Alright, I'm curious. I wonder how many of you, dear blog readers, are reading ebooks. I wonder if you like it. I wonder if you're using a Sony or a Kindle (in no small part because I'm still mulling over which one I'd like to purchase, once I save my pennies).
I'm also curious how much you read. Because it can be hard to tune out the doom and gloom "No one reads anymore! It's the reading apocalypse!" headlines, but though they're loud, I have to believe they're not entirely true.
I know I don't read for leisure as much as I'd like. I'm making concerted efforts to spend some of my weekend time reading. (Not having to attend weekend derby practices is certainly helping in that regard.) I often *buy* several books, but unless I start them immediately, while they're still shiny and new, I tend to put them off until they somehow come to look less interesting, just by virtue of the fact that they look familiar.
(Though I will say, my latest non-work reading, The Last Child and Down River, both by John Hart, is pretty much renewing my faith in humanity and out ability to recognize and express beauty. I was sorely tempted to write this blog post an open love letter to John Hart's prose here today, but I thought that might be a bit much. But SERIOUSLY. Have you read this guy? It's outstanding. OUTSTANDING IN ALL CAPS.)
But what about you? Are you reading as much as you'd like? If you have an ereader, do you find yourself reading more on it than reading actual books?
Ben and I just made our first two Tyrus titles, Double Exposure and Silver Lake, available for the Kindle. I'm excited to watch the sales numbers -- this is pretty much our first foray into the Kindle store (some previous Bleak House books are available, but for the most part, the authors were in the driver's seat there). We picked two different price points, and I'm wondering how that might affect sales. (And since amazon allows you to adjust price, we may just do that at some point, in an effort to collect more data.)
I read somewhere that Dan Brown's new book was actually selling better as a Kindle download than as a hardcover, through amazon. That's interesting, huh? I think that if I had an ereader, I'd buy more books, and I'd finish fewer. I'd look at it like, "Well, with ebooks, they're not a physical thing that takes up space, so I can try a lot of flavors before I decide what I want to taste all day." And it'll help alleviate my "looks less appealing by virtue of the fact that it's a familiar presence on my bookshelf and no longer shiny and new," since on an ereader, the files don't really have a physical presence for me to become familiar with. Then, if I read something there that really srikes a chord with me (see parenthetical paragraph above, for instance), I could buy the hardcover and make that book a part of my life every day, as I pass by my bookshelf and admire my collection.
Anyway, I think I'm beginning to ramble here. I'll leave you with a nifty poll, which you're welcome to take if you have the time. Thanks, dearest blog readers!
