Comments on Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent: Efficiency Wins in the End

Bullshit. Until you can leave an e-reader behind o...

2009-11-27T22:35:17.542-08:00

Bullshit. Until you can leave an e-reader behind on a bus and not be troubled by the loss because you can go to the nearest e-reader store and pick up another copy for $2, e-readers will never replace real books.

We haven't replaced food and meals, for example, with something "more efficient," even though we could easily get the same effect and arguably have the same experience--at least, on the micro-level of taste buds--from grinding all food into a tube of paste we can take anywhere and "eat" anywhere.

There are certain things that are irreducible, and cannot be improved on, and books are one of them.

We are at a time like music was when wax rolls or ...

2009-11-25T00:33:35.310-08:00

We are at a time like music was when wax rolls or 78 records were the state of the art with the digital book. Many pieces of excellent work will be lost as we go forward into newer formats and old are lost. That will be a waste and a shame, however the digital book is coming for lots of reasons.

As an author the potential for a much greater profit share of the profits from the sale. As a reader I have the information immediately. Storage is much easier and taking along a number of books or in the near future a library will be common.

Many of us prefer the printed page when we read so I do hope the printed books stays around for the second half of my life.

This article and the many comments show the interest in the ebook going forward.

Edward Philipp

Great post, as always, Nathan. A couple of points...

2009-11-24T13:20:51.050-08:00

Great post, as always, Nathan. A couple of points on the comments... I have friends who are public library librarians. Most of the folks using library computers are there because they can't afford their own, but SOME of them are there because they can't watch porn at home so they watch it at the library. Second, on the "openness" issue, the Kindle just today added support for PDFs, and with Kindle for PC, you can still read your books without a Kindle or an iPhone. I like the looks of the Nook, especially if the virtual keyboard is easy to use, but I have not heard anything to suggest B&N is going to be anymore accommodating than Amazon about other folks' content. On the other hand, I tell people if they need to borrow not buy ebooks, to get a Sony.

Keep spreading the word!

I think e-books will become the standard, but I pr...

2009-11-20T19:25:49.408-08:00

I think e-books will become the standard, but I prefer not to think of that as winning.

Okay, so I'll go against everyone and say that I t...

2009-11-20T11:56:40.033-08:00

Okay, so I'll go against everyone and say that I think books are here to stay.

We still go to the theatre, even though we have cinemas.

We still go to the cinema, even though we have DVDs and TVs.

Huge sections of the worlds population do not have TVs or cinemas. They are still luxury items. They put on plays.

e-readers need a power source, which costs money.

we use cars for convenience, but driving hasn't replaced walking. Or bikes. They are there for a specific aspect of our lives, not all of it.

The one area of traditional music business where sales are actually increasing? Vinyl.

Authors can't sign my e-book.

I really don't reccommend reading your e-book in the bath.

There just isn't the same connection between a file my dad emails to me and the book he gave to me.

If i drop my print book, I don't lose my entire library.

An e-book on my shelf just doesn't have the same impact as my favourite novels do.

books don't require a powersource to read them (well, okay, not during the day).

books don't suffer unexplained breakdowns and need to be returned to the manufacturer for fixing.

Finally, and I apologise for the high horse on this one but it is the librarian in me speaking, unless you envisage a day when everyone is supplied with e-readers for free, the power to run them for free, free support on how to use them, the ability to share the books for free and free upgrades for life, then I really mourn the day that e-readers replace books.

Nathan, you said yourself, "almost everyone" will have e-readers, so we don't need books. What about the people who don't? They effectively become a social subclass without access to information, without the ability to improve their lives through study because they lack the means to access or acquire knowledge. There are huge areas of the planet that don't even get to have the "outdated" technology of books. How do they get e-readers? And once they've got e-readers, how do they get e-books? How do they get the power to use the e-readers, when they don't have a reliable source of electricity?

I honestly believe there is a place for both in the world. I like e-readers, but they don't replace my books, much the same way that my car has not replaced my desire - or need - to walk.

Music's "sub-standard" live performances Visual ...

2009-11-20T11:55:39.091-08:00

Music's "sub-standard" live performances

Visual Arts are much more hi-def on my digital... yarda yarda yarda TV - but appreciating is all in the "being-there"

Books - viewed on a screen with eyes wide? I wouldn't want to lose the narrow focus between eye and page;reading with head on one side turning, almost before, finishing the words - I've tried with e-books... doesn't work.

