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- Feb 13, 2005
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- www.allensedge.com
(And this includes a discussion on writing also)
I was originally a stickler for print books, I will admit that up front. I also refused to ever see ebooks becoming as widespread as they have become.
But this Christmas, my wife asked what I wanted most , and I told her I had been thinking it would actually be nice to have a Kindle because of the proliferation of ebooks. That, and publishers like Leisure, who published horror titles I liked to buy, were discontinuing mass market paperbacks in favor of ebooks and trade paperbacks.
Since Christmas, I have read book after book after book on the Kindle. I will admit it: I love it.
I'm wondering how reading habits of others here have changed by owning a Kindle or Nook, or any ebook reader.
I used to go to the bookstore and buy a book. I still do that. Thank goodness the Borders near me is staying open. But now, more than anything, I choose a book I'd like to read, then buy it on amazon for the Kindle.
When it's time to buy a new book, I go through the chosen genre on amazon and find another, usually through the "similar titles" listings. I've found some, um, really interesting books there, one I just finished reading. One by a big author who released this book only on Kindle. I never would have found it in a bookstore. (A discussion of this book is forthcoming in AW's Book Club forum.)
The only drawback to this method is by not being physically inside a bookstore, I am not made aware of new titles I might be interested in purchasing.
Regarding how this affects writing, I've noticed that many writers are releasing their unpublished books through the Kindle for either $0 or very cheap. Suddenly it's become a self-published wonderland in some respects. There are horrible ones mixed in with very good ones.
Problem is, of course, is knowing these titles even exist, then going solely by their titles, then the descriptions.
I believe also that ebooks have given an author more flexibility in ways I hadn't realized before. By having his book available in both print and ebook versions, a reader now has a choice. In my case, I would probably go ahead and buy the ebook version. In the end, the author wins. And so does the reader.
I still don't think, though print books will ever go away. If anything they will supplement ebooks, giving a reader an additional choice.
I was originally a stickler for print books, I will admit that up front. I also refused to ever see ebooks becoming as widespread as they have become.
But this Christmas, my wife asked what I wanted most , and I told her I had been thinking it would actually be nice to have a Kindle because of the proliferation of ebooks. That, and publishers like Leisure, who published horror titles I liked to buy, were discontinuing mass market paperbacks in favor of ebooks and trade paperbacks.
Since Christmas, I have read book after book after book on the Kindle. I will admit it: I love it.
I'm wondering how reading habits of others here have changed by owning a Kindle or Nook, or any ebook reader.
I used to go to the bookstore and buy a book. I still do that. Thank goodness the Borders near me is staying open. But now, more than anything, I choose a book I'd like to read, then buy it on amazon for the Kindle.
When it's time to buy a new book, I go through the chosen genre on amazon and find another, usually through the "similar titles" listings. I've found some, um, really interesting books there, one I just finished reading. One by a big author who released this book only on Kindle. I never would have found it in a bookstore. (A discussion of this book is forthcoming in AW's Book Club forum.)
The only drawback to this method is by not being physically inside a bookstore, I am not made aware of new titles I might be interested in purchasing.
Regarding how this affects writing, I've noticed that many writers are releasing their unpublished books through the Kindle for either $0 or very cheap. Suddenly it's become a self-published wonderland in some respects. There are horrible ones mixed in with very good ones.
Problem is, of course, is knowing these titles even exist, then going solely by their titles, then the descriptions.
I believe also that ebooks have given an author more flexibility in ways I hadn't realized before. By having his book available in both print and ebook versions, a reader now has a choice. In my case, I would probably go ahead and buy the ebook version. In the end, the author wins. And so does the reader.
I still don't think, though print books will ever go away. If anything they will supplement ebooks, giving a reader an additional choice.