E-Readers

Last week, I was in Orlando at the Romance Writers of America conference. E-readers were everywhere!

Barnes & Noble had a large room dedicated to selling physical books--but there were also people selling the Nook e-reader outside it.

I arrived on Wednesday morning too late to attend a morning program given by Harlequin for its authors on social networking, darn it. I need as much instruction as I can get, to learn everything I’m not doing. The afternoon Harlequin program was dedicated to teaching us about the different kinds of e-readers and what their differentiating features are. I unfortunately also arrived too late to see the demonstration, but the room was packed. Afterward, a few techy folks from Harlequin hung around to give individual instruction, but I hadn’t learned enough to know what to ask. Sigh. But it did intrigue me.

Other programs discussed the future of the publishing industry, and where new forms of publishing, and reading, may fit in.

But did all this convince me to run right out and buy an e-reader? No. Maybe I’d have been so inclined if I’d seen the demos and figured out which one was best for me. But I haven’t heard of any yet that would survive a good dunking in the bathtub--which is where I do a lot of my reading.

So, for now, I’ll wait. Although if anyone reading this happens to know of waterproof e-readers, let me know. I might jump in earlier than I’m currently anticipating.