You’ve probably heard the news, unless you have been living under a rock that blocks all incoming internet signals as well as the Apple nerd at work and even then HEY YOU UNDER THE ROCK, tomorrow is the big day that Apple announces the worst best-kept secret in the multiverse: the mythic iTablet or iSlate or iSomething that promises to be a game changer or not or who the heck knows.
Already this is shaking up the publishing business. Publishers have been rumored to be in discussions with Apple, and Amazon recently announced a (caveat heavy) deal whereby people who publish with the Kindle will receive a 70% royalty provided they meet certain criteria, which some have viewed as a preemptive response to Apple’s dealmaking (via reader Brandon).
With rumors rampant about what the tablet will look like, what it will cost, and whether it will be the most awesomest most awesome thing in the world or merely awesome (or even not awesome), I’ll leave all that to the rumor sites.
But it seems clear to me that the days of grayscale e-books are likely coming to an end. While the iTablet will probably be too expensive to change things immediately, it’s a harbinger of things to come: color and video and audio are coming to e-book readers near you.
And it’s going to be interesting to see how it shakes out. Who will be the first author with an animated cover? Will people crave enhanced e-books or do people want their e-books to remain static and moving-part free? Will Apple come to dominate the e-book business the way they do e-music, or will other competitors like Amazon remain strong? Will dedicated devices still appeal to core audiences?
I personally think a big question is: will people still read books on a device so eminently capable of distracting you with movies, the Internet, games, and anything the geeks of tomorrow invent?
We’ll see. But I suspect the future of publishing is about to take another lurch forward.
What about you, any predictions?
Mark D. says
You know, I was always satisfied with just a regular old fashioned book.
Anonymous says
"a device so imminently capable of"
Um, dude, don't be that guy. I mean, "eminently"?
Nathan Bransford says
Thanks, anon.
abc says
I am keeping an open mind about the future. I like books, but I like what's in them. I don't need to be attached to paper. It's the way of the future. Not that I have one. But I'm not against it. Should someone want to get me one for my bday. And I like Apple.
I think I've had too much caffeine.
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
Music to my ears: "enhanced e-books."
Mira says
Um, can I go with awesomely awesomely awesome? Was that one of the choices?
Yea for Apple!
Will people read books when they can watch movies, etc? Ah, but with enhanced video, books will be a whole new interactive art form. So, yes, people will LOVE them. That's my prediction.
But I've always thought there was a much bigger market for regular old-books than is currently tapped anyway.
All of that said, 70%. 70%!!!!
70%. I'm just going to sit here and take it in. And I'm not even in this to make money.
Do you think Amazon would be interested in my 5 page biology paper? That's really all I got, but I wouldn't mind making 70% profit off the two people who would buy it (me and my mom.)
I'm going to go check it out.
Anonymous says
Can't put a tablet in your bookshelves to look all pretty and lend out. I'm still a paper book gal all the way!
Dawn Maria says
I think the real question is how Apple being in the game with affect purchasing choices. With iTunes, Apple was wise enough to allow it to play nicely with other devices and sites. I think this is the future- you can buy e-books anywhere you want and download them on to any device you want.
As for me and my house, I'm not using a reader. I have a Kindle App on my iPhone and I read the books there when I'm stuck waiting at places. My preferred method is still a "real" book. It's what I'm used to, but I also like being away from tech for a at least a portion of the day.
Crystal Posey says
Eh, I love apple. I mean I really, really love apple. But this doesn't sound like anything I'll be buying. I don't want bells and whistles on my reading device. I'm not even using the audio or picture options on my Sony. I want my reader for reading only. It's only there for when I can't have an actual book, and on the occasion that I might need to spend a little less money.
And as far as anything else it will be able to do, I have enough tech stuff that I don't need anything else.
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
Also: I wonder what a query for an "enhanced e-book" should look like – I mean, should we be creating an "enhanced e-query" for our e-book submissions?
