Long-term ramifications of e-publishing

I've kind of wondered about that myself. I remember an eBook I reviewed once where I addressed certain things I didn't like in the story. The author later contacted me and said the story had been revised.

On one hand, my ego swelled a little bit because the author took my recommendations to heart, but I also wondered if that was really the best thing to do. After all, my review is only one opinion.

Before that moment, I never considered that authors could go back and alter the content and I think the option could do just as much harm as good. After all, I'm sure George Lucas never considered that he'd screw up Star Wars with all his constant revisions, but that's what he did.

Looking forward to seeing what others have to say on the subject.

In some ways, it's very much a return to the days of medieval scribes. We have multiple versions of some manusciripts, with various subtle changes. Or, alternatively, the early history of print. We have detailed comparisons for the remaining "First Folios" of Shakespeare's work. We know, roughly, in what order the separate books were printed because of tiny changes.

Perhaps there are situations of "appropriate" and "not appropriate" for such practices?

Hmm, that does open an entire frontier in the discipline of writing. In some ways, it turns the craft into a dialogue instead of a monologue since the writer can now respond, almost instantly, to the comments of the reader. It will be interesting to see if Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other eBook distributors eventually put controls on so that each upload of a version will generate a number. For now, it remains the writer's responsibility to place such version numbers somewhere on the book if they want to alert readers that there is new content or revised content. Maybe on the copyright page?

In the old days, we called that "releasing the nth edition." Our constraint, of course, was the size of print runs.* The advantage was that you got a lot of repeat buyers. This was, of course, for nonfiction titles.

ETA: *and marketability of the current edition

I have fixed typos and amended things like spelling out a number or capitalizing/uncapitalizing a letter, but would not change content. That's what I wrote and self-published, for better or worse. I also have paperback versions of my print books.

I would not like an ending to be changed after I read it, or anything added/removed. I still feel a bit ripped off when I go see a movie, knowing full well the DVD will have extra scenes and information that won't be included at the movie theater showing. I love the extended versions of The Lord of The Rings trilogy, but would have liked to see them on the big screen.

Agree that there will evolve "appropriate" and "inappropriate" uses for this practice; and I expect that there will be a bit of experimentation.

I am in the non-fiction area and so that is a bit different than fiction as theories and facts can change.

Good comments on earlier technologies - the scribe, early printing - and so I comment on DVD. In the film area, the extra content feature can allow for showing alternate endings; in fact with some DVDs you can choose to see the film with "deleted" scenes actually shown in proper sequence as if they were never deleted. Turn on and off director's or critic's commentary.

As far as the interactive and dialogue aspects, I think that eReader devices are just at the beginning of exploring this possibility (with implications for authors). On some devices you can read eBook and see what has been popular highlighted passages from others (perhaps initially of most interest to those studying a textbook); as well as see the Notes of people you value (not just family members).

Personally I love the Note feature and wish it'd improve as this ability to personalize and interact to me is a vital part of the experience. I still smile at opening some paper book and seeing my scribbles from years ago - a bit like finding an old diary, good insights into oneself from a current perspective.

If an author can see what people are highlighting it can provide some crude feedback and hypotheses - did they love that turn of phrase; vivid description; great dialogue. If an author can see Notes that people are taking this is probably even more fertile.

Can't recall where I recently read that some online project is doing the following: They have copies of fairly famous books that are in paper that were once owned by famous people. They are making available the marginal notes that those people took. This is then part of the eBook experience that you can then read for yourself.

Pull quotes are one way that authors already draw attention to aspects of the writing. Embedding the author's own Notes would now be possible - would you like to know what other names the author considered for each of the characters, and what went in to choosing what they did?

Revise quickly and cheaply is just one aspect of the new ecosystem of communicating with and through books. What will happen to the "authority" of the printed word?

I'm planning on putting out a non-fic book on Amazon where the updating will be a feature, not a bug. The idea is that when I have significant fresh information, I will make changes and update. I think I'll get round the issue by just putting a date on it. Though it would look clunky in the title. [Wanders off, thinking...]

