e-books, hardbacks or paperbacks our thoughts.

[Null_Zone]

I had a Sony PR505 and loved it, sadly the dog decided to be sick on it and it stopped working. The house insurance paid for a replacement, the touch screen Sony. But that was terrible, screen glare and battery life were the main problems.

So I bought a Kindle and am loving it. Better that even the PR505, the pricing of books is consistant -no seriously Waterstone why would I want to by an Ebook for £40 when the paperback is only a couple of quid on Amazon? and there is a good range of books available.

I still by some physical books but they tend to be ones I know people will want to borrow.

 

[Rosemary]

I was surprised to hear how many authors use Kindle! Apparently you can get all sorts of things done while listening - walking, spinning or resting etc. They use them mainly to listen to other authors stories and not their own.

I'm still certain I won't be getting either eBook or Kindle. The bookcases might be overflowing but I'm sure I'll find somewhere they can go and be shown off at the same time!

 

[Lacivetta]

Hmmm I wish our libraries did e-lending, but sadly no! As for a friend borrowing an e-book, I presume you just need to strip the DRM and convert it to the format of their reader.

I think the borrowing facility is going to be added to Kindle - ie, like a physical book, you don't have it for a while and your mate can have it on their machine.

Was confused by the reference to listening to books on kindle/sony. I think there is an mp3 function on it, however it's mostly an e-reader - ie it's mainly for reading on, its virtues being that it's small/light and makes your whole library portable. Otherwise it would be no different to an mp3 player/phone/ipod whatever.

 

[AE35Unit]

I think the borrowing facility is going to be added to Kindle - ie, like a physical book, you don't have it for a while and your mate can have it on their machine.

Was confused by the reference to listening to books on kindle/sony. I think there is an mp3 function on it, however it's mostly an e-reader - ie it's mainly for reading on, its virtues being that it's small/light and makes your whole library portable. Otherwise it would be no different to an mp3 player/phone/ipod whatever.

No audio on my reader, thankfully-just 200 free books/stories.

 

[sloweye]

I just insalled a PDF app on my iphone and its really quite good. i donwloaded 1984 as a test and it works well, has some good funtions like auto scroll which is just the right speed for me (you big brained lot might find it slow) and unless you actualy return to the main menu the book will open just where you left it, even when the app has been closed or the phone turned off. dead handy for those spare 10min flicks

 

[Steve Jordan]

I've been reading on PDAs, and now my smartphone, for over a decade. It's one of the reasons I was willing to put my own novels out as ebooks... I was already convinced ebooks were a great format for reading.

(Disclosure: When I first came to this site, I tried suggesting ebooks to forum members, and was... let's say "made to feel unwelcome"... by the responses. It's nice to see that people aren't as hostile to ebooks as they once were.)

Today, I don't buy printed books. I mean, I don't box people in the ears over their buying habits; but my feeling is that a tree is better off left in the ground than decorating (or being) my shelves... and we're all better off as well.

I mostly use an app called Freda to read ePub files... I buy them, remove any DRM coding if I need to, then convert them to ePub if necessary. At present I have over 50 books in my phone with me, about a dozen waiting to be read.

 

[Duncan]

I read all my books now on an ereader (NOOKColor). I have been reading books on ereaders for about a year now.

For me the big benefits for an ereader is two-fold, space and cataloging.
Space seems obvious but for some reason many ignore it. Having my library of 1500 books on an ereader is much less space than my four 8' (2.5m) high book shelves with the books stacked three deep. It is also much easier to find and locate each book on an ereader.

My NOOKColor also has a nice database of all of my books. I can browse the covers by author, by title and I can virtually shelve them by whatever classification system I care to invent. Searching for a book or author is trivial and won't ever miss that title that got stuffed in the wrong shelf as happens with my paper books.

No given my habits of frequent reading, frequent rereading and collecting a large library, this means my ereader is an excellent fit. The big disadvantage I have is that novels published in the period from 1970 to 1999 are often hard or impossible to acquire in ebook form.

One additional advantage for ebooks is that there is no real reason to be out of stock for any item. That makes my life easier when I encounter a new author and want to read a series in order.

