing it on my Kobo is free...buying one Lulu copy isn't.

thothguard51

08-14-2010, 07:05 AM

For me, my books are like an art collection, to be displayed after reading. This may be vain and it may be shallow, but when I buy artwork, it goes on my walls and when I buy books, they go to the book shelves to be displayed.

At many a gathering of friends or family, my book collection has stirred conversations that otherwise would never have occurred. An e-reader sitting on a table might stir a conversation, but its going to be about the device and not the books stored on it.

Besides, how does one display a coffee table book? A e-reader sitting on the coffee table just looks like electronic clutter you forgot to put away...

Kathleen42

08-14-2010, 07:10 AM

No...you can't. There are no bells and whistles with Kobo. Just a book reader. (this is actually what I liked about it---i tested the Sony and there were so many distractions. As a slow reader, I can't take distractions.)

I would make notes while reading it on my Kobo. I actually used to get one copy printed by LULU...for the same thing. Just making a PDF copy and throwing it on my Kobo is free...buying one Lulu copy isn't.

Ah, okay.

I always do at least one round of edits on paper. Usually just take it to a local print shop.

KMTolan

08-14-2010, 08:28 PM

So the other day my daughter, who is currently living with us, decides she wants the big room that, among other things, we stored our paperback books in. So I stared at these groaning shelves full of moldering yellowed books - books I have not visited in years but still prize as a matter of ownership. Books whose bindings are failing and pages are as brittle as autumn leaves. When I pass, my children will probably toss these in the garbage, and rightly so. It does get me to thinking, though.

The value of books is as much in their physical ownership - as worthless and priceless as faded pictures in an old scrap book. Through this lens I can see that books will never disappear - at least not the novels that are bound and covered to last the ages. Hardcover novels will perhaps get a lot more pricey as luxury items, but e-books in any form will never replace them.

The trade paperbacks, however, are pretty much doomed. They can neither stand the test of time nor make themselves particularly attractive on a shelf like a hardcover can. E-books will replace them, and the folks who still need that sense of ownership and memory will need to buy hardcover versions.

The hysteria now, and yes, for me the "e-book menace" tends to be that, will pass once the economy improves. The talk of no more books is mostly hype. The same "threat" existed well before Steve Jobs walked in. E-books were simply not getting a whole lot of attention. Not until the spin masters grabbed the IPad like a Disaster From On High. Black Wednesday happened long before the IPad, and the same forces continue eroding the industry today.

Still, hype drives reality here in the US of A. Ten years ago e-books and their authors were scoffed at. Well nobody is laughing now that the Barbarian Horde is actually at the gates. That doesn't mean the industry has to throw itself into a full-on panic either. E-books will co-exist with their hardcover cousins just fine.

Kerry

Shara

08-17-2010, 04:27 PM

i know, i know. i have a book coming out in 2011 as an e-book. it doesn't come out in print until 2012. i'd love to figure out a way to do a 'book signing' for the e-launch. try as i may???

KTC, when my e-book came out, I had a book launch and sold at it - with the publisher's permission (in fact it was their idea) - copies of the e-book files on CD. I made up a nice cover with the book cover image for the CD case, and I was able to sign that. I find that this works well for people who want a signed copy of my book.

It does mean that I have to buy a copy of my e-book for every CD I sell, to make sure the sales figures and royalties are all above board and legal, but the publisher has no problem with this, it is working for me and it's really helping my sales. When people say "I don't want to buy the e-book because I want a signed copy" I offer the CD to them and they have no reason not to buy it!

As for the whole e-book/print book debate, I was firmly in the camp of 'paper is best' until I got my e-reader. Now I love it. But it doesn't mean I am going to stop buying paper books. Now I buy some books in print and some books in e-format, depending on the book and my reason for buying it.

I do think the doom and gloom about e-books killing paper books completely is overly pessimistic, though. The future of publishing has both electronic and print formats existing in harmony.

Shara

Eddyz Aquila

08-19-2010, 02:51 AM

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/110381/clearance-sale-barnes-noble-didnt-evolve-enough?mod=career-leadership

So, another dent in the publishing business... Barnes and Noble is now sinking, and Amazon + Kindle + ebooks are to blame for this.

Button

08-19-2010, 05:03 AM

I love paper, but if I get a reader of some sort, I'll be tempted to try it. I'll be hanging on to my books, however, and still will love bookstores.

I think a lot of the change over may not happen quickly when book readers are $200 each.

I'm amazed that B&N is going under. However, the author of the article is making a lot of assumptions. And just because B&N had a poor business model doesn't mean the end of books. Maybe Amazon did take their customers, but when poor customer service is in place, there's not much you can do about it.

