First of all, my apologies for being a day late with my rundown of a rare (these days) non-coma-inducing The Hills episode that not only featured a she-Spencer (!) but also included Justin Bobby…. uh… well, they said he kissed someone who wasn’t Audrina. It mostly looked like someone stepped in front of the camera. And Audrina was SO MAD that she HUGGED HIM and WAS TOTALLY NICE TO HIM and GAVE HIM A RIDE HOME and THIS TIME IT’S KINDA SORTA POSSIBLY MAYBE OVER. (Clearly you don’t mess with Audrina.)
Justin Bobby was forced to employ his ultimate secret weapon: saying nonsensical catch phrases with his head cocked to one side. I know I’m powerless in the face of phrases like “What do you think I did?” and “You’re on hallucinogenics” and “Your friends don’t fathom me.”
The Hills is back, ladies and gentlemen.
Anyway, lots of people have opinions about the Kindle and with apologies to the people who like to smell their books and turn the pages, I am of the opinion that at some point in the near or distant future the e-books will take over and while sure, some people will always read books on paper (in the way that some people still use typewriters), and illustrated books and heavy-photography books will probably still exist, I feel like the convenience, affordability, readability, environmental friendliness, and eventual ease of e-books will outweigh the residual nostalgia for reading printed books. In my opinion, someday e-books will comprise the majority of book sales.
In this e-book world of the tomorrow:
- Bookstores could be largely a thing of the past (much like video rental stores) — people would browse online and download directly to their cell phone/reader/organizer/thingamajig and find out about books through word of mouth, TV, and the Internet.
- People would have instant access to just about every single book ever published, anywhere, anytime (Google Book Search is helping make this happen). This part is seriously incredible to me
- Thousands of trees would thank you
- Big publishers would lose one of their major advantages in the marketplace (namely distribution) and would have to adapt to stay relevant
- There will always be literary agents to help authors navigate this increasingly complex landscape and to make sure they are fairly compensated for their content
- Authors will be better able to control their own sales destiny, and if they can ride the wave of word of mouth, unknowns could capitalize in a big way because they’re not dependent upon traditional distribution
This doesn’t scare me! Honestly I think it’s amazing and incredible and a major leap forward in human history. Literally the biggest thing in publishing since the printing press. And I’m not the only one who thinks this: just read Thomas Nelson CEO Michael Hyatt’s post entitled “Why Traditional Books Will Eventually Die.”
My question to you is: When will this happen? When will e-books take over? Or will they? Is it coming 5 years from now? 10? 50? Never?
You tell me!
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This is tough one. The modern technology is very exciting though. I hope there will always be room for both. For authors, it’s way more exciting to have a hardcover book that WE wrote in our hands–something tangible. But of course if the new wave brings mass sales, can’t complain about that.
I think the only people that would gain from this would be the Publishers. I mean there’s definitely gonna be less cost involved with publishing an electronic book and I don’t see how that will give the authors more money. Especially when the electronic books cost considerably less. The lower the book price, the lower the royalty payout. Right?
And the following comparison is a leap but electronic greeting cards haven’t ousted the paper card industry? I think the Kindle and E-Books will be an added surplus to publishing and book sales with print books still in higher demand.
I’m thinking Booksurge is going to bigger than this Kindle thing and possibly put all agents out of work. I’m just kidding. Nathan, I have no doubt that you’ll be the last agent standing for a good long while:)
No doubt you’re right, Nathan. I was just putting my speculative fiction hat on, while you’re monitoring the industry, real world, from the inside.
I sure hope so, anyway. I don’t really think I’d like the chaotic future I was hypothesizing. I’d much rather have collaborative specialist-to-specialist relationships with an agent and editors. Looking for an agent is probably about as entrepreneurial as I’m comfortable with on my own.
I’ve been doing more thinking on this and I’m wondering if there will be a difference in the way writers get paid.
(Not that I’ve been paid for writing- YET)
I tried to think of more ways an e-reader would be handy. Weekly dose of People mag? Maybe. But wouldn’t that be like taking your laptop to the can with you? Come on. Admit- where else do you read trashy mags???
I’d like to hear what students think. Lightweight, easily updated? OR highlight, underline, make notes in the margins?
I’m using a gorgeous MacBook right now but I get irritated when I’m on a hot streak and the batteries wear down. My Moleskine never runs out of batteries. And the debate rolls on…
I thought about this thread last night while I was reclining on my bed, reading Iceland’s Bell by Halldor Laxness. I asked myself whether I’d be as comfortable holding an ereader as I was holding the book.