 

[steve12553]

I had mentioned some time (and several pages) ago that I used a PDA as an ereader. Christmas I was given a Pandigital Novel (Nook format color reader with some tablet capabilities and the Android operating system.) I found several websites with classic books in this format for free and of course all that Barnes and Noble offers (some thousands of books or maybe even millions). This is a seven inch (times 25.4 = 170 something millimeters) screen so it's not discreetly pocket sized for breaks at work. It's about the size and weight of a moderate sized hardback and with the space a book takes up on an SD chip it will hold a reasonable home library on each. I had my PDA die on me about a week ago but although they don't make them anymore there are still some around (thanks to the wonder of internet shopping) so I've got a new one in transit. This gives me three media for reading (two types of ereaders and, of course, my books that will stay with me till I no longer have the capacity to read them). In this sense I am greedy. I can read in all formats and on't give any up until I am physically unable to use them. In spite of attempts to organize I will alway grab any book in any format I can read that may interest me at some point. At one point in my life I was without work for a long period of time and did not have the enough of a book collection to keep me busy. To paraphase something from the sixties drug culture it is better to have more books than you have time to read than more time than ou have the reading material to fill.

 

[Dave]

I admit that I couldn't read this whole thread, but I gathered from skimming that is was mainly discussing whether an e-book could be considered a "real" book. I have the same problem with downloading music - I still want the hard CD.

Now I have another question and a rant. Today, I really dithered over ordering Hardback copies of two books I really want to read (Surface Detail by Iain M Banks & Betrayer of Worlds by Larry Niven.) Both come out in Paperback in May, but I want them NOW. So, I will pay the extra and get them in Hardback. That seems okay, publishers are entitled to rip us off a few pounds extra and force us to buy the Hardback edition, or wait a few months and get the Paperback edition (actually, it is more like 7 months in both those examples.) My problem is that the Kindle edition is already available to download immediately.

I don't think a Kindle edition is a proper book either, and I want a proper book to have and to hold, but when the Kindle version is already available,
How can they possibly square that with making you wait for the Paperback release?

 

[Rodders]

I was browsing in Books Etc this afternoon and i noticed a CD in the back of one of David Webers books that contained the Baen back catalogue. An interesting move.

 

[thaddeus6th]

I've been thinking of what to buy next, and wandered into my local Smiths to get The Heroes, but they didn't have it. So, I went online. The hardback version (and if anybody could tell me if it's bound with glue or stitched I'd be grateful) is more expensive than the paperback, which is ok, but the Kindle version is more expensive than the hardback. Why?

 

[planetocean]

For myself I am a paperback and hardcover kind of girl. I do have an ebook reader though just using that for books that I get for free. I still prefer to hold an actual book in my hand. Though I do ebooks are becoming more and more popular I just hope people don't forget the actual books.

 

[Kierkegaurdian]

I would only ever go the ebook route if I traveled a LOT (I have an uncle who is only at his house ~1.5 months out of the year ... the rest is planes, hotels, etc ... that level of travel) ; or if something OOP was only available in ebook format, and I really wanted to read it. I love my book collection, building and painting bookshelves, building up certain subject areas, the feel of a nice hardback book, browsing used bookstores, etc., and ebooks don't give any of that. Honestly, I should cut down on my time staring at various screens

 

[Vertigo]

I admit that I couldn't read this whole thread, but I gathered from skimming that is was mainly discussing whether an e-book could be considered a "real" book. I have the same problem with downloading music - I still want the hard CD.

Now I have another question and a rant. Today, I really dithered over ordering Hardback copies of two books I really want to read (Surface Detail by Iain M Banks & Betrayer of Worlds by Larry Niven.) Both come out in Paperback in May, but I want them NOW. So, I will pay the extra and get them in Hardback. That seems okay, publishers are entitled to rip us off a few pounds extra and force us to buy the Hardback edition, or wait a few months and get the Paperback edition (actually, it is more like 7 months in both those examples.) My problem is that the Kindle edition is already available to download immediately.

I don't think a Kindle edition is a proper book either, and I want a proper book to have and to hold, but when the Kindle version is already available,
How can they possibly square that with making you wait for the Paperback release?

