Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: The Top 10 Myths About E-Books

I agree with you 100% Brandi. Schools and universi...

2010-08-24T17:31:18.395-07:00

I agree with you 100% Brandi. Schools and universities will benefit from e-readers, and be very popular with students.

Cherie Le Clare
www.cherieleclare.com

I think that if more college textbooks were availa...

2010-08-21T05:56:36.672-07:00

I think that if more college textbooks were available as ebooks, e-readers would be the most popular electronics in history. Not only are e-textbooks more affordable than the bound versions, but think of the backs we would save if people no longer had to carry around back-packs. They'd just grab a bag with a notebook, paper, calculator, and e-reader. Oh, the possibilities... I just hope that more e-textbooks are available before my sophomore year; then I'd be living in a dream world.

Nathan, thanks for this post. I am still very fir...

2009-12-19T21:59:07.469-08:00

Nathan, thanks for this post. I am still very firmly planted in the print books camp, for reasons much like those expressed by J. Matthew Saunders and Remus Shepherd, but it was good to hear that there is a little more flexibility in e-readers than I had previously thought.

I just like printed material. I like the weighty feel of a book in my hand; I like that I can visualize where in the book that part I liked and want to go back to was (on the left hand side, near the bottom, just short of halfway through, big paragraph starting with "however"); I like the smell of a printed book, and the feel of the paper between my fingers; I like that no-one can sneak into my house without my knowledge or permission and take my books off of the shelves. I also love that printed material is a physical link to the past, to our history and our culture. Electronic media is good for some things, but for me, it isn't a good way to read a book.

Someone in an earlier thread about this said that reading a book on an e-reader was akin to the experience of going to see a movie, while reading a book was akin to buying the DVD. For me, reading a printed book is a far, far more enriching experience than reading electronically stored text off of a screen, AND I get to keep it at the end!

I've had my Kindle for about a year and adore ...

2009-12-14T15:45:17.697-08:00

I've had my Kindle for about a year and adore it. I suffer from ocular rosacea and chronic dry eye, and book reading had become painful (especially if I did it at the end of the day). With my Kindle, it's actually clearer than printed books (no uneven inking) and the adjustable font has been a blessing. I can read for hours on the Kindle -- something I cannot do on a backlit screen or even a printed book anymore.

Plus, being able to tote a thousand books with me on vacation is marvelous.

It's paid for itself in public domain classics alone (which are mostly free from various sites).

A little over a year ago, I thought e-readers were evil (I'm a writer too), but I've done a complete about-face since owning the Kindle. Now I'll likely always own an e-reader of some stripe.

I wrote a "50 Reasons Ebooks Are Better" article at my personal MikeFook com site. If anyone is interested. 157 comments here already - amazing stuff! Great article - I shared it with my other writer friends.

I love my e-reader. I can't imagine going bac...

2009-12-05T04:54:28.564-08:00

I love my e-reader. I can't imagine going back to paper only. I was resistant at first, but got sick or lugging my laptop or critique mates' manuscripts everywhere. I bought the Kindle for that reason, but ended up addicted to it. I have doubled the number of books I read a year simply because of the ease of book purchases and the portability of the device.

Thanks for the post. I now have a place to point my nay-saying friends.

Starbucks - except for that whole "non-compet...

2009-12-01T13:31:47.159-08:00

Starbucks - except for that whole "non-compete" clause in your contract. If your publisher does an electronic edition (mine does) it makes sense to let them have the rights, with a time-limit on their exercise of those rights.

One other way ereaders save money - I can (and do!...

2009-12-01T13:22:58.269-08:00

One other way ereaders save money - I can (and do!) subscribe to a major national daily newspaper for much less than the paper copy of the regional paper I used to buy. The actual dollars-and-cents penciled out to recovering the cost of the Kindle in less than 6 months.

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I haven'...

2009-11-30T22:56:17.315-08:00

Very interesting. Thanks for the info. I haven't tried an e-Reader yet -- still in love with paper books too much. But this makes them seem more attractive.

As someone who is e-published as well as tradition...

