You already know what I'm going to say, don't you? Print books aren't going away any time soon. They're just too beloved, in a mashed-potatoes kind of way. What's more comforting than an old book, a crackling fire, rain on the windowpane, and a Fresh Pot of Tea? Makes you relax just thinking about it, doesn't it?
But those copies of Heidi, of Jane Eyre, of Alice Through the Looking Glass, of The Black Arrow and of Mistress Masham's Repose do need to slide over on the shelf and make room for the new kid in school. Go into any coffee shop and people at the neighboring tables will be reading all right - but they'll be reading Kindles, Nooks, and laptops as well as print.
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about Amanda Hocking, a very succesful Indie author: http://alisondeluca.blogspot.com/2011/03/amanda-hocking-and-e-publishing.html
Now, my dear friend Kara informs me that there is another author we should watch out for: Elisa Lorello. She is selling loads of ebooks on Amazon, in the manner of musicians who are selling music right from iTunes, and are getting discovered on YouTube. (Hi, Justin!)
You can read about Elisa here:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/03/21/1068797/local-e-book-catches-fire.html
No, those print books don't need to worry. They are too beloved. But the traditional publishers and agents might want to start changing their business models a tad.
10 comments:
Hi Alison, fellow ABNAer! Yeah, the amazing bookstore in the Catskills, where I hang out on weekends, just closed. Bummer! For all of the people in rural ares, where they cannot find a decent bookstore, eBooks are the way to go. I'm about to post on Barry Eisler, a hugely successful thriller author, who just turned down a 500K to deal to self-pub. Imagine!!! BTW, I'm following you now. Caherine
...and I am following you as well, Catherine. Yay!
There is nothing better than the old local bookstore; added bonus if they carry used books. and +50 if there is a black cat sleeping in the window.
Hi, Alison,
A fellow Italian here.... I found you on ABNA .... BTW my mom's maiden name was De Luca...
Nice to meet you.
Michael
And it is so nice to meet you as well, Michael. I"m amazed at how common the name DeLuca is. When my husband and I went to Kennedy Space Center, there were pages and pages of DeLucas listed as visitors.
Now I feel as though we are cousins. Off to follow you too!
I have to say that I really love reading print book, it's just having the book in my hand and flipping the pages... the smell of a new book, I love it. E-Books will become more and more popular, but I don't think they will replace printed books yet. We do live in a digital age, though I don't think it should cost more to buy the e-book over the print version, when it is only a download. It should be less. Publishers need to consider that too. :)
This is going to sound weird, but I actually felt like my own novel read differently in print than it did on my computer. I don't know what it was, but I was able to remove myself more from it more and just enjoy the story. Now, if we can just figure out the secret to those massive ebook sales!
This is so true! I love paper books, but I have to say this new ebook revolution is pretty exciting. I think it's the historian in me, I love the feeling of witnessing a big transition.
Interesting point, Allison. I do look at ebooks a bit differently - why is that? Would I bring one in the bath? probably not.
Paper books will always be with us, thank God, but as Christine wrote, the epublishing revolution is very, very exciting, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
I haven't sold many copies of Case Study, but I was surprised that it's about an even split between ebooks and paperbacks. That surprised me. Since I haven't really been marketing it yet, it's mostly friends and family buying it and I didn't realize how many of them had jumped on board with the ebook revolution.
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