For many writers, seeing their books grace the shelves of the local Barnes & Noble is like a crack high. I must admit that after having experienced this phenomenon myself (at my local Border’s), the rush is right up there with wedding/birth-of-first-child/first-apartment euphoria. Which is why there are still tons of writers out there resistant to the idea of epublishing.
As a reader, I’ve been a longtime advocate of ebooks. There’s just no better way to tote books around. I can bring 18 books with me, mark them up, read them in low light (in the case of eBookwise), and buy books and magazines at whim (in the case of the Kindle).
But authors for the most part hate ebooks. You can’t autograph it, you can’t hold it in your hand, you can’t go to your local bookstore and gaze admiringly at your work. And the majority of readers don’t like them too. eBook haters I’ve talked to say they just prefer the tactile experience of turning a page and marking them up. Plus the industry hasn’t helped the case of the ebook much with their inability to come up with a uniform standard, their weird pricing strategy (Really? eBooks priced the same as print books?) and their awkward ebook readers.
Fortunately for the ebook, time marches on and so do the inevitable advances in technology. Thanks to the release of more sophisticated readers that also fulfill a book buyer’s instant gratification demands (i.e., the Kindle), and to new epublishers like Quartet Press who have merged business savvy with good editorial, ebooks will and continue to move forward. I’m predicting that when my kids go to college, instead of lugging around heavy textbooks, they’ll all be equipped with ereaders which will simply and instantaneously download all their textbooks and supplemental handouts into their electronic devices, whatever they may be.
Why am I waxing rhapsodic about ebooks again? Because after an unsuccessful first foray into the epublishing world as a writer, I am seriously thinking about dipping my toe in those ewaters again. Exciting things are happening in the epubbed world, and thanks to advances in technology, the advent of massively cool ebook readers (not to mention the persistant rumor that Apple will be releasing an iPodish ebook reader), the entrance into the industry by business savvy folks, and the embrace of the format by traditional publishers, things are different (i.e., better) now than when I entered the biz back in 2005. Yikes! 2005! Four long years ago.
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