Read an E-book Week 2007

[chrispenycate]

E-books should be much cheaper than they are at present; after all, the publisher/distributer has to pass the books through an electronic stage before printing; there's been no traditional typesetting for donkey's years. And they bypass printing, maintaining a stock, transport costs, middlemen and, above all, the uncertainty caused by returns.
No book would ever need to go out of "print"; smaller runs would be economically viable, a world wide marketplace would mean that borderline writers would become easier to place, home production would be within any determined author's reach. Certainly, as with the music business, this opens the market to a lot of inferior product, but also to a lot of minority interest publications which would otherwise be economically uninteresting. But present prices are equivalent to - trade paperbacks? Higher at any rate than mass market PB.
I fear I will not become an E-book reader. I've downloaded a fair number of books from the Baen free library (and, if you so desire, will collect another one and read it during your promotion week), but if I've really liked them I've always hunted out and bought the dead tree version. Despite total lack of space to put more (the origin of many a tearful decision) I doubt whether I will change before I die. But I'm not the one who needs convincing and the “can't lend a book to anyone else, pay through the nose for it and then it can only be on one reader, so if that breaks you've got to buy it again, paranoia as soon as somebody's bought this book he can go into business for himself" mentality(yes, I watched it happening in the music business; and look where it got them) is slowing acceptance; the majors will have to find solutions to these problems (probably involving authors getting a higher (gulp) percentage of the sales price, as there are fewer intermediate steps) or they will discover independant publishers staking out large swathes of the potential territory.

 

[Steve Jordan]

Chrispenycate, you're pretty much right on all counts about what e-books should be doing. However, it will take awhile for the major publishers to adopt the new business models that e-books demand, and in fact they've been actively delaying things to save short-term money, so we have a ways to go to break that deadlock.

You also mention many of e-books' advantages, like using less space. I have a half-dozen books on my PPC right nw, and that doesn't include the dozens on my PC, taking up zero shelf space. The idea of bringing a library's worth of books with me on a trip, stored in one mamory card, is very attractive to me... as it should be to any frequent traveler and reader!

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is also a hurdle that the publishers, like the music industry, must figure out how to deal with. iTunes' Steve Jobs has already stated that DRM simply doesn't work, and discourages consumers besides, limiting sales and dampening revenue. The sooner music and literature publishers realize this and dump DRM, the sooner they will see increased sales of books and music.

And if they don't, we'll see independents rise up and take a major piece of the market from them, until they are forced to change. That's the way of things, especially in business, and even they realize that.

For more info about e-books, a great site to check out is Mobileread.com. Tell them Steve Jordan sent you!

 

[Rane Longfox]

I can't cope with reading screens for that long. I read for two or three hours at a time minimum, and I don't really want to splash out on a fancy reader

The main problem I have with ebooks is that none of the books I want to read are available

 

[Steve Jordan]

The main problem I have with ebooks is that none of the books I want to read are available

That is a big problem... publishers have resisted releasing a lot of their catalogs, especially older books, in e-book formats. As e-books become more popular and ubiquitous, however, more material from publishers' catalogs should open to e-books.

Ultimately, all books should be released in hardback, paperback, audio, and e-book formats as standard procedure.

For those who do not know, here's a link to information about Cleartype, which is available to Windows XP and newer PCs with CRT or LCD screens, and handheld PCs, and makes screen reading much easier on the eye.

 

[Rane Longfox]

It is beginning to catch on though, I think - Charles Stross released Accelerando in ebook format. Free, no less... though I think it was only for a limited time.

By the way, you've got one to many "h"s at the beginning of that link

 

[Steve Jordan]

(Thanks, that's fixed. Something about the link copy function.)

 

[Happy Joe]

I read about as many ebooks as I read hard copy. For me, the only drawback is that I cannot kick back in a comfy chair with a PC.
I have found that for the really old literature (H. Rider Haggard for example) that ebooks are about the only easy way to get copies (Thank you Gutenberg project Browse By Author: Z - Project Gutenberg )
Baen books has even made it a marketing tool. If I find a "free library" ebook or author that I like I end up getting a hard copy, (and if the author/story is poor I can save a buck (or 8)).
I have to agree that the costs for purchased ebooks are much too high.