I'd hate to see B&N go under here. It's a nice book store and usually always busy. It's Books-a-Million competitor in the area is rather crummy. Outside of that, there's three used book stores. I hope someone buys B&N and makes it better.

Button

08-19-2010, 05:04 AM

I'm all for ebooks if people are buying them, though. Printers may have something to worry about their market, but if people read more because they have a Kindle and buy more books, that's great!

Bubastes

08-19-2010, 07:36 PM

A thoughtful piece to temper the hype over e-books:

And that is the primary need for e-books - as an adjunct and not replacement, now or at any time in the future, for printed books.

If there is any doubt about this, let us recall (if Mr. Shatzkin is old enough to remember) the “paperless office” revolution that was so highly touted during the 1960s as being soon on the horizon. A brand-new world! No more paper, no more books (no more teacher’s dirty looks!). It hasn’t quite worked out that way; more paper is being generated in offices than ever before. Why? Because business learned, through bitter experience, that stored digital data cannot be trusted 100% Servers crash, data gets lost.

Yes, there are backup protocols. I did what I was told, bought an external hard drive, and backed-up frequently. That was four years ago. Four months ago, the hard drive's cable went kaput. Need I report that the cord was specific to a model the manufacturer no longer makes, they do not provide replacement cords through their website, and I have not been able to find another new, used, or otherwise, anywhere. I'll likely cost me a couple of hundred dollars to have the data retrieved.

.....

It is, rather, a defense against the notion that all technological progress is, by definition, a good thing. Printed books are about as low-tech as you can get. So is a pencil. Pencil sales have not declined to oblivion simply because they do what they do very well and do not require further, ongoing improvement to justify their existence. Just like printed books. The super-duper $20 Space-Pen is great if you need to write while upside down. Yet the lowly pencil will do just as well - for 20 cents.

So, let gazillions be spent to make a hi-tech version of a low-tech product that has been time-tested and does what it does very, very well. But it is sheer folly to believe that a high-tech iteration of an invention from 1451 - the printed book - will be better. It will certainly be different but it does not at all logically follow that it will be an improvement.

http://ht.ly/2rSRA

Satori1977

08-19-2010, 08:19 PM

E-books are becoming popular, in some circles more than other. Maybe someday they will take over and there will be no more paper books. But I hope not, at least not while I am alive.

I like e-books. They are great for convenience when traveling, when you don't want to lug dozens of books around. And just make more space (I have so many unopened boxes of books in my house because I have no room for them).

BUT, I love the feel of a book in my hands. Going to a library or bookstore and just browsing. Nothing beats that experience for me, that feeling I get finding a new book the "old-fashioned way".

KTC

08-20-2010, 03:05 PM

Hmmm... You're swaying me towards team Kobo. It can read PDFs too, right?

Update. Last night I took my .doc file and increased the font to 38pt and did spacing at 1 1/2 spaces...then converted to a PDF and uploaded to my Kobo. It looks exactly like all the ebooks I buy from Kobobooks.com. It's over a thousand pages, but on the screen it looks great...font is just the right size. In display I set it to Whole Page...there's no toggling from side to side...fits perfectly.

mayaone

08-27-2010, 08:47 AM

I just read in NY magazine that there is a resurgance of independent booksellers in NY. They are more lenient in allowing authors to perform, read and promote their book in store. And they are kind to new authors. It was very encouraging and I hope this is happening all over the country.

Greeble

08-27-2010, 12:19 PM

The thing I want to know is: do Kindles or other e-readers smell like a print book does? Huh?

Well, I guess there's a market for "New Book Smell" sprays.

EDIT: I just got my Kindle cover today. It has a nice, leathery smell. Does that count?

KTC

08-27-2010, 04:00 PM

EDIT: I just got my Kindle cover today. It has a nice, leathery smell. Does that count?

I have a leather cover for my Kobo...ROOTS, no less. Thing is, because of the inner lining, it smells more like bandaids than leather. Le sigh.

DanielKoehler

09-15-2010, 06:22 AM

"But nothing can compare to the amazing feeling you get when you stroll in the bookshop for hours stacking up with whatever you want to read."

Except maybe downloading the same stack of books to your iPad in the form of samples. You now have the luxury of browsing them at any time in future for as long as you want, unlike our physical stack of books, which go back in the racks when you leave the store.

Luke King

09-17-2010, 05:34 AM

Being new to this forum, I'm a little bit bemused at the attitude towards ebooks expressed in this thread. As writers, ebooks are just about the best thing since sliced cheese. For the first time in history writers have the ability to take control. I am earning 70% of sales on books I have published through Amazon, and up to 85% on books I have published through Smashwords.

Why would I want a publisher? Why would I lament the passing of print books?

Of course there will always be print books, but in five or ten years they will account for less than 10% or 20% of the market. They are already eclipsing sales on hardbacks at Amazon.