Keyan said:

I'm planning on putting out a non-fic book on Amazon where the updating will be a feature, not a bug. The idea is that when I have significant fresh information, I will make changes and update. I think I'll get round the issue by just putting a date on it. Though it would look clunky in the title. [Wanders off, thinking...]

Click to expand...

Use edition numbers so that existing readers can become repeat customers. And so that amazon lets them buy the updated book. If you try to buy a Kindle title you already bought, amazon tells you about it.

ANicolai said:

Yeah, and - somewhat ironically given the topic of this post - as of the last time I checked there is no easy way to update a previously-downloaded version of a book. You have to call an Amazon support number and ask them to push it out to you.

Click to expand...

I didn't know that. It has been suggested here in another thread that whenever you add a title to your personal catalog, you add to the "also written by" list and upload an update for each book. So you're saying it isn't that easy at amazon. Bummer.

Al Stevens said:

It has been suggested here in another thread that whenever you add a title to your personal catalog, you add to the "also written by" list and upload an update for each book. So you're saying it isn't that easy at amazon. Bummer.

Click to expand...

It's easy, but Amazon won't automatically push that new version to people who previously bought the book. At Smashwords you can just download a new version, but for Amazon you have to respond to an email asking whether you want the new one; I rarely bother.

movieman said:

It's easy, but Amazon won't automatically push that new version to people who previously bought the book. At Smashwords you can just download a new version, but for Amazon you have to respond to an email asking whether you want the new one; I rarely bother.

Click to expand...

Okay, that's more like what I thought. Thanks.

I write mainly non-fiction but have just started dabbling in fiction. Many of my non-fiction books are theme park guides, which benefit from my ability to instantly update them because the parks are always adding new attractions and getting rid of old ones. My fiction (just one romance novella so far) is my creation, so I can't think of any circumstance in which I would alter it, other than possibly to correct a mechanical mistake (typo etc.) that I somehow initially missed.

movieman said:

It's easy, but Amazon won't automatically push that new version to people who previously bought the book. At Smashwords you can just download a new version, but for Amazon you have to respond to an email asking whether you want the new one; I rarely bother.

Click to expand...

And I think its good that way.

Automatic updating doesn't seem like a good concept. Give the reader a choice. I don't think it is a good idea to have readers be in the middle of your book when it updates and now the characters suddenly behave differently or are gone.

It should always be the readers choice if he wants to update or not. Basically do it like any app on a smart phone or tablet. Inform the user that there is an update and let him decide, if and when he downloads it - and most importantly inform him of the changes in detail BEFORE he updates.

I believe automatic updating of Kindle books was originally possible, but Amazon introduced the email system after they got into hot water for reaching electronically into people's devices and deleting copies of 1984 a few years back.

I'm guessing that if a reader moves a book to archives, the next time it gets opened, the newer version (same ASIN) comes into the device. Otherwise, amazon would have to keep copies of all the e-books owned by all the accounts.

The problem is how to notify them that there have been changes. The publisher doesn't know who the readers are.

Al Stevens said:

Use edition numbers so that existing readers can become repeat customers. And so that amazon lets them buy the updated book. If you try to buy a Kindle title you already bought, amazon tells you about it.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's a really useful tip. Maybe I'll just include a Month/ Year in the title, and when I bring out a new one, retire the old one (or discount-price it).

I'm hoping that updating will boost both the utility of the book and my credibility.

The problem can usually be fixed (or the need diminished) by doing the editing at the front instead of after publication.

As I prepare to launch my first book, it's good to see some real-world examples of less than perfect technical execution - one of those things that concerns me a little.

From a slightly different perspective, I wonder what effect this will have on the mental health of authors! For me, there's a really liberating feeling when I finally get a book published and off my 'to edit' list. One less thing to worry about, out of my hands now, let it sink or swim, time to get cracking on the next project, etc.

At some point, I think we need to let go. OP, you've only got one book out now, but what if you have ten, or twenty, and are still tinkering with all of them? There'd be no time left for new writing, and no sanity left to come up with good ideas to write about!

For me, I plan to do the best possible editing job before I release a self-pubbed book, and then I plan to consider it DONE (barring some catastrophic posted-the-wrong-version or formatting-went-all-wonky issue). I need that sense of finality.