Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Coming late to the E-volution . . .


I've always loved the feel of a book in my hand. The smell, the weight, turning down the corner of the page to mark my place--it's all part of the joy of reading. Now I've discovered that my previous titles are also available as ebooks. Even my Diana Groe titles can be downloaded electronically.

This raises a whole host of contractual questions. I had my agent check the contracts and this is all legal and above board. In fact, I'll even receive a better rate of royalty on the ebooks after the first 100 sold than I do on my print books. But if my books are available electronically, can they be said never to be out of print and therefore the rights will never revert to me?

Probably.

So for now, I'll just rejoice that my work is available to a whole new generation of techno-saavy readers. And as usual with technology of any sort, I'm behind the curve. I know there's a big broohaha over which electronic format (Kindle vs just about everything else) is best. And there are several different types of e-readers available. As a condo dweller with limited space and a huge library, I'm beginning to see the charm in ebooks.

Do you read ebooks? Which e-reader do you use? Do you recommend it? Have you had trouble adapting to reading ebooks as opposed to the old-fashioned tree-killing kind? I'd love to have your imput!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Emily,

The one book I have available right now is an electronic book. My second release..2/04/09 will be an ebook first, in print March 20. My 3th will come out as both ebook and print in April 2009.

To be completely honest, I don't think anything is better than the old, print book. Soooo many other folks I've told to and have heard from tell me it just "isn't the same" with an ebook, and I have to agree. Even with a handheld reader, it's not the same as the smell, look, and feel of print. Besides, you can't hardly set ebooks, or the reader, on your shelf and admire your work, can you? Only with print can you do that.

Ebooks may well be the wave of the future, and my publisher is an ebook pub. But I think the print should always be here to stay.

EmilyBryan said...

Congratulations on your upcoming releases, Mae.

Until last October, I'd have agreed with you that ebooks will never replace print. But in the wake of the financial meltdown, lots of publishers had more books coming back than going out. A print book on the bookstore shelves may or may not sell. An ebook download is a sold book. No returns. The financial realities may make ebooks not just the wave of the future, but the inevitable wave.