Is the Future Actually Now?

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!

Comments

[twitter.com/summerhorton]

I read much more quickly on my Kindle with no apparent loss to the reading experience. If anything, I'm more easily able to lose myself in a story on the Kindle. I'm not sure why that is, but I get through 3-5 books a week where I used to read 1, maaaaybe 2.

I'm also more likely to buy a book if it's somehow available for my ereader. It's generally less expensive, and it's easier for me to read.

I do still buy paper books, for situations where I'm not comfortable bringing my expensive and not klutz-proof ereader, for loaning to friends, for gifts, sometimes when they're not available for my ereader (though that mostly irritates me and I sometimes just move on to something else), and just because I love a book that much.

I love both my ebooks and my regular books, and will continue to buy both. But statistically speaking, I buy more ebooks per week than I ever did paper books, and am more likely to buy an ebook first, due to price and ease of reading.

[Maria]

Oh, you knew I'd have to answer this one what with my obvious interest in ebooks! I have been reading more and more ebooks, but the reasons are many. 1. I published a book of novellas for Kindle--it was an experiment, yes, but also the stories were too long for short markets and...I'd heard so many people gush about the kindle.

Okay, so once my own stuff was on Kindle, I had no choice but to start getting serious about an e-reader. What happened? Well...research! I downloaded the mobipocket, stanza and Adobe Digital edition for my laptop and started reading. What did I find?

Turns out that to my surprise, using an e-reader on my PC does make reading more pleasant (I went with mobipocket and discussed why on my blog...probably just last week; scroll down a few entries if you care.)

I follow a few forums (which is how I determined pricing for my collection). I'm still researching, but I'd have to say that I'm leaning towards the kindle myself, mainly because I think they have the largest BOOK selection and all in one place.

BN is supposed to come online with a new ebook program. I'm going to see how that turns out. I'm participating in it through smashwords.com (loaded up my ebook there as well so that people that don't have a kindle can download my ebooks in various formats.)

Smashwords is easy to use--but at this point it is SMALL. I've also downloaded a few ebooks from smashwords to read. The quality is all over the map (predictably.) The length is all over the map. The price is all over the map.

So...I'm reading more ebooks--compared to last year, I'm reading a LOT more ebooks. The instant gratification, the price and the selection (the last of which is still improving) all played a part.

As for which ereader I will end up with...not sure. But I went from, "Why bother" to "Very Interested" in a span of 4 months!

Just for your quick reference--ebook readers pretty much expect to pay less for ebooks, regardless of what various publishers are trying to do. The amazon forum has several "Ban buying on this book" some based on overall price and some based on the fact that the ebook costs more than the current print book. Obviously some people are pickier than others, but the threads make for some very interesting reading.

(Anyone has any specific questions about where to find threads, etc, feel free to drop me an email from my blog.)

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawnOedFzvh-y5rXCEUIaUzFDorPAomd7GKM]

Since I got my Kindle, I haven't bought any paper books. Eeek, I know that sounds bad, but what can I say, I love my Kindle. Especially since my book is also available on the Kindle.

[twitter.com/ahream]

Was there life before Kindle? I can't seem to remember. If I'm just not feeling what's on my Kindle at the moment, I can impulse purchase something else while in my underwear tucked into my bed and have it within seconds, which means I buy more than ever. I also take advantage of the "try a sample" feature, which makes me much more willing to try out a new author. I can use the highlighter and the note tools to keep track of things I want to remember, put manuscripts on it via PDF and no longer have 50,000 half-finished New Yorkers littering my apartment. Is awesome.

[Maria]

I still read ebooks on my laptop--but I use that download sample feature A LOT. It rocks!!!

[CathWren]

A little late with this but can't resist.

I read almost exclusively ebooks these days. Other than things like cookbooks, decorating, etc, that have pictures or lists, I buy very few paper books and then only if they aren't available in ebook form. Most likely, if they aren't, they have to be very special for me to bother.

I love paperbooks but you can't adjust the font to make it larger and you can't carry 800 of them around in your purse.

So, for you authors and agents, please don't distain the ebook market...oh, and don't limit yourself to the Kindle. I read on my Palm PDA or my laptop. I'm not fond of Amazon and generally won't buy from them unless it is something I can't live without and isn't available elsewhere.

CathWren