I don’t think I would be. I think reading would lose some of its intimacy in those curl-up-with-a-book times. I realize that’s largely psychological and it reminds me of back in 1983 when I was writing with a computer and friends said they could never do that because the computer puts distance between them and their writing that they don’t have with a pencil and paper. My thought then was, the computer is a tool and the pencil is a tool and it really doesn’t matter which tool you prefer.
Ereaders might be the same kind of thing. Maybe it doesn’t matter how the story is delivered, not really, but to the person on the other end, it might. Cold plastic (or even warm plastic) doesn’t match the feel of a book.
I thought of another disadvantage. I’m a research addict. Whether I’m researching something for a writing project or just for fun, I usually have several books around me, open to relevant pages so I can compare what they each say. I can’t afford that many ebook readers.
Even this Laxness book I’m reading. It’s not an easy book, and it’s taking me a while. It contains a number of cultural references and Icelandic and Latin phrases that aren’t familiar to the average English-speaking reader, so I’m frequently flipping back to the endnotes. If I could mouse over the term and have the note pop up like it might on some e-readers now or in the future, that would be a cool thing (and another reason why these things would be useful for students).
But often, reading involves flipping around in the book. I might need to flip back because something I read makes me want to double-check something that I read earlier in the book (like, to admire a writer’s use of foreshadowing), or I might need to flip ahead to the endnotes or glossary or a map or whatever. That’s so easy in a book.
SO, I think that we’ll see more and more ebooks as time goes on, but I just don’t think the paper book will go away, especially as paper scientists develop better recycled paper or even a synthetic substitute. But I just don’t think that integrated circuits and LCD displays will be the thing that does to paper what paper did to vellum. Something will, someday, but I don’t think this is it.
People talk as if MP3s have replaced CDs and downloadable movies have consigned DVDs to history. Well, I was in my local HMV store a day or two ago and they still had plenty of both on the shelves. There is a tactile experience even with CDs and DVDs, a sense of ownership, that doesn’t come with the digital equivalents. But the digital equivalents are doing very well. If we apply this model to the publishing industry, I think we’ll see both printed books and E-books exist alongside each other quite peacefully.
One interesting thing has happened in music as a result of the MP3 format: new talent is finding its way past the traditional gatekeepers. Word-of-mouth has helped people like the Artic Monkeys and Kate Nash get straight to the public, leaving the big labels playing catch-up. The overall effect has been beneficial for the music industry. The public had gotten fed up with the constant diet of pre-packaged plastic groups the music industry was feeding them. There has been a shift, however, and now the public can find new music for themselves. It’s then up to the industry pick up the ball and run with it.
With E-books, we could see the same thing happening. Perhaps writers will establish their own readerships across the Internet, meaning new talent can break through without the accountants having to do profit analysis before signing a new author. One of these days, a new writer is going to become a hit without the assistance of the traditional industry. When that happens (and I believe it’s a when, not an if) we’ll see some radical changes.
But here’s a point: With the ubiquity of the Internet and the emergence of portable reading devices, as well as PDAs and mobile phones that gain more functionality day-by-day, it follows that the way people read will affect what they read. We keep applying this debate to novels as they currently exist as bound paper, or nonfiction books that sit on our coffee tables. As time becomes more precious in modern life, and chances to read become fewer and farther between, how will that impact the nature of the content? If a person has twenty minutes on the train to read twice a day, will they want something that fits that time? Will novels become shorter? Will chapters by necessity become snappier? Will the short story or novella make a come back?
Or will other ways of gathering words and ideas together emerge that fit with the modern world? After all, this whole blogging thing is only a few years old to most of us…
Oh, and in my view, Nathan is spot on: the agent, and the publishing industry as a whole, won’t go anywhere, but the nature of what they do will almost certainly be transformed in the not very distant future.
Aloha,
I hope it doesn’t happen in my lifetime. I’m a dinosaur. I like being a dinosaur.
I only surf on boards over nine feet in length, with paraffin on their decks and no %#$%#& leashes. I like never talking on the telephone unless I am at home or in some pay booth of my choosing. I listen to music in my car…not voices. (unless, of course, it is a rough day and I’m talking to myself).
I like grabbing a book and taking it on a plane or a train, or taking it to a park or the beach, and never worrying about it needing batteries.
They have not yet made the gadget that I will read books on…
I’m sorry to keep coming back but I find this topic fascinating!
I am interested in what Conduit said about the sense of ownership. That’s part of it for me. A downloaded song does not feel real to me. But then, I’m oldish. We old people like the old ways better, grrf grrft grunt.
