Last year a moving company estimated our move from St. Louis to outside of Washington, DC, would cost us $13,000.
Yes, you read that right. Thirteen THOUSAND dollars.
After we picked ourselves up off the floor, we asked what we could do to lighten the load. The guy with the calculator scratched his head and sighed. "As far as I can tell most of this is because of your books. Ma'am, you have a lot of books. A lot!"
I had at least eight bookcases, filled with double rows of books, plus other books in boxes. That doesn't count the books stashed in my armoir, or in closets, or beside my bed. Not only did the dollar amount for moving all those books astonish me, I also started worrying about space. My husband had selected our new home, and I hadn't seen it. Where would I put all those books?
In the end, I weeded through them. I gave away boxes and boxes. The library and the Goodwill shop both benefited from my move.
My husband said, "I know this is hard for you. Maybe the time has come to get an e-reader."
I'm not going to tell you what brand we purchased, but I'll tell you this: I love my e-reader. When I was snowed in this winter, I practiced single finger aerobics. I hit the "buy" button over and over and bought new titles. I love the convenience of being able to make a purchase anytime, anywhere. When I discovered I had three days to read my online bookclub selection, I uploaded the book in less time than it took me to type in the title. I was ready for the discussion with time to spare.
Then I discovered how many classics are available for free or next to nothing. Recently, I uploaded the entire collection of Virginia Woolf books for $1.99. I have all the works of Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, and many others. I can even sample some books before I buy! I love that option!
Do I miss turning pages? Sometimes. But I'm a very fast reader and I can set down the e-reader and "turn the pages" while I brush my teeth or whatever. Used to be, I couldn't keep the book flat while my hands were occupied.
Do I worry about the battery going out? That's only happened once. The last thing I do at night is plug in my e-reader.
I love having the ability to look up words as I read, plus the ability to highlight and mark passages I admire, or make notes to myself about them.
Most of all, I adore having a variety of books at my fingertips. I've read more books than ever lately, because I always have a book in my purse. If I don't fancy whatever I'm reading at the time, I just hit the magic button and read something else. If I see a book I know I'll want to read, I order it pronto. I pay nothing for shipping or handling.
Do I think that e-publishing will hurt the world of publishing?
Quite the contrary. Now that I have an e-reader, I'm buying more books than ever before. It's easy to buy them, easy to pre-order them, and easy to keep track of what I have.
After all, I'll never run out of shelf space!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
Great post on the good stuff about e-readers, Joanna. I'm still learning about them, but your info makes them all the more appealing,
I love my e-reader, even though I still buy and prefer books. If I like a book, then I purchase the ebook version for my virtual bookshelf.
I agree with Linda; I'm going to have to rethink my decision not to buy an e-reader.
Ladies, I LOVE my e-reader. I can't say enough about how fun it is to switch from non-fiction to fiction and back with a single tap of my finger. If you are like me, you are reading all the time, but I like to switch up what I read. I also find that sometimes I'm just not in the mood for a certain type of book. And looking up words as I go? That's just the neatest feature! Plus, I can access Google, a new trick I'm still mastering. Do I miss paper? Sometimes, but here's the thing: I read because I love ideas not because I want to caress tree pulp.
The option to buy anywhere, anytime is definitely appealing.
Betty, it's a real time saver. If I hear of a new series or if I read about a non-fiction book I want, I just order it on the spot. Many of the books are cheaper than the print version, but even if they aren't, the savings on postage and handling are proving substantial. Used to be, I would wait until I had enough books to get a discount on shipping and handling, but that meant doing without books I wanted to read. Not anymore!
Dru, I do the opposite, in a way. I buy the paper version if I'm at a signing because I want to support authors and booksellers. There are also books that are better in print, such as books with lots of photos or charts. But all that is changing. They are now talking about something, I think it's called HTML5? which will mean that you access the Internet, and your books are stored in cyberspace. That will eliminate some of the translation problems that make charts and photos and color diagrams hard to upload.
I wonder if all those authors that you read had digital royalties credited to them. As far as I know, many contracts don't give digital rights to their authors.
HTML5 is an upgrade on the ability to display images using a browser with built-in display capabilities. You won't need to have Flash to show the graphics with HTML5 coding.
Most novels do not use many graphics, so the advent of HTML5 will not solve any of the issues of cyberspace storage and digital rights management.
Here is the link to the article about HTML5. http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/43942-betting-the-house-on-html5.html
As I understand it, my books are currently stored inside my e-reader. I do not have to have WIFI on to read them. However, with HTML5, my books would be stored in the clouds. Therefore, I should be able to exceed the storage capacity of my ereader. My ereader would simply stream the books to me.
Also, there can be more content because currently, I can only access the Internet by switching on my Internet function. None of my books links directly to the Internet. HMTL5 will allow me, as an author, to link additional content to my work. So, for example, with my book Photo, Snap, Shot, I could add a direct link so that readers could see photos of the Veiled Prophet debutante ball. This then allows me additional content--and a richer reading experience.
Also, at present time, my publisher had to purchase a program to make my books available for one particular ereader. This new HTML5 will do for readers and authors what MIDI did for the music industry--by standardizing the language, all digital musical instruments are compatible. The customer no longer gets stuck with pieces that don't work together. That is clearly a future cost saver, and it destroys another barrier to entry--wrong formats.
One last comment about digital rights. One of my friends recently realized she has lost $40K of royalties to digital pirates. She is with a major publishing house, one of the "big boys." If the large houses don't go after these digital pirates, they won't go after anyone. Many of her books were simply scanned after publication, turned into pdf files, and posted. That's what we don't realize about digital piracy. The files do NOT have to be digitalized to be stolen. So I suggest a better cause for concern would be the entire industry's turning of a blind eye to pirates. This, rather than singling out piracy as it comes from sharing of digital files, worries me more.
Joanna Campbell Slan said...
For those who don't understand the holdback, let me explain. Publishers hold back a certain amount of royalties because a percentage of books will be returned as unsold from booksellers. Most of my publishers use a set formula that encompasses all their authors' numbers. A publisher must hold back a certain percent because otherwise the publisher would be paying an author on books that are only shipped to a bookseller, but not really sold (to a customer). With digital books, the book is either sold or not sold. There's no such thing as sending stock back.
When someone purchases one of your books to read on an e-reader like you own, do you get a royalty payment?
If you don't, that would seem to me to be the same situation as a "pirate" getting a copy to read; putting the publisher in the same business class as the "pirate."
I know for a fact that some authors with books on e-books receive no royalties from those sales.
Yes, I get a royalty. I'm very pleased with the sales. Also, many of my readers enjoy the ability to adjust the typesize to their needs. Many tell me they only read on e-readers because of this feature.
I coveted a certain e-reader when I first saw it at a bookstore last December although I hesitated for six months before buying mine. My reasons for not making the purchase were the stacks of unread books lying around my house and under my bed as well as the the fact that I have a very good local library and use it a LOT. Then there was a price break and I took the plunge. I love my e-reader and it proved it worth on a recent trip. We were gone for five days which means I usually carry four books. This time I only carried the one I was going to read at the pool. On the plane ride home, the book I was reading was putting me to sleep so I switched to another one. I, too, am reading more since I always have my e-reader in my purse. I've downloaded several books from my library, but I've also purchased some. It's great to be able to read sample chapters, something I would never do on my computer screen. And I do love being able to turn pages while I brush my teeth, hold a cup of coffee, or have my hands under the dryer at the nail salon.
Post a Comment