Tuesday, March 18, 2008

'Till I'm Blue in the Face

E-books or print?

I think I'm at the age called "Riding the Fence". It seems those older than me are less likely to try e-books (they still have difficulty figuring out email), while those younger have no problems downloading my books onto their palm pilots, or Sonys, or Kindles.

I've argued, explained, and provided enough facts until I'm blue in the face, that e-books are here to stay. E-publishers are rising amid the ashes of fallen e-pubs, e-book sales are growing, and now even regular publishing houses like Doubleday and Harlequin are investing in the e-book market.

Additionally, with the nation's economy starting to sink into recession, e-books are going to be an even better bargain -- they're cheaper (sometimes as much as 1/3 the cost of a paperback), and easier to store (you can burn as many as 25 books on one CD).

When the cost of a gallon of gas and a gallon of milk are almost the same price, people are going to cut back on "frivolous" expenses. Which means people will rent the DVD instead of going to the movie theaters. And they'll buy the e-book instead of opting for the bound version.

But I still cringe whenever people I know ask, "When will it be available as a real book?"

2 comments:

Diana Castilleja said...

You have my deepest sympathies on this one. I hear it too. Maybe not as often as the only people interested in my personal sales formats already KNOW about them. (my mum, bff, etc.) But yeah, it's a matter of education.

Anonymous said...

I must admit I enjoy the print version as well. I like being able to look up from my keyboard and see the bound book setting on my bookshelf.

However, as you say, with the economy drying up, if people choose to spend their hard earned money on books at all, it'll be for the cheaper price. And, in all fairness, who can blame them?

Miss Mae