I'm so there – along with all the other novelist hopefuls, castigated for their scented pink paper, mini homemade crocheted dream catchers, etc, all those 3-dimensional visual tactile (visuotactile?) distractions…maybe we'll have an advantage over 1-dimensional W.O. (Word Only) queries…
oh well, I can dream…
Thermocline says
Mark my words: scratch and sniff. Someday e-books will emit scents. Think about what that will do for the zombie novel.
Sheila says
I saw an application for the ipod/phone called the Sherlock Holmes experience. It melds video ("set the scene") with the text of the novel.
You're right, it's going to be really fascinating what happens next, I think.
Is anyone working on this sort of fusion right now? (video to go along with text).
Anonymous says
The itablet sounds interesting, can't wait to hear more about it but not concerned about books having to compete with other entertainment options on the device. In that respect, it seems the same. For me, it looks like books are finally catching up to speed.
Yamile says
I love books. To feel the pages, sleep with one under my pillow, seeing the illustrations … But, I'm excited about the itablet! Animated book covers? I feel like I just got my first glimpse into Diagon Alley! This is the future!
Nick says
The only "enhanced e-book" I might go for is an e-book with audio book over it. Buy the audio book and play it while you read, or make it a separate sale or something. But I know sometimes when I get to listening to audio books, I get distracted by things. Especially when it's just some guy reading. Find audio books narrated by David Tennant or Patrick Stewart and those are brilliant, but a lot of audio books have a very "Good morning, sir, I'm going to read what's on this page here" thing going on. And my mind wanders in that scenario. So having the page there can help me when I feel myself beginning to wander — I can snap myself back into focus and then let the reader take over again.
Also, this reminds me of something I always wanted to do. I used to work as a ghost writer for an entirely fan-run audio drama site, and I always intended to start my own group (still working for them, of course, because I love the community there; we still keep in touch, to a point) to branch out to some of my own ideas that either wouldn't be cleared there or would take a while to be cleared there. And one of those ideas was to make full-cast audio drama adaptations of novels.
Nothing new, really, but I love audio drama more than anything, and most non-professional audio drama these days are fan spin-offs, which really is even what most of ours were (so, so much Star Trek), so it'd be refreshing to see some fan-produced adaptations out there, and most books that do get adaptations are things like War & Peace or Narnia. All well and good, but they've been done to death. There are brilliant books out there that, so far as I'm aware, have gone untouched by audio dramae. I did bring this up with the old group, before I just sort of slowly drifted away from my duties (keep meaning to go back someday), and they actually started developing one from a book I'd never even heard of before. Bit sad I drifted away when I did, as I would've had the chance to work on that, but I have given the end product a listen and it's just bril.
And all these reminisces are really making me miss that old place. Think I'll go have a chat with them.
Dreamstate says
I can go digital. I have no problem with that. But I still want to read, which means I don't want my books animated or with moving covers, and so on.
I was happy to get my news online instead of in a printed newspaper, but I do get a little ticked off when I click on what I think is an article only to have a video pop up.
Make it clear, make it portable, make it a super-sexy, does-everything-but-make-your-coffee, revolutionize-the-world piece of technology, but PLEASE make it use WORDS!
Mark Terry says
I'm totally geeked about this and hope it doesn't outprice me. Although I'm quite interested in it as an e-reader, having finally read an entire book on the iPhone Kindle app (nice app, but I'd prefer a larger screen), I've sort of wondered how having a device that I'm trying to read a book on that can dial Mars and provide me with books, TV, movies, Internet radio, and blogs and porn and Facebook will do to my already shattered, splintered and mutilated attention span.
On the other hand, I've watched movies and TV on my iPhone and think a bigger screen would be a damned fine idea.
Brandon says
w00t! Thanks for the props, Nathan!
Even though I am not really an Apple convert just yet (I just got an iPod touch last Christmas), I await tomorrow's announcement with great anticipation. The iTablet/iSlate/iPad/iZac seems poised to make the tablet another perceived electronic essential (along with laptops and smartphones).