I think some of us have an identity thing with our books. If it’s on the shelf, it defines me, it’s part of who I am. This is what I’ve read. Some people even use their bookshelves to lie. A whole row of classics that have never been opened. Status symbols. Not one of them cost $400 though.
Re: Electronic Books – My Thoughts
Hi. Great topic. Lots to think about in it. Nice touch, the video link too.
OK, to your question:
Where and why do I read? What are my habits and my preferences?
I am an avid reader. I collect books all the time for my library, new books, books I want to keep, reread, share, savor. For Christmas, I am installing eight new Ikea bookcases in my house.
I read approximately 10 to 20 books at a time on a regular basis in bed: usually something like this:
1-3 novels, ranging from Literary Fiction (that illusive genre) to science fiction
1-6 self improvement or spiritual books (Yes, I admit it. I am a junkie for new ideas about how to live well and in harmony – bla-bla-bla, let me at it.)
1-4 reference books, books that give me information on computers, business, formats, art, etc.
1-3 books on philosophy, ideas, theories
Reading in bed is fab. It is relaxed, relaxing, if I want to lean back, think about something, take a break, go to sleep with an idea or a thought or a story passage, I can. All I need are my reading glasses, my books and a lamp. I would miss that most of all.
(Reading on the beach is an extension of that, not to forget you can shake the sand off a book, roll over on it, sleep with it, and its still there.)
I also read on the computer, but research mostly. I gobble up google, whether it is about something that just occurred tome, something someone spoke to me about or connected to a project or writing project that I am working on.
Reading in front of the computer is informational and communicational. I love e-mail and electronic communications. That is reading I start before coffee even.
The biggest problem with computer reading is that it hurts my eyes. I love it for information and communication, but I hate it for pleasurable reading. My eyes feel like two strawberries afterwards.
It is bad for my eyes.
The second biggest problem with electronic books for me is that computers will crash, shouldn’t get full of sand on the beach, need electricity, hum, and you can’t unplug with them (unplugging battery dependence too). In addition, they just aren’t well loved for the pleasure of the novel, i.e., better send to amazon.com for a novel than read one on a computer.
I WILL read information on a computer, but not pleasurable books or ones I want to really study. I have plenty of friends who publish on the computer. Good stuff too, useful or interesting. But I just don’t get pleasure with e-books. They are a must-have and not-available-anywhere-else resort. When I can buy it in print, get back to me.
Personally, I think e-books will be great for college texts and information. It will save a lot of lugging heavy books through campuses or expensive book fees.
However, you would have to wrestle me to take away the pile of books I keep next to my bed to try to replace them with electronic books. I have never met an avid novel reader who takes their novels, by preference, electronically.
I suspect there will be choices and should be. In both cases, bigger print will be needed.
I appreciate, also your take on this subject. I will try to keep an open mind,
(but I have a guard dog for my library coming on e-Bay.)
-CarBeyond
(Typos, like Freudian slips, are usually left behind with great amusement, but in this case, I did try to clean some of them up.)
I get that e-books, to some people, have a slight convenience edge on book books. But not much of one.
I run an unofficial library at my school, as our school library is a quarter of a mile from the freshman building. Though a lot of kids get busted for it, we are not allowed portable electronic devices in the building. I can’t see them ever relaxing that policy, because if you can cheat on a cell phone, you can certainly cheat on an e-reader.
Plus, I wouldn’t be able to share books I love with people I know will love them too. A good 80% of my group of friends, for one reason or another, is not allowed by their family to go to Books-A-Million. There are times when I’m their sole provider of wordy entertainment. If paper books die off, what happens to that? With e-books, all sorts of bizarro copyright issues crop up if you try to share them. Not just bookstores but libraries would die out, and then what happens to people who don’t have an expendable budget for books?
This is a huge bias for me, I admit: just today I put a French-English dictionary in my purse because it was feeling too light (where it keeps company with a Bible, Spanish and Japanese phrasebooks, and the occasional fantasy or historical romance). I love the feel and the weight and the experience of brick-dense paper books, and I’ll never stop.
I guess if bookstores die out, they die out, but I want to walk into a bookstore at least once a week for the rest of my life. If books aren’t gone ’til I am, not my problem. Though I want my kids, someday, to love books just as much as I do.
Woohoo, soapbox!
I don’t know… a paper book won’t crash on me or need recharging.
It’ll probably be like how the DVD has eclipsed VHS. Hopefully, however, it’ll be a lot slower. All that reading on a screen certainly won’t do my eyes-that-need-glasses any good.