I keep thinking we're going to miss owning things ...

2009-11-20T10:57:45.065-08:00

I keep thinking we're going to miss owning things if everything goes digital. Isn't it nice to hold something, feel the heft of it, the weight, the texture? I guess I'll just always love the book as object.

For my store closing I've been going through thousands and thousands of books. Some go on the shelves... and some get redirected to my home library. And what draws me first to a lot of these books is not the title, author, or subject, but the book as an object. The glow off the cover, a font, a colour... For example I just grabbed this book out of a pile. Now, I kept it because it's a subject that interests me... but what drew me was the physical presence of the book itself. A mint copy in a brodart cover. Crisp pages. The art of the cover pulled me in with all that open space and the combination of light and haze and silhouettes.

Will people miss this? Miss it enough to forego the digital venture? Makes me wonder. There's a satisfaction in possessing physcial things which I think is lacking in digital ownership. It's hard to luxuriate over strings of binary code. There's just the singular device itself. I wonder how much this will play into the future of books... will the objectness of books keep them alive for the general public? Or merely as artistic curios for collectors and retro diehards?

Though I do have to say the smell of a mildewed or...

2009-11-20T10:33:10.511-08:00

Though I do have to say the smell of a mildewed or decomposing book is no fun and makes me run for the bathroom.

Oh, Nathan, no surprise there are a lot of comment...

2009-11-20T10:31:13.402-08:00

Oh, Nathan, no surprise there are a lot of comments here, and I didn't have time yesterday...I think you are so smart, and I love reading your blog every day, and my husband just gave me his old Blackberry which is my first chance to read on a portable screen, but I just so love books and pages and the smell of books and how the spine of a hc crackles open with a sigh; I even love the weight of books, though less now with a back strain than years ago when I used to carry the Riverside Shakespeare around campus in my backpack even when I didn't have Shakespeare class. And I agree with what Anon said about the imagination craving idleness. And I also agree with you that that need for idleness and poetry, which I would never want to give up, can be balanced by the efficiency side of things when it's time for the efficency. I don't want to go back to my IBM Selectric typewriter or stone tablets. But now I will go back to revising my book again.

From the Gutenberg Bible to an app on an i-phone. ...

2009-11-20T10:12:38.059-08:00

From the Gutenberg Bible to an app on an i-phone. Wow. That's progress! And so efficient too!

I agree, Nathan. I find it is so cool that there a...

2009-11-20T10:11:02.572-08:00

I agree, Nathan. I find it is so cool that there are places and people like this.

anon- Those are the type of bookstores that will ...

2009-11-20T10:09:29.244-08:00

anon-

Those are the type of bookstores that will survive - people love them, and for good reason. They provide an experience that can't be replaced anywhere else. I don't think the bookstores we love the most will ever disappear, and I don't think anyone should want them to. I certainly don't.

http://www.therejectionist.com/2009/11/author-frie...

2009-11-20T10:07:27.532-08:00

http://www.therejectionist.com/2009/11/author-friends-meet-word-bookstore.html

The bookstore experience was pretty dreadful until...

2009-11-20T10:00:41.109-08:00

The bookstore experience was pretty dreadful until the mid 1990s when bookstores became big, happy, friendly places filled with floors of books, and inviting cafes.

Before this, most (but not all) bookstores were small, dusty, cramped places where not very pleasant employees sneered down at the customers. The instore selection was dismal. And customers were NOT ALLOWED to actually touch the books...nevermind read a chapter or two.

Books were also quite expensive.

This all changed in the mid 1990s. Then Amazon came along. And other online bookstores. And then electronic versions came along. And it all became nice and friendly and easy and cheap.

Buying books is easier than ever. Once the kinks get all sorted out with e-readers, they will dominate. Just like cell phones. I wasn't an early adopter of those either...when they were large, cumbersome, filled with bugs and also expensive. But today, I've got a great little cell phone that I love. And I can't remember how I lived without it.

dont mean to change the subject but nathan i notic...

2009-11-20T10:00:27.423-08:00

dont mean to change the subject but nathan i noticed your time stamp is 11:11.

http://1111journey.com/symbolic-references-1111/

Interesting links there too.