It will be interesting to see how the publishing world evolves with these new devices!
Mark Terry says
Oh, and P.S. Enhanced books, right. Because publishers, which are already the cheapest media outlets on the planet, are going to spend more money to create video clips and moving images for the cover, while still providing the authors as little as possible in the way of an advance. Riiiiggggghhhhhttttt.
Karen Lange says
It'll be interesting to see it, and how it affects things. I think that I'll still prefer good old regular books with paper:)
Susan Quinn says
But I just unwrapped my nook! Sigh.
Nicole says
I don't see a problem with ebooks competing with TV/movies/games/etc. Paper books already compete with all these things, and yet still sell and are read.
As to the iTablet or iWhatever, I want one. Lots. Whether I can afford one will be another matter.
Alex Fayle says
If it's a typical apple product of paying a lot more just for the cool factor, then no way will I buy it (I chose a Creative Zen over the iPod in 2006 because for the same price I got video and 4x the storage space).
Also unless it includes an "epaper" screen, I don't think it will replace any of the ereaders. Reading typical computer screens are just too tiring.
JDuncan says
It will be very cool, no doubt. It's Apple after all. Expense will keep it in the hands of a fairly limited audience initially, and nobody will have anything to wow us with right off the bat. Give it some time however. Things will develop. People will play with the capabilities and some very interesting and exciting stuff will begin to come out. I suspect there will be an audience for the highly interactive book. It won't be huge, at least not in the standard fiction market. Non-fiction and graphic venues like comics will reap the biggest benefits initially. A year from now, some new expected standard for ebooks will begin to emerge. Fiction will be on the back end of this I suspect, but it will get there. As cheaper alternatives to Apple begin to come out, the audience will grow. The best-seller releases will see the biggest changes, and will trickle down to everything else as it becomes more cost effective down the road. I don't see this happening in a year. Two or three maybe. The biggest factor will be the reader though. How much will they be willing to pay for this kind of thing, as we feel the continued pressure for free content? If higher degrees of interaction become more profitable than standard format, then we may see all of these cool new capabilities hitting the average fiction market.
This won't be quick, at least in my opinion. It's all very cool and exciting, but as the average writer out there, I don't believe it will have much effect on my books for some time to come yet. I'll remain hopeful for now. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on the agent end of things however, if the interaactiveness of books becomes a point of negotiation.
Steve & Sarah Travel the Long Way Round says
Yesterday I had work, then a meeting, and arrived home around 8pm. I made a cup of tea and settled into a chair to read the end of Pillars of the Earth. After a couple hours I got up, brushed my teeth, and went to bed. No flashing lights, no email, no video, no electrons whatsoever. I realized this used to be most of my nights, even as recently as a few years ago. I suppose it's up to me to not let it get crowded out by iLife, but it's a struggle. Not particularly happy about another iMagicBlackBox hitting the marketplace.
Lynn says
The protagonist in my as-of-yet unpublished manuscript is learning to cook like a Southerner (no, it isn't a Julie/Julia Project rip-off). Black-eyed peas, shrimp and grits, bbq ribs, fried catfish…you get the idea. I was thinking of including recipies in the book, but how cool would it be to click on an icon and watch someone make it? And that idea for the scratch and sniff – brilliant!
Nikki Hootman says
"I personally think a big question is: will people still read books on a device so eminently capable of distracting you with movies, the Internet, games, and anything the geeks of tomorrow invent?"
Given the fact that I'm currently using my iPod touch to read classics from Project Gutenberg while I breastfeed… I'm gonna say yes.
Sheila Campbell says
I love my Kindle, but I'm already lusting after the Apple iTablet or whatever. Being able to carry one small instrument on which I can read, access the web and write is my idea of digital heaven. I'll give it one iteration to get the bugs out, but I think there's one of these things in my future.
Anonymous says
Apple always does it right: Vertically integrated, complete ecosystem technology that hits a home run every time – iPods, iPhones, Macs — the whole enchilada.