Enjoy!

 

[Happy Joe]

I read about as many ebooks as hard copy books.
The only problem is that I cant relax in a comfy chair with a PC in my lap (the cat won't let me).
Enjoy!

 

[Steve Jordan]

Sounds like you need to try a Sony Reader or a Pocket PC. You can use that with one hand, and pet the cat with the other!

 

[Happy Joe]

At $300+ I believe that I will kill a few trees and continue buying hard copy. (The cat will have to be content with lying on the back of my computer chair, or on top of the desk, during ebook sessions).

Enjoy!

 

[Kostmayer]

Been waiting for an excuse to post this

BBC NEWS | Technology | Scrollable displays set to debut

If this could be attached to an e-book reader and sell for under £100, I think it could start to take off. Not for a good long while though.

 

[Steve Jordan]

There's also talk of possibly connecting one of those screens to cellphones, allowing you to read e-books, e-mail, browse the web, etc, with the one device.

I believe the foldout screen idea still needs time to develop. However, the e-ink technology they use is being used now (on Sony's reader, for instance) and is pretty impressive. It really does look more like reading on paper than on a screen. Most people in-the-know believe that e-ink will turn a lot of people who don't like reading on computer screens.

(For more info on that, check out some of the discussions at http://www.mobileread.com.)

 

[j d worthington]

So far, I've avoided getting into this discussion here, though I've had it elsewhere on CN. While I have nothing whatsoever against e-books, and I think in many ways they are a wonderful idea... they simply are not for me. Perhaps I'm just a dinosaur, but for me it is more than the information within the pages of a book, it is the total experience. I won't go into everything involved there, as it's quite a lengthy list and, as I said, I've done so elsewhere. But nothing will ever appeal to me on all those levels the way a book does... in order for it to do so, it would literally have to become a book (preferably one with a wonderful old musty smell and slightly browning pages ). There are, of course, tons of things that are now being put into this format that are simply unobtainable (or obtainable only at the cost of knocking over Fort Knox) that I will probably read in this format, because I cannot obtain them otherwise. But it will always be a matter of "needs must" with me, not preference.

For those who are not put together that way, I encourage them to go for it. It's a wonderful technology with ever-growing advantages to it, and it's almost certainly a part of our future. I just happen to be one to whom it not only does not appeal, but actually repulses personally -- I find the experience distasteful, too sterile, if you will, in feel. I don't see this as much of a loss, as I gain on so many other levels. It is something of a trade-off, that I'll agree; but not a loss.

 

[mosaix]

I heard on the BBC a while back that there is a 'third way' on the horizon. A printer that will produce a book from scratch in just a few moments.

The idea is that book stores will contain very few books and one, or more, of these new printers. A buyer goes into the store and pays for a book of their choice. The printer connects to the publisher over the internet, gets an electronic copy and in a few minutes prints and binds the book, including cover. Large print is, of course, an option.

The advantages are obvious. Little stock held by the retailer, the publishers only prints what they sell and there are no returns and I get just what I want - a book I can hold whilst I read and give a good home to afterwards.

 

[j d worthington]

Question on that one, Mosaix... what about the binding? It's true that a good paperback binding can last for decades, but a good sewn hardback can last for centuries. Are they predicting that it'll be possible to get it done in such a way that you can have your choice of bindings (that is, an adjustable cost if you prefer the longer-lasting hardbound-sewn product or the less durable paper-glued binding)?

And will this also apply to those much older volumes that are now printed as "classics" by such publishers as Dover, Penguin, Oxford, etc.? While many of those are available electronically already, if you have someone who's good at marketing, offering them with good cover art would be a good idea for those readers who'd still prefer a bound book, I'd think... and the cost would be very small, quickly made up for by sales....

