How I Got Started with E-Books
This is 'Promote an E-Book' week. E-Books are downloaded from a publisher's website to your computer, or hand-held reading device and you read the story off the screen. Or, you can order a CD of the book, pop the CD into your computer and read. What a marvelous invention, and one I had no clue about until a few years ago.
When I began writing back in the early 90's. I started with a notebook and a pen. Home computers were unheard of at that time, and many businesses didn't have them either. Stores had cash registers, not the scanners of today, and even some of the banks I worked for were just bringing the personnel computer to the workplace. Cell phones were these big, bulky hand-held devices, and CD's had just hit the market. I remember telling my hubby when he mentioned he wanted a CD player that we were not replacing all of our records and cassette tapes with CD's, that CD's were a fad and would eventually disappear. He laughed and said CD's are the future; they'll replace records, cassette tapes and videos. I thought he just wanted a new electronic gadget and should have listened since communication and computers were his field in the Air Force.
So, with my notebook and pen, I wrote, suffered cramped fingers and had so many scribbles on the pages it was a wonder I could keep track of what was good and what was garbage. Then the hubby bought me one of those fancy typewriters with a screen to make making corrections easier--another pain in the bottom. But I didn't complain. I was happy and typed away. A few years later, he came home with a portable computer he'd borrowed and I was able to use that.
We eventually got orders, moved away and the computer had to go back to its owner. We bought a house and our first home computer at our new duty station. No Internet, no high speed anything, just a basic computer where I could spend as much time as I wanted typing my stories. This thing was great; I mean I had one at my job with the Air Force, but to have one at home was awesome. For five years, I typed and was oblivious to the Internet, how fast it was growing and everything one could obtain; from shoelaces to houses. (In my job, we got the oldest of equipment for our new, handed down from other squadrons who got the new from the store, so by the time I left that position five years later, email had just been introduced to our office.)
Eventually, my hubby got orders again. We moved to Virginia, and the house we bought had wires and cables everywhere (even the kitchen) and for everything; phone, cable TV, computers. This is when we finally got Internet service and I learned basic stuff about email from my hubby. Being a stay-at-home mom, with a newborn, I didn't have the time, or the opportunity to surf the web; heck I wouldn't have even known how or where to begin, which hindered my career in writing. I had no idea about writing groups, critique groups and RWA until I met a romance author and she told me. Back at home, I had the hubby teach me some more, so I could be prepared for when he retired and we moved for the last time.
Having moved and sent off my RWA application, I was now able to join a romance writing group. I did and this is where I first heard the term, E-Book. I thought, what is an E-Book and what do you do with it? So, I asked the ladies who were E-Book published and they were only too happy to explain. I'm very grateful they did. Having had no luck with agents and publishing houses, I'd heard of a new publisher in the E-Book industry currently taking submissions, so I sent an inquiry and the rest is the stuff fairy tales are made of.
I've come a long way since that day I told my hubby he couldn't have a CD player. I've learned to be open to new technology and ideas, and consider myself very fortunate to have a career in the writing romance. Currently, I have two E-books published; Luck of the Draw and Lady Luck. I proudly display the CD's in my home office, and Lady Luck is also available in print.
While I don't say much very often to promote E-Books, I can give two reasons why they are valuable. The first is they cut down on the use of paper, which is good for our environment. The second is the cost. With the economy down on its luck, E-Books cost much less than print books and you can store a lot of them on your computer or handheld device at one time. Give one a try. You have nothing to lose and maybe something to gain.
When I began writing back in the early 90's. I started with a notebook and a pen. Home computers were unheard of at that time, and many businesses didn't have them either. Stores had cash registers, not the scanners of today, and even some of the banks I worked for were just bringing the personnel computer to the workplace. Cell phones were these big, bulky hand-held devices, and CD's had just hit the market. I remember telling my hubby when he mentioned he wanted a CD player that we were not replacing all of our records and cassette tapes with CD's, that CD's were a fad and would eventually disappear. He laughed and said CD's are the future; they'll replace records, cassette tapes and videos. I thought he just wanted a new electronic gadget and should have listened since communication and computers were his field in the Air Force.
So, with my notebook and pen, I wrote, suffered cramped fingers and had so many scribbles on the pages it was a wonder I could keep track of what was good and what was garbage. Then the hubby bought me one of those fancy typewriters with a screen to make making corrections easier--another pain in the bottom. But I didn't complain. I was happy and typed away. A few years later, he came home with a portable computer he'd borrowed and I was able to use that.
We eventually got orders, moved away and the computer had to go back to its owner. We bought a house and our first home computer at our new duty station. No Internet, no high speed anything, just a basic computer where I could spend as much time as I wanted typing my stories. This thing was great; I mean I had one at my job with the Air Force, but to have one at home was awesome. For five years, I typed and was oblivious to the Internet, how fast it was growing and everything one could obtain; from shoelaces to houses. (In my job, we got the oldest of equipment for our new, handed down from other squadrons who got the new from the store, so by the time I left that position five years later, email had just been introduced to our office.)
Eventually, my hubby got orders again. We moved to Virginia, and the house we bought had wires and cables everywhere (even the kitchen) and for everything; phone, cable TV, computers. This is when we finally got Internet service and I learned basic stuff about email from my hubby. Being a stay-at-home mom, with a newborn, I didn't have the time, or the opportunity to surf the web; heck I wouldn't have even known how or where to begin, which hindered my career in writing. I had no idea about writing groups, critique groups and RWA until I met a romance author and she told me. Back at home, I had the hubby teach me some more, so I could be prepared for when he retired and we moved for the last time.
Having moved and sent off my RWA application, I was now able to join a romance writing group. I did and this is where I first heard the term, E-Book. I thought, what is an E-Book and what do you do with it? So, I asked the ladies who were E-Book published and they were only too happy to explain. I'm very grateful they did. Having had no luck with agents and publishing houses, I'd heard of a new publisher in the E-Book industry currently taking submissions, so I sent an inquiry and the rest is the stuff fairy tales are made of.
I've come a long way since that day I told my hubby he couldn't have a CD player. I've learned to be open to new technology and ideas, and consider myself very fortunate to have a career in the writing romance. Currently, I have two E-books published; Luck of the Draw and Lady Luck. I proudly display the CD's in my home office, and Lady Luck is also available in print.
While I don't say much very often to promote E-Books, I can give two reasons why they are valuable. The first is they cut down on the use of paper, which is good for our environment. The second is the cost. With the economy down on its luck, E-Books cost much less than print books and you can store a lot of them on your computer or handheld device at one time. Give one a try. You have nothing to lose and maybe something to gain.
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Thanks, Mike. I am always amazed at how technology and communication have expanded in the past ten years, and what one can do on a computer in a few seconds that took all day in an office a few years ago. My son commented the other day about having some of the gadgets from the Star Wars movies, which made me remeber when I was young and how I wanted George Jetson's car, where it folded up into a briefcase. Now, I'm just happy when I can work the TV remote.
Michael