The E-book Revolution
Seems everyone is discussing e-books and e-readers lately.
I've heard arguments that e-books are definitely here to stay and well eventually wipe out paper books. Frankly, though I believe e-books and readers are here to stay, I doubt regular books will disappear.
On the other side, believe it or not, there are many who think the e-book and readers are only a fad and will disappear much like the 8 track tape and wants happening with VCR videos. I definitely think these folks are wrong.
For one thing, e-books have been around for 10 years--though not a lot of people knew about them, except people like me who were published in e-books. The Rocket E-Reader came along about that time too--and it was great way to read e-books. Unfortunately, Sony bought them out and then didn't come out with another e-reader until a couple of years ago. By that time Amazon had started selling the Kindle.
Frankly, e-books are shaking up the publishing industry. I'm not going into all the interesting things that have been happening, but believe me, the New York publishers are not thrilled nor have they quite figured out what's going on or how to go about the e-publishing business.
One agent has started putting clients' books on Kindle who didn't have e-book rights in their contract--and has been banned by the big publishing houses. Interesting.
So, if you don't think things are changing in the publishing world, you aren't paying attention.
I have no idea how all this is going to shake out. What I do know is life is all about changes, and right now the publishing world is being turned upside down. Since nearly all my books are available in e-book form, I find this fascinating.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
I've heard arguments that e-books are definitely here to stay and well eventually wipe out paper books. Frankly, though I believe e-books and readers are here to stay, I doubt regular books will disappear.
On the other side, believe it or not, there are many who think the e-book and readers are only a fad and will disappear much like the 8 track tape and wants happening with VCR videos. I definitely think these folks are wrong.
For one thing, e-books have been around for 10 years--though not a lot of people knew about them, except people like me who were published in e-books. The Rocket E-Reader came along about that time too--and it was great way to read e-books. Unfortunately, Sony bought them out and then didn't come out with another e-reader until a couple of years ago. By that time Amazon had started selling the Kindle.
Frankly, e-books are shaking up the publishing industry. I'm not going into all the interesting things that have been happening, but believe me, the New York publishers are not thrilled nor have they quite figured out what's going on or how to go about the e-publishing business.
One agent has started putting clients' books on Kindle who didn't have e-book rights in their contract--and has been banned by the big publishing houses. Interesting.
So, if you don't think things are changing in the publishing world, you aren't paying attention.
I have no idea how all this is going to shake out. What I do know is life is all about changes, and right now the publishing world is being turned upside down. Since nearly all my books are available in e-book form, I find this fascinating.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
Comments
Bottom line, no matter what happens with ebooks and paper books, there will always be a demand for writers.
Arien, I'm happy to have most of my books as e-books.
Marilyn
I just wrote about the growth of the e-book market in a post on my own blog: http://lillieammann.com/2010/07/19/the-growing-e-book-market/
Interesting times in e-publishing!