Ebook Scheduling

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Everyone who knows me knows I'm an enthusiastic advocate of ebooks. I have a Cybook Gen 3 ebook reader as does my husband. (Like the device shown in the picture.) My dad has a Kindle 2. We all adore our ebook readers, and all of us buy even more books than before we moved to an electronic format. Ebooks and ebook readers are big business--just ask Amazon.com. Estimates are that Amazon.com sold between 300-400k Kindles in their first year. (Cnet.com said estimates were 380K. Read the article HERE.)

Read more about the Kindle, as well as see an on-screen demo of it, HERE.

I'm a proactive reader. When books aren't available in ebook format, I search out the publisher's webpage and email them to ask that they consider putting the book in ebook format. I've been told by a number of publishers that the money just isn't there for them. The real issue is that most publishers are worried about the ebook discount price set by Amazon.com...that is, they sell all new release titles for $9.99, where as the new hardback in the brick and morter store might sell for as much as $35.

I do understand this issue. I'm a published writer, and I've been around the business long enough to know that publishers have costs in paying authors, editors, marketing and publicity, etc. And that ebooks must be produced somewhere, by someone--that while they aren't printed in paper and ink, they do require some degree of work to produce across the variety of ebook formats. (That is, for Kindle, for the Mobipocket readers, for the Sony readers, etc.) However, having watched how the music industry reacted to digital music and music downloads, I firmly believe that any publisher who is not publishing books in ebook format is going to miss out, and may be squeezed out of a fast growing market.

Ebooks offer publishers some very nice advantages. They can make backlist books available and keep them available. They can offer older books for free or at reduced prices in order to hook new readers to an author's work. (Amazon.com currently has "His Majesty's Dragon" by Naomi Novik available for free. It's the start of a multi-volume series, and so I'm sure they hope to hook readers who will buy the sequel books.)

Now I read in the New York Times that some publishers are purposely holding back their ebook release, because they are unsure of how the ebook sales (at 9.99) will affect sales of the hardcover. To this, I have to say "Say What?"

(Read the New York Times story HERE.)

Because here's the thing--while ebook readers are more popular than they ever were, ebooks are still not a major part of the book market. The ebook reader owners, however, are typically avid, voracious readers. (As I am.) Ebook readers owners would be the type of reader to buy your new release title for $9.99, and then immediately buy all the author's other works. And those who own ebook readers typically don't, and won't, buy many hardcover books. (That's why they have an ebook reader, after all...because they didn't want the print books.) To say that one format (ebooks) will interfere with another format (print) seems a bit silly to me. If we were talking releasing the paperback and hardcover at the same time...well, obviously the hardcover sales would suffer. But the electronic book market and the print book market do not overlap in the same way.

Let's hope publishers soon figure this all out, and lose their wariness of ebooks. Some publishers have, and are jumping into the market with both feet. (Baen books, for instance, has offered older books for free electronically through their website for at least a couple of years.) Ebooks will not soon replace print books, but the ebook market is not going to go away. If publishers have something to say about the pricing, the way to address this is not by holding back, but by publishing books in both print and ebook formats and to start comparing sales numbers.

I won't buy a print book unless I'm very desperate. (I did buy a new print version of the Bible, but that's a book that doesn't work well in ebook format in my opinion.) Ebooks are my new format of choice, just as I no longer by music CDs, but prefer buying digital downloads. Ebooks are here to stay, and in my opinion, they should be available as soon as the hardcover is released. The pricing is another issue, but I'll just say (for the record) that I won't pay $35 for a print book, and have discount shopped for years. I think that states my opinion on book pricing without me having to spell it out more fully.

Ebooks on Cell Phones and Self-Publishing

Anyone who knows me at all knows my (continued) frustration with the publishing industry. Write a children's story or novel--a big task in and of itself--and then you must begin the lengthy and stressful journey of getting the daffy thing published. As a writer, you of necessity work alone. The only way you can know if you're on the right track with your work is to get feedback. The way the publishing industry currently works, getting feedback on any one story is an iffy prospect at best.

For example, I write a novel. I revise and proofread and have two beta readers give me comments. I revise and proofread some more. Then, at this point, I say to myself, I have a good book. At least one I and my beta readers like. 

Now, the research begins. I go to the library or buy publishing market guides, and I find the names of editors and agents who might have an interest in my work so I can send this puppy off. I make my list, I check it twice, and then off my book goes, into the great beyond. 

And I wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. If I'm lucky, I'll get one or two personal comments from the 30 or so editors and agents I've submitted to. The rest are form letters. And I may have to wait to hear back from all of them for a year or more. 

Say an editor wants to see my book. (I sent query letters out, because editors don't want your full book unless they ask.) Happily, I send it to her. Then I wait. And wait. And wait, and wait and wait. 

(You see the trend?)

If I'm lucky, I'll get more than a comment like "This just didn't work for me" when I finally get the rejection back months later. (I once waited 18 months to get a rejection on a requested book.) Then, since I'm apparently insane, I begin the whole process again. I finish another book, and start revising....

Now along comes the Internet, and the fanfiction on the web, then ebooks and electronic self-publishing. Some journalists are now saying this is the wave of the future, for writers to self-publish electronically, so their books can be downloaded onto ebook readers, cell phones, and PDAs. I like the thought, but I worry about the implimentation of the process.

I worry that I would self-publish my work, and then I would have no way to promote or market it. Does one do this through Facebook and MySpace, or through in-person author talks? Do you pay for ad space in cyberspace, or do you take out an ad in your local newspaper? Maybe I'm too much a child of the "older generation," because I'm ignorant of just how to sell something in this new medium of the Internet. 

I'm going to have to come to grips with this sooner rather than later. I'm working on a novel at the moment that is progressing very well. I know myself well enough to know I will finish it, and want to send it somewhere. Do I start first with the print publishers, and resign myself to the waiting, or do I jump into cyber-publishing with both feet? I honestly don't know. 

To read more on this issue, and to see the types of articles that are provoking this particular train of thought, Computer World magazine's article does a nice job of summing it all up. 

In the meantime, I have to pick up dry cleaning and then I plan to spend the rest of the afternoon writing. That part of the process, at least, I understand.

Ebooks go Mainstream

I just read this in the New York Times online edition:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/technology/24kindle.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=arts

The article talks primarily about the Kindle, and gives some estimated sales figures on the device (up to 260 thousand units before Oprah Winfrey showcased it on her show). The article notes that the Kindle is now sold out until February. I have the Cybook Gen3, found at http://www.bookeen.com, and while it was recently on backorder, it appears to be back in stock.

I buy my books from http://www.fictionwise.com. However, you can download free samples of many books from http://www.mobipocket.com.

Of note: Mobipocket has a free reader that runs on your computer. You can read the books on your computer screen (or read the samples) without having an ebook reader. I suspect that for those people with low or limited vision due to such conditions as macular degeneration would have an easier time reading the ebooks on their computer screen, due to the screen brightness. (The ebook readers are not backlit.) Font size is easily increased on both your computer screen, using the free Mobipocket software, or on your ebook reader.

Download the free Mobipocket reader software at: 

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/downloadsoft/productdetailsreader.asp

Browse books and download free samples at: http://www.mobipocket.com.

One benefit of having a Kindle, from Amazon, is that all books are priced at $9.99 or lower. This includes books that cost much more in print, such as books released in hardcover and usually costing $16 dollars and up.

Fictionwise discounts the books, but not as deeply. They do, however, have sales and a "buyer's club" that helps even out the cost.