Watch them announce content deal partnerships with New York Times, McGraw Hill (the exec from that company announced it on CNBC today), Harper Collins, etc, etc. All the mainstream pubs will jump all over this . . . if they know what's good for their business.
I can't wait! I want a slate that allows me to read books, run apps, browse the internet, skype my friends, play my music, watch a video . . . the more it can do the better!
If it also fits in my purse I'm so there baby!
Joseph L. Selby says
It can't live up to the hype. Apple is a victim of its own success. The iTablet is being billed to publishing what the stone tablets were to Moses, handed down from god. At this point, what could they possibly offer that would top the hype?
As for an animated cover, good luck with that. An animated cover will be in Flash and Apple and Adobe don't like each other.
Frankly, I agree with the speculation that they're just making a big iPhone. I don't think there will be as much innovation as there was when the iPod first released. It'll just be a big-ass iPhone and cost a bajillion dollars.
Other Lisa says
Following up on what Dawn Maria said, iTunes has been about the most effective anti-piracy system anyone has come up with, because it makes buying and downloading music easy, cheap and safe. I think if Apple comes up with an "iTune for Books" interface that is anywhere as close to effective, it's a game-changer.
Though I don't know, maybe that's what Amazon is…
Other Lisa says
Oh, and I also agree with the commenter who is irritated by clicking on what she thinks is going to be an article and it turns out to be a video. I read faster than I can watch a video. That's just annoying.
Interactive books don't do it for me, unless it is in the form of completely optional supplemental material.
Marilyn Peake says
Predictions? Companies will continue to create devices that allow multiple technology services within one device (computer, phone, eBooks, music, movies, etc.). Estimated costs I’ve seen for the iTablet are between $800 and $1,000. Competitors will eventually unveil similar devices at lower costs, allowing more people to buy them. Devices that supply only one form of technology (computers, phones, etc.) and paper books will continue to be sold, but at much lower prices than ever before. Eventually, brand new cutting-edge technology will be invented: virtual entertainment goggles, 3-D TV at home, holograms, etc., all of which are being worked on now.
"The iTablet Cometh"? Play on words for Eugene O’Neill’s play, THE ICEMAN COMETH? On Amazon, INSIDE THE FLAP information for THE ICEMAN COMETH includes the following statement: "…The Iceman Cometh exposes the human need for illusion as an antidote to despair." Just thought that was interesting, as modern media is certainly an antidote to boredom.
maine character says
I'll always love paper books best. I even print up your articles rather than read them online.
That said, it's definitely a whole new world. Here's what Sports Illustratedmight look like in a year.
Anonymous says
Here's the video of the McGraw-Hill exec going nuts over the new Apple device:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/technology
Mira says
I want to add one more thing – I love Apple, but I also love Amazon.
And I can't think of a better scenario where they are duking it out over my work.
Awesome beyond awesome. Finally, the author can become a player.
70%
Awsome.
Kristin Rae says
I'm still trying to get the idea of the Kindle through my head…
Give me a paperback!!
KristinCreative
Kelly R. Morgan says
I say, bring on the gadgets! The more, the merrier. And if the 1st edition of the iTablet (or whatever the name turns out to be) isn't as good as it could be, someone will take the idea and run with it.
It all wraps up into being a win for me. Love the gadgets.
Anonymous says
Prediction: Many authors will publish straight to Kindle. 70% royalty is a huge, huge incentive.
I'm happy to buy books when the money goes to the author, so I'll be purchasing most of my books through Kindle Store. I understand that they generally only get 8-15% of the cover price, so 70% is really rocking . . . and I think most authors don't make much money, so anytime I can help my favorite author to do better that's awesome.
If authors are compensated they have more incentive to write the next book (or next ten books). One thing that always bothered me was that a good writer could write a few books and still have to keep her day job. With 70% royalty the good writers can spend more time doing what they do so well — writing. A win/win for authors and readers!
