It's the topic du jour in the book world right now. Do people really want to read books on a little hand-held computer? How much will they pay for them? Where will they buy them? Can bookstores survive? Can publishers survive? Can writers survive?
The irony of releasing a book about the death of bookstores as an ebook is not lost on me. But because this is still a work in progress, I didn't want to commit it to print until I was sure it was really and truly complete. This seemed like a quick and easy way to get a book out there and to see what readers think. Besides, people who own Kindles, Sony Readers, iPhones, etc. might be the best audience for a book about the digital book. It's a beta version, going out to you for testing and feedback. It's fun to experiment with this technology, but for me it's just that--an experiment.
But for people in the book world, ebooks are not just an experiment--they're a technological force that's changing the industry. What does this new digital reality mean for writers, editors, publishers, and booksellers? If you're new to this discussion, I'll share a few links of interest here.
Indie Booksellers Debate the e-Book. Can a bookstore sell electronic books?
The E-Book Pricing Debate. A great discussion at Harper Studio about what e-books should cost and why. And it continues here.
But What About Piracy? In which Cory Doctorow made waves for saying, "I really feel like my problem isn’t piracy. It’s obscurity."
Some People Just Really Don't Like e-Books. In which Sherman Alexie made waves for saying that when he saw a woman on a plane reading a Kindle, "I wanted to hit her." (He later clarified that.)
And here's an interesting essay by thriller writer Kemble Scott about why he decided to release his newest novel first on Scribd. So far, 4771 people have downloaded the book from Scribd.
And on it goes. Mention e-books to most people and they'll say, "I don't want to read a book on a computer. I love my books just the way they are." And I agree with that. After all, I own a bookstore. I live in a house full of books. Some of them are books I wrote myself. I am pro-printed books.
But you know what? I lug four or five books with me when I travel. For someone who's on the road a lot, being able to carry a dozen books in your pocket sounds pretty good.
And interestingly, those digital devices are starting to look very attractive to the people who are most threatened by them--people in the book industry. Editors can load dozens of manuscripts onto a Kindle rather than lug bundles of paper home on the subway. Sales reps and reviewers can carry promotional copies around instead of drowning under the 100-200 books they would otherwise be grappling with every week.
For Last Bookstore in America, I imagined a gadget that was so cheap and accessible and easy to use that people weren't just persuaded, they were delighted. They loved it. Even more than people love their iPhones. But we don't live in that world--not yet, anyway.
So what do you think about digital books? Ramp it up or pull the plug?
I'm quite curious about digital goods as well but have been messing about for several years in the gardening genre. Admittedly not fiction - and very specific in their intent - they have been received well by a certain audience - looking for summaries and the kinds of information they need to succeed in the garden. That's going well enough to continue writing them.
I'm told that Amazon now sells somewhere around 30% of each title in e-format. So sell 70 dead-tree books you sell 30 e-books of that title. Not a bad proportion and I have to expect that isn't a steady number across all titles but is probably scewed to the computer or biz side of things (guessing on that).
And I think you're right - I collect books so I happen to love sitting in front of the fire curled up with a great book. But I'm of a generation older than yours and I suspect younger folks who grew up with computers simply wonder why it's taking so long to digitalize everything.
Posted by: Doug Green | 07/08/2009 at 06:17 AM