This weekend, in UK, many people are having their first experience of e-publishing as the first pre-orders of the kindle were delivered during the past few days. Of course, in US, many people have been using e-reading devices for more than a year, but in UK the idea is only just catching on.
This seems a good point to consider the implications electronic publishing has for readers, authors and those in the publishing business.
For readers there are obvious benefits. Besides the space-saving, font size-changing capabilities, for those avid readers who come to enjoy reading on an electronic device, there are financial advantages. Most books are cheaper than their print counterparts, public domain books (the classics) are free and many books by independent author/publishers are a fraction of the price of best sellers,
For independent authors there is the opportunity to publish their work at no cost (many will employ editors etc but there is no cost to actually publish). This means that more niche books, or those aimed at a small select audience, can be published rather than the mainstream tendency to accept only mass market books.
So, if it's so good, why am I suggesting it's a double-edged sword?
There is always a downside to everything. For readers, they will find that not all the books they want are available (yet) and if they want to take a chance on new independent authors they will have to spend time downloading and reading book samples.
And of course, for independent authors, there is the opportunity to publish their books which didn't meet the mainstream mass market criteria. The double-edged sword here? I believe the uncertainty in the industry created by the advent of e-publishing (and not just the current economic climate) is the reason many of these authors have not been signed to mainstream publishers in the first place.
This seems a good point to consider the implications electronic publishing has for readers, authors and those in the publishing business.
For readers there are obvious benefits. Besides the space-saving, font size-changing capabilities, for those avid readers who come to enjoy reading on an electronic device, there are financial advantages. Most books are cheaper than their print counterparts, public domain books (the classics) are free and many books by independent author/publishers are a fraction of the price of best sellers,
For independent authors there is the opportunity to publish their work at no cost (many will employ editors etc but there is no cost to actually publish). This means that more niche books, or those aimed at a small select audience, can be published rather than the mainstream tendency to accept only mass market books.
So, if it's so good, why am I suggesting it's a double-edged sword?
There is always a downside to everything. For readers, they will find that not all the books they want are available (yet) and if they want to take a chance on new independent authors they will have to spend time downloading and reading book samples.
And of course, for independent authors, there is the opportunity to publish their books which didn't meet the mainstream mass market criteria. The double-edged sword here? I believe the uncertainty in the industry created by the advent of e-publishing (and not just the current economic climate) is the reason many of these authors have not been signed to mainstream publishers in the first place.
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