2009-11-20T09:53:19.231-08:00

Interesting links there too.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/so-yo...

2009-11-20T09:49:39.417-08:00

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/so-you-want-to-borrow-an-e-book/

Interesting article on libraries loaning e-books (I found when no one answered my question. I still don't know if the book just "disappears" after its loan period or if you get fined or what. Also, I think it would be reasonable to loan out more than one e-book copy at a time.

I'm afraid you're right, Nathan. But something's l...

2009-11-20T09:47:36.517-08:00

I'm afraid you're right, Nathan. But something's lost when something's gained, as the old song says--and what we lose in making everything efficient is ultimately our humanity. We lose touch with the earth, the slow passage of the days and seasons, with other human beings on a deep level, although surface contact is multiplied. I use technology because I have to, and I'm not immune to the efficiency bug myself; but one function of the poet/writer/artist/musician/etc is to encourage everyone to stop for a moment and contemplate the other values in life to which efficiency does not contribute. Thus to have literature delivered too efficiently actually goes against its purpose.

Though there are many valid points here, my own op...

2009-11-20T09:43:35.558-08:00

Though there are many valid points here, my own opinion is that just because you have the technology to do something doesn't mean you should necessarily do it. We should ask ourselves what we are giving up by transitioning to a system of life based predominantly in the digital realm: mainly, human connection.

What would the midnight release of the final Harry Potter novel have been like if you were simply sitting at home, waiting for a download to be sent to you from an automated machine? For me, it would have lost all the magic. You may keep your e-reader, and I will keep my book.
- AL

I asked my twenty-six year old daughter if she pre...

2009-11-20T09:28:01.565-08:00

I asked my twenty-six year old daughter if she preferred music in CD or MP3 format. She said she prefers the CD and then she transfers it to MP3. That way, she has back up.
Having lost a computer hard-drive once, I agree.(And yes Iknow back-up your HD too.)
I like the "stuff" that comes with a physical CD or book, the pictures, etc. I would find it an attractive thing to be able to have both (electronic and physical)books for some of my books, but for others, just electronic:
especially heavy, boring, overpriced textbooks (for ALL ages from grade school forward).

Word.

2009-11-20T09:14:47.669-08:00

Word.

You're probably right about e-books taking over, b...

2009-11-20T09:14:02.422-08:00

You're probably right about e-books taking over, but I don't like it. Like Ray Bradbury I enjoy going to bookstores, handling the books, reading the cover copy and perhaps a few paragraphs, and buying on impulse. It's not as fun to sit at my computer and browse e-books.

By the way, do they actually manufacture typewriters anymore?

OK, you're right once again, Nathan: ebooks are o...

2009-11-20T08:45:55.553-08:00

OK, you're right once again, Nathan: ebooks are on the rise and very likely going to be THE next thing in our readers' future. But that doesn't mean they will DISPLACE the old-fashioned printed book. What will happen, I think, is that ebooks will INCREASE the reading audience, especially if made more attractive with music and video and easily accessible on all sorts of devices, including phones...That will make it a vastly different product from the old-fashioned book, and, as a result, it will command a different and new market. See, I'm a born-optimist! But when it comes to the timeframe for this change, I'm not so sure.
Surely it won't happen soon, at least not on a world-wide basis. I live in Rome, and I can assure you that Kindles and Nooks are chinese to most people around here. We live in an antique city and cling to our antiques...like books printed on(inefficient)paper - they're such decorative objects!

I'm interested in seeing Apple's new device that c...

2009-11-20T08:29:33.494-08:00

I'm interested in seeing Apple's new device that claims to wrap iphone, mp3 player, ereader (and some other things), into one device. If Apple can pull it off and make things more efficient-one device that does it all and does it well-then it will be a boon to people as well as those who supply the apps for those devices. Ereading in general would get shot in the arm.

There's nothing really to be bummed about, Chuck. ...

2009-11-20T08:24:03.967-08:00

There's nothing really to be bummed about, Chuck. This is a wonderful moment in history that you are alive to see. There were scrolls for how long? And then books written by scribes for centuries, and then the printing press, and now the e-reader.

E-readers are not complicated devices. They are not like computers. It's not the same as reading from a computer. They use only a small amount of power, unless you switch on the wireless connection, so small in fact, you could run them with solar if they designed them that way.