 

[mosaix]

Hi JD, I assume (I don't know why) that it was turned out as a good quality paperback. I seem to remember that cover art was provided as part of the printing process.

The whole things seems like a reasonable middle road, although I doubt that the small, independant book shop could afford the cost of such a printer.

 

[j d worthington]

Hi JD, I assume (I don't know why) that it was turned out as a good quality paperback. I seem to remember that cover art was provided as part of the printing process.

The whole things seems like a reasonable middle road, although I doubt that the small, independant book shop could afford the cost of such a printer.

Quite possibly not... at least, not at first. However, I rather think it may be a while before such takes over so completely but what they may be able to: a) convert to selling both used/antiquarian and new, making it a specialty for those die-hards (like me) even if they have to do most of their sales online; and b) be able to afford it eventually, as the price comes down the more common the process becomes.

However, in grim reality, the small, independent bookstore is quickly becoming a thing of the past in the brick-and-mortar sense, anyway. In this country, nearly all the specialty shops in sff (or whatever) have closed their doors in the last ten years. Some are still hanging on, but some of the oldest are now long-gone; and even those that are general bookstores are having a tough time of it. When I moved up to Austin in 1980, there were about 3 pages of listings of bookstores in the telephone directory... Now, it's down to just over 3/4 of a page... and this is a university town!

 

[Nikitta]

JD:
I often find that the small independent books shops don't really have much that catches my interest, while I have no problems finding several books I want in the bigger ones - especially the large chains.

None the less, there are lots of books, I can't even get there and which they can't even order for me, due to them being US-only release, so I order them online and wait. With e-books I'd be able to buy them online and have them at once, with no waiting involved.

However, it might be a consolation to you that the bookshop, which I pass from work (definitely not small, but not part of a chain AFAIK, sells new and used books, games, music and movies) had to buy a new place to add to their existing place and that place is an expansion of the areas they have with books (which already covered 2 floors out of 4 to begin with) - the areas with games, movies and music still have the same size.


A friend of mine works in a SFF bookshop in Stockholm and last time I was there, they were constantly busy and I can't imagine that having changed - it's a very good shop with a staff who knows their SFF.

 

[Steve Jordan]

The bookstore-based Print-On-Demand idea has been kicked around for quite a while, back when publishers were starting to investigate it. The biggest problem there is, the bookstores simply don't want to get into the printing business. That's not their niche, so to speak. They just want to sell you the product, not produce it themselves.

However, the need for instant production is still there. There are a lot of books out there, especially out-of-print books, that it would be nice to be able to obtain at any time. With the amount of instant-gratification that people are now getting from the web, it's no wonder that people would like instant gratification when it comes to books, as well.

This is one of e-books' greatest strengths. E-books can be provided instantly, without having to wait for a publisher or a printer to produce a single copy, bind it, and send it to you. You don't have to depend on a book's availability in some crate in a warehouse somewhere, it just needs to be stored and accessible online. Brick-and-mortar bookstores could even provide e-books at their store, by accessing their catalogs and uploading the e-book to your portable computer, or by e-mailing it to you. And because e-books do not require storage and transportation costs, the final cost to you should be less, so you can afford more books!

And don't forget: If you really prefer to read books on paper, there's nothing preventing you from printing out the book yourself. Local printers (real printers, not copy shops) can bind books about as well as a standard paperback, sometimes with a good hardback cover. You might not need that for every book you read, but you can save that for the special and particularly good books.

 

[BooksforABuck]

It is already possible with some phones, since they're becoming increasingly like PDAs. However, reading an entire book on such a small screen can't be pleasant.

I have read dozens of books on my Palm III, which has a screen only slightly bigger than that on a smart phone. You'd think it would be slow, but I find that my brain can grab the entire page at once, so I can continue paging through. It doesn't take longer to read this way than to read a traditional paper book. In fact, since the page turning is easier, it can actually be faster.

Rob Preece
Publisher, wwwBooksForABuck.com