E-books or paper? Thoughts and questions about digital publishing

[Gail]

Ebooks have shaken the publishing industry to its core and will significantly impact the future of books.

How can publishers compete with Amazon? Will printed books go away? Now that anyone can publish an ebook, what's the role of traditional publishing? How do you decide what to do if you're just starting out? Let's talk!

[L]

I personally have always preferred reading physical books (paperbacks and hardbacks), as I love the entire experience of being able to read a thick slab of printed words in your hand. E-books are so popular especially with the release of the Kindle, that many find easier to carry around and innovative as it holds so many books. I do read e-books on my computer in either PDF format or a kindle on PC, but I just do not enjoy it as much and it takes me so long to read a book on the screen.

With publishing I certainly feel that many authors are now able to reach a wider audience with the use of e-books, as they can be downloaded onto mobile phones, e-readers or laptops and so are very convenient to use. The price of e-books too is a factor that many readers will like compared to printed books that are quite a bit more expensive in your local bookshop. I am sure many published authors will comment about how fantastic e-books are, but I am the kind of traditionalist reader who enjoys walking around the bookstore and plucking large, colorful volumes off the shelf. If I had to choose between reading an e-book copy of my favorite author’s work or a paperback, then I would be horrified if I was made to read it digitally!
Thank you Gail for this fantastic question.x

[Gail]

Every year, I watch a larger and larger percentage of my royalties come from ebooks, which makes me wonder about the shift in reading patterns.

Publishers are struggling to re-work their business models to deal with ebooks, Amazon and the demise of bookstores like Borders.

Everything seems to be up in the air right now, and no one has the answers. But the changes will affect what options readers continue to have for print books, book prices and the continued publication of their favorite authors.

[M.J.]

I do not think of myself as a 'stick in the mud' or old fashioned, but nothing will ever beat the feeling of turning a page of a wonderful novel. I will embrace whatever the present and future holds but I hope there will always be a place for books - In fact, I'm not sure I want to live in a world without them.

Literary agents and publishers need to wise up. Too many dull and dreary books are being produced simply because they are penned by recognised authors or adhere to their rules or opinions about what is right and wrong. It's about the product; is it exciting/will it sell/appeal to the reader? Period.

[Gail]

I was on a panel at Dragoncon about ebooks, and a couple of interesting points were made.
1. You can't inherit ebooks. So no more passing on your library to your heirs.
2. You can't sign ebooks (at least, no good universal method yet), so not great for book collectors
3. there are no "first edition" ebooks
4. You can't read an ebook in the tub. (Well, you can, but you risk losing your entire library if you drop it and getting a nasty shock.)

[L]

Gail wrote: "I was on a panel at Dragoncon about ebooks, and a couple of interesting points were made.
1. You can't inherit ebooks. So no more passing on your library to your heirs.
2. You can't sign ebooks (a..."

all of those points are very true. There are many advantages to paperback books that you don't always think about.

[M.J.]

I think the only advantage to ebooks is the taking on holiday/packing in your suitcase thing?

However, Kindle downloads form a massive part of my sales to date so I have to be grateful for that?

:-)

[Gail]

As a frequent traveler, I appreciate the ease of ebooks, especially with the luggage restrictions. I hear from a lot of readers that they like ebooks for the following reasons:
1. Easy to carry when you travel (except that you can't read them on take-off or landing)
2. Can read them in the dark
3. Can expand to make the type whatever size is most comfortable to read.
4. Immediate gratification--see a book, buy it, have it in less than 30 seconds.

[Jason Hunt]

For me it's EBooks for 90% of my Reading these days. I just haven't the space to maintain a large Paper/Hardback Library. If I were to actually own the Physical Copies of all my books I would not be able to move in my living room. To date I have over 350 titles in EBook format on my Kindle.

Also all of my EBooks Sync their progress across all my devices..so I can read on my Kindle, PC, Phone or IPad whichever I happen to have on hand.

Printed Books will never truly go away. But they will become more of a 'Premium' sort of item. Perhaps the Industry will shift back to making better quality books once again rather than mass producing as cheaply as possible.

[L]

Jason Hunt wrote: "For me it's EBooks for 90% of my Reading these days. I just haven't the space to maintain a large Paper/Hardback Library. If I were to actually own the Physical Copies of all my books I would not b..."

That is a good point. My 'library' is rather taking over the house now, as the books do take up a lot of space.

[Wendi]

I think that ebooks will continue to grow in popularity, and printed books will decline, primarily because ebooks cost so much less and it's so much easier to travel with a Kindle than a suitcase full of paperbacks.

With that said, though, I think it's very hard for those of us who are new, self-published authors to get noticed due to the sheer volume of ebooks out there and the fact that many of us, myself definitely included, are better at writing than marketing.

I have sold far more paperback copies of Timeless Truths for Troubled Times, my book of Christian meditations, than Kindle editions. That's because I've successfully marketed the paperback to church friends, and they've come back to buy more copies to give as gifts. It's also much more gratifying to hold the paperback in my hands, and send copies to friends, than it is to upload a digital file or email it to friends and family!

[Gail]

Jason Hunt wrote: "For me it's EBooks for 90% of my Reading these days. I just haven't the space to maintain a large Paper/Hardback Library. If I were to actually own the Physical Copies of all my books I would not b..."

You make a great point--after a while, you run out of room, or you end up storing books in such a way that you can't get to them easily (in boxes, three-deep on a shelf, in a storage unit, etc.)

Great point!

[Gail]

Wendi wrote: "I think that ebooks will continue to grow in popularity, and printed books will decline, primarily because ebooks cost so much less and it's so much easier to travel with a Kindle than a suitcase f..."

Gift-giving gets complicated with ebooks--you can give an Amazon gift card, but it's not the same as handing someone a gift-wrapped book that you chose for them, or even better, a signed book.

And for those of us who are also speakers, while some people may buy an ebook during your presentation, more people want to come talk to you in the back of the room and get a book signed.

Orbit is planning to bring Ice Forged out in trade paperback and ebook only--no mass-market paperback. That makes for nicer covers, but there's something about the size of a paperback that I'm going to miss. Industry oracles say that mass-market paperbacks are an endangered species.