The Effect of eBooks, eReaders, and Online Reading on the Publishing Game: Embrace It!

There has been much talk of the demise of the publishing industry due to the advent, and increasing popularity, of ebooks. Will it hurt the book authors? Does the publishing business need to worry? There is no doubt that this technology affects the bottom line for publishers, which, in turn, will definitely complicate things for authors trying to penetrate the already ruthlessly finicky publishing industry to obtain a book deal, but to the author/ entrepreneur who understands the publishers' true level of involvement and backing, there is no need to worry. In fact, if looked at closely, one can clearly see that this has opened a number of channels for new authors that didn't exist a few years ago, except for those fortunate enough to have enough money to self publish on a fairly large scale.

Just as the MP3 player made CDs technically obsolete, so does ebook hardware with printed books. This doesn't mean people will stop buying books, however.... Just as the market for CDs still exists, so will a demand, albeit possibly a slightly diminished one, for printed books, due mostly to a puritan desire to hold in one's hand the book itself; to look at and collect the cover artwork, and to experience the thickness and smell of the pages, etc. There are also many who will never drop the large up-front cost of a decent ereader when they could instead pay only five to ten bucks for an impulse driven paperback at the local supermarket. There is currently very little "impulse buyer" market for ebooks.

From an author's standpoint, this change is one to be embraced. As most novellists have found out, the publishing tier is a nigh impenetrable system of arbitrarily woven flaming hoops through which we must jump in an exact sequence, chosen on a case by case basis by the individual house matriarch in order to even have a hope of not roasting in the flames of obscurity. In the increasingly rare instance that one is actually noticed by someone in the business and given a publishing deal, the chance of the publisher really getting behind your work is slim to none as a first time author. What you are left with is the certainty that you will most likely still need to self-promote your book if you want to enjoy any real exposure or success, at least until things start to go viral. So what's the difference?

The difference, it seems to me, is in available copies vs. sales venues. If a publisher runs a first print on a new author, no matter how much they like your book, there are only going to be a few thousand copies available, at first, spread thin over the stores, in the regions, that that particular publisher deals with. It is not at all uncommon for an aspiring new author to have to personally call bookstores themselves to sell copies and arrange book signings, even after signing a first time publishing deal with a decent sized house. With ebooks, there is no end to the number of copies immediately available, and the venues are fewer, meaning directing your target market to your available book is even simpler, and with the advent of viral internet marketing techniques, becomes possible even without the backing of a corporation. What it has done to the book industry, as with music, in a sense, is level the playing field. Publishing in print is obviously still very important to your success, but proper self marketing of a novel in ebook form can help insure that this eventually happens, either through showing publishing houses that there is, in fact, a real market and demand for your book, or simply through the painstaking parlay of resources until online marketing of your ebook reaches a viral level and propels your book to an enjoyable measure of success. In any case, upon posting a downloadable electronic book for sale on a major ebook publishing site, one can at least feel warm and fuzzy knowing that their new novel is now available to anyone, anywhere in the world, at any time....

There are many ways people have come to enjoy ebooks. One type of enthusiast is the online reader. Many who have laptops, cell phones, or multi-functional devices such as the iPad peruse the Internet for everything from free movies to free computers. It has definitely become a growing trend to download free ebooks. Many authors, myself included, as you can find in my hub series titled, "Critical Mass," have posted their novel online for free, either to be read online one chapter per click, or posted as a freely downloadable ebook on a site that also sells ebooks. This is a growing trend, at least insofar as the first half, or a reasonable preview is concerned, because with the flooding of a only few venues by all of the conceivable titles at once, what authors are really trying to obtain is the attention of the consumer, more than just their money... If someone invests the time it takes to read half or more of a book, how big of a deal is it to support the author with a $9 charge to read the rest and own your own copy? If the book is worth buying in the first place, this is a small risk for the author to take. Others are simply willing to give their first work to a limited number of readers in order to build a little notoriety and gain a following for publishers to recognize.

Either way, there seems to be a flood of free electronic books to sample, so capacity has actually become a selling point, regardless of the fact that most people only read one book at a time. Some of the newer devices make this very easy, as they will download and store thousands of full length novels from a variety of sources, including online ebook stores, like Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble Nook, literary sites, and even public domain titles in EPUB and PDF form, as well as older Sony eBookstore titles through Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) DRM scheme to control ebook rights. Other devices have a seemingly vast (600,000+ titles), but very proprietary list to download from, but boast Wi-Fi capability from which to connect. These flip book style ereaders range in price from about $100 to around $350, while the multi tasking iPad hovers at around $500. Most of their technical features are very comparable, but there are definitely a few differences between the top contenders....

While there were many ereaders that caught my eye, and my Christmas list, there were two that unmistakably rose to the top... the newest Kindle, the DX by Amazon, and the Sony PRS-700. Too close to call in many ways; one big thing that stuck out, for me, was the screen. The Kindle uses a technology that causes the screen contrast to be very "paper like," making it possible to see it without a glare in the brightest of sunlight... a feature that is important to me, because it is outside and on the go that these things seem to be the most useful.

It also boasts a 9.7" diagonal screen, vs. the 6" one on the older Kindle models. Having no back-light and no barrage of other applications, it is also capable of holding a one month battery charge! Lastly, but equally impressive, the Kindle operates using what Amazon calls "Whisper Sync," which means that you can read the same book on your PC, phone, iPad, and on the Kindle, and it keeps your place for you, starting right where you leave off. It stores 3,500 novels, and has Wi-Fi access to 630,000 titles and growing through Amazon.com's Kindle Store.

It has become very apparent that with technology rampantly evolving and shaping our world, as authors and entrepreneurs we must evolve with it. Just as these devices have created a world of convenience and opportunity for the reader, so it is for the author, so long as we keep looking forward and try to stay just ahead of the breaker. This should not be viewed as a threat to our craft, or to our personal success, but rather a wave of new opportunities to ride that was not possible before.

©2010 Gunnar C. Garisson, All Rights Reserved