Thanks Apple and Amazon, for turning the compensation structure upside down, cutting out the middlemen, and giving the creative talent a decent income.
Crystal Posey says
Ha, funny. Now that I've brought this up, my husband can't stop talking about it. Apparently, the house is divided.
Samantha Clark says
I still love paper books and know a lot of people who feel the same. When I was in college — years ago — my teachers were giving print newspapers five years, and that was more than five years ago.
Of course, as we well know, times have changed for newspapers, advertising is eroding (but that's also due to the bad economy) and newspapers are moving online. But print newspapers are still around, and I think print books will be around for many, many years to come.
Like you said, however, times are changing. But technology brings with it opportunities. As authors, if we have a device that we can publish on that will offer books, music, videogames and movies, it just means that we must change the way we think. Maybe books can have a soundtrack. Depending on the page the book is open to, music with a certain emotion is played, just like in movies. Maybe books and movies and videogames can be combined to create new interactive products.
Whatever happens, people will always want stories, and that's where we come in, no matter how they're told.
Stephen Prosapio says
I think books will remain "books" even as ebooks. I don't think people want a lot of bells and whistles or gadgets and gizmos. I do think a feature to look up the meaning of a particular word, or link to the geography/history of a particular place might come in handy.
This next generation is very into the internet to learn and verify facts. I'd expect games to still have their (unfortuante) place, but books to stay "bookish."
Magazines are a different story. I could see them linked with videos and ads instead of just static pictures. Ala Times Square.
LCS249 says
Holy granola, Batman. You look about twelve years old in your photos but you keep coming out with such fabulous allusions to classics, such as this one to Eugene O'Neill. Hat's off to you, NB.
JEM says
The interesting thing is that many really popular movies have come from books lately – Sherlock Holmes, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, The Lovely Bones, The Blind Side – so maybe novels will become the new screenplay. Pretty cool to see the movie industry take its cues from the publishing industry. Less cool to see the publishing industry take its cues from the movie industry.
Sarah Laurenson says
There are already color e-book readers – in Japan. Have been for years. But the price tag (~$1500) put them out of reach of your everyday b&w e-book user.
If the main deal is color, then the only thing the Japanese are missing is this major amount of hype.
OhGoodnessMe says
I think that I'm going to start writing YA "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. They will be great in an electronic format!
Dara says
No predictions here, but I'm not a fan of anything made by Apple anyway 😛 Except for iTunes, everything else they make seems overpriced in comparison.
Anyway, I finally was starting to get on-board the whole eReader train, but I don't really care for something that's going to have videos and games and Internet. I mean, that's just like another computer then isn't it? And what would be the difference?
I do like the idea of having color images on an eReader, just not all of the other bells and whistles. I want to read a book not be distracted by a thousand other different forms of interactive media. If I wanted distraction, I'd just as soon as surf the Internet on my inexpensive though capable netbook. 😛
Crystal says
I have no predictions, but I seriously can't wait to see this. Apple has a very nice habit of making main stream technology blind accessible off the shelf, so I'm hoping that they keep to that same tradition with this new snazy E-reader.
Hmmm….I'll try a prediction. I think that, since Apple appeals to the younger audiences with their other products, that teens will want to buy this I-Tablet. So I think that it'd be a huge venue for publishers to be able to market books to the younger audience.
Rowenna says
Hummm…and this begins to beg the question of what additional features readers really want. I can see the benefit in nonfiction, especially how-to kind of stuff. How cool to pull up an instruction video on the difference between dicing and chopping while reading the recipe? But for fiction…what extras do readers really want? It's kind of like how DVDs throw in all those bonus features that I know I for one rarely watch. Do fiction readers want that stuff, or maybe are we thinking too far in the box with the extras being the sort of standards of video, graphics, etc? Seems what fiction writers want more of is, er, more fiction.
Haste yee back ;-) says
Said it before, say it again…
I predict – through all this digital *change* no new letters will be added to the alphabet!
Haste yee back 😉