The thought of not having a bookstore to walk into a blow my money in is a little frightening, to be honest. I mean, yes, I download an awful lot of music through iTunes, but there’s still nothing like walking into an actual music store and browsing.
Or maybe I just don’t like change!
I entered the newspaper business twenty years ago. When computers came on the scene and later internet, everyone screamed that newspapers were going to die.
We adjusted by launching a website and on-line job sites.
Twenty years later, our newspaper group has grown. Our classified sales force has grown. There is no gloom and doom in sight.
I love my book. I like to feel it, smell it and hear the ‘slap’ on the table when I drop it. My daughter, who is 18, spends just as much time checking out library books as she spends online. My sixteen year old son just bought six Clancy novels. Paper ones.
The reading appetite of the public is voracious, whether electronic or paper. It will simply grow. There’s no limit.
The other reason I embrace paper novels is because I made a whopping $9.75 on three months worth of electronic sales on my novel. Sheesh.
Nathan! Nathan! Are you ill? It’s Thursday night. I came to read your blog and *gasp* there’s no entry today. I’m sending you a hot toddy in case you need one (how about egg nog with Crown Royal?), and hope you’ll be back soon.
The best thing about paper books is that you don’t need any special technology to read them. You buy them, stick them on your shelf, and barring flood, fire or vermin, you can read them over and over for decades. Nobody suddenly takes them “off line” or switches the technology on you.
If you buy an ebook in 2010, are you still going to be able to read it in 2015? Or will the technology have changed so much that it will be like trying to find a way to read a 5 1/4″ disk in today’s world?
The environmental issue isn’t cut and dried. Electronic books use environmental resources too. Unless your ebook is solar-powered, you may be using nonrenewable energy every time you read it. Whereas paper is a renewable and recyclable resource, and doesn’t use any more resources after its initial creation.
Thanks liquidambar. Now that you mentioned renewable energy, I can comment on here and count it as work.
It will take one more generation after this one, about 20 years. And you forgot to mention that millions of trees will be saved when all newspapers and magazines can be accessed on the book readers, probably along with tv and radio, music, etc. A ubiquitous device to read and see everything.
As my husband commented, trees may be saved for newspaper and magazines, but people WILL print out their books. How many trees will that save?
I’ve read quite a few books on my Palm. The feel of reading on it versus a real book in hand wasn’t a dramatic difference for me. I liked having a dictionary handy to look up words which I could more easily do on a Palm.
However, I’ve purchased only one e-book. I can’t say as I would purchase another e-book. Why? It’s not the feel, but the value of what I’ve purchased. I can use a software program again and again and still have a sense of its value. A book, I may read once or twice or just buy if I really like it. I can’t resell or donate an e-book. (Sorry, have to make room for the new ones.) To sell me on purchasing an e-book would be a low price, but unfortunately at the author’s and publisher’s expense.
For big time travelers e-books can be a nice solution to space. I like to read some history books when I travel- usualy 700+pages and hate sticking them in my bag and hate leaving them behind. * Portability is an issue. Good travel solution. I believe the ebooks may offer some marketing gimmicks that pull in readers to buying into new authors. I hardley ever buy any books at the book store any more. All *new* used books on sale on Amazon or Alibris or whoever else. That said, I’m an online browser and the ebooks tool may be the next thing for Pushing options to people and subsequently have increased success over time. Adoption of the online ebook is just a question of time and ultimately could represent a salvation for books over time. It seems that the readership community is getting older and older and its good to see a technology that may put more books into young adults hands. Old schoolers may stick with paper but change is on the way for a younger generation.
https://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL2063412420080121
(I hope that link works)
The good people from Polymer Vision have (re)introduced the “Readius.” With its fold-away screen, it could overcome the problem of having to have a separate e-reader from your cell phone.
Amazon's Kindle has a particularly long battery life, first off. You can read an entire novel in one sitting without having to charge it. How is that breaking your flow? In fact, you could probably read three 60,000 word novels in one sitting without needing to charge it. So after you read one book, just charge it. It's not inconvenient. Of course I like print and I was once a fierce defender of print, but now it's just sloppy sentimentality to try and hold on to something that is ultimately going to prove to be less convenient than an e-reader. Granted, I think textbooks will stay print because I do like writing in them, but textbooks are a niche market in the first place. Nobody buys them except for teachers and college students.
So right about the font size. Not only is it a big boon for the sight impaired, who have had plenty of trouble getting the books they want in large print, it's great when you realize too late on a trip that you've forgotten your reading glasses. Trust me. It's happened.
P.S.
I do object to how much e-books are costing for commercially published ones. It's the still the main reason I buy used books and paperbacks rather than only e-books.