I can't say for certain on that particular book, Dave, but I suspect you will find the ebook version will currently be priced the same as the hardback and it's price will drop to something like the paperback price when that comes out, which is how they justify it. This is their way of selling the ebook but still protecting their hardback prices.

I was browsing in Books Etc this afternoon and i noticed a CD in the back of one of David Webers books that contained the Baen back catalogue. An interesting move.

Baen have been doing this for a while but you should note that they are trusting their readers. These are not supposed to be a way of getting Baen books completely free but allowing you to check the books out and then buy them if you like them; so ensuring the author gets his/her due. If you search around a bit, those Baen CD's are also available for free download on the web (with Baen's permission). Baen have to be one of the most liberal thinking (and trusting) publishers around. Note Baen also make any of their catalogue available as eBooks for free to anyone who is disabled; not sure how you register for it and it may only be in America where they could presumably check that you are legitimately disabled.

I've been thinking of what to buy next, and wandered into my local Smiths to get The Heroes, but they didn't have it. So, I went online. The hardback version (and if anybody could tell me if it's bound with glue or stitched I'd be grateful) is more expensive than the paperback, which is ok, but the Kindle version is more expensive than the hardback. Why?

Again I suspect this is the publisher's protecting their hardback sales. I believe Amazon is trying to force the publishers to change these sort of practices. Though I'm not too sure whose side I'm on. Whilst I love to have cheap books I don't want them at the cost of "cheapening" the whole publishing industry. If that's the right way to express it.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Ah, thanks for that insight, Vertigo.

I still intend to get a Kindle. At some point. Not that I have a habit for procrastination. Ahem.

 

[Vertigo]

I have a Sony, Thaddeus, but you can't go far wrong with a Kindle since Amazon generally has the best stock of eBooks and the best prices. So I have to convert my books from Amazon, which is fine if you are reasonably techie minded. I recommended a Kindle for my Mum and she loves it.

 

[Overread]

I'm sure it must have been said already but I think the biggest thing for ereaders and ereading for almost any area of writing is that with such a low production cost (compared to paper/hardback) and almost no running costs once up and done it creates a great chance not, necessarily for lower prices (since authors still need their pay) but for bringing back some of the older books.

A great many books appear, are read, never reach LotR or Harry Potter status and thus fall away from production. Thus there are a great many well written works that are simply "lost" to the confines of Carboot sales, second hand and chance luck down the charity shop. The chance to bring these back in ebook format I think is a great thing for readers and authors alike - especially since getting a "second go" might well have many seeing a new level of fame which might spark a new wave of paper/hardback releases.

As for ebooks being good for getting into writing I suspect this is a dark area rather like how microstock makes it easy for a photographer to get into being published. Yes you can put your works up for free or for pennies, but whilst you might make a lot of sales the profit per unit will be tiny. Furthermore you'll end up undermining the existing publications (driving the prices down). However there is also the gatekeeper problem - publishers still act as gatekeepers and if you're ebook is published by you or Lulu or any other similar self publishing method there is a good chance many will simply overlook you for that reason.

Plus even if you get popular on a free/cheap book sale you'll have a hard time getting a publisher for that series (or any other) since you've already set your price point (cheap/nothing) to your reading fans and also the high seller that you've created can't be picked up by the leading publisher because you've set a price point below what they can function with within their setup.

 

[AE35Unit]

I fpund an app called Overdrive which allows you to borrow e-books from any library, globally. Haven't tried it yet but it seems ypu have to be a member of each library, or I read it wrong!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Well, been a while since I started this thread, but thought I'd just announce, that after a lot of dithering and internal debating, I've joined the e-reader brigade and have bought a kindle.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I sincerely doubt that I will ever buy an e-reader myself. I like having the physical book, I distrust the technology (with my luck, whichever one I chose to buy would become obsolete in a few years, there would be no support for the format, and I would lose all my books -- plus, I'd take everyone else who had the same reader down with me, victims of my technological curse), and besides, reading things on a screen is hard on my eyes.

But I have finally overcome my resistance to publishing my books as e-books, and I will be doing that with Goblin Moon, though I'm not sure which formats yet. I think for the foreseeable future publishing in print and in electronic form both will the wisest choice.