2009-11-29T10:18:58.297-08:00

As someone who is e-published as well as traditionally published, let me just say thank you for this post. you made a lot of my fellow e-pubbed authors very happy as well...

As an author who has published primarily in electr...

2009-11-28T14:10:51.067-08:00

As an author who has published primarily in electronic format, I can't tell you how nice it is to read such a positive post on electronic media. While I do have some books available in both print and e-book (one of my books is only available in paperback, and I also have a book available in audio) the royalty rates for the e-books can't be beat.

Thank you, Mr. Bransford, for setting the record straight.

Point No. 2 It is not a myth. I have lost ebooks ...

2009-11-27T04:50:37.041-08:00

Point No. 2

It is not a myth. I have lost ebooks because of software upgrades, changing pcs etc.

I "bought" adobe drm files (more fool me) because I liked the they looked on my pc. I don't have an ebook reader, I can't afford it. They ARE expensive for someone on a low income.

Anyway back to the adobe books that I lost because of the FORCED upgrade. I couldn't not upgrade. I have back-up copies but adobe won't read them. I can't redownload because the store no longer exists. Another time I changed computers and I had to redownload my books. A couple of them I had apparently reached some arbatory limit set by the publisher. I contacted the store back in February when I bought my new pc. I'm still waiting to hear back.

So while you may be having a great time with Amazon and your Kindle. All stores, and all ebook formats are not equal.

Some now I'm out $30+ on these books that I have lost. It doesn't encourage me to buy ebooks with drm I can tell you.

This is not comparable this to the music industry where even if I buy a track with drm I can burn it to disc and play the track in another computer. I can't do the same with a drm'd ebook.

Sarah

> For a casual reader: yeah, a dedicated e-read...

2009-11-27T01:30:50.115-08:00

> For a casual reader: yeah, a dedicated e-reader
> probably doesn't make the most sense.

You should have added "financially" here as overall, an e-reader still makes sense even for a casual reader.

Matthew, The point is that e-books aren't abo...

2009-11-26T09:24:15.881-08:00

Matthew,

The point is that e-books aren't about killing the print book. They are about choices for readers and increasing markets (books available nearly worldwide in English language from day one, expats buying books, and so forth). If your tastes run to print books, read them. Personally, I read about half and half these days. Some of my favorite authors are available in e first, so I get the books the week they come out, just as I do with a bestseller I adore that comes out in hard bound...or something that comes out in mass market.

Brenna

Ghostfolk, Usually you can purchase certain forma...

2009-11-26T09:20:10.921-08:00

Ghostfolk,

Usually you can purchase certain formats elsewhere and convert them for the reader you own. The easiest things to convert are things like RTF, DOC, HTML, and ePub. The hardest would be some forms of PDF, DRMd of all types, and proprietary formats.

And yes...you can purchase e-books direct from the publisher and then put them on your handheld, as long as you're buying the right formats.

Brenna

I don't think Anonymous has much to worry abou...

2009-11-26T09:16:56.096-08:00

I don't think Anonymous has much to worry about, personally. There's all this scare going on about $10 for e-books, but the fact is that it's the high end Kindle set, not the average or low end or (heavens forbid) a price they set and give publishers no choice in...and it's the high end on a book also available in hard cover.

If you check indies selling through Amazon, you will find Kindle books selling for $2-7, depending on length and genre. Even if Amazon made it difficult for indies to sell through them,-- and they don't want to do that, I'm sure--you can covert books bought other places for use on most readers. There's currently no way to force readers to purchase from just one place.

Brenna

Some things I can add to this... According to oph...

2009-11-26T09:11:57.766-08:00

Some things I can add to this...

According to ophthalmologists, even backlit screens in use today are much better for your eyes than the old CRT screens. They recommend them for their vision impaired patients. The only caveat is that you should not use backlit screens in a completely darkened room. THAT is bad for your eyes.

Many places you can purchase e-books have a bookshelf for you, so you can download books again in case of catastrophic loss. And, only DRMd (secured) formats are difficult to back up. Indie press usually uses unsecured formats which can be backed up. In addition, many of the unsecured formats can be converted to other proprietary formats AND there is such a thing as backward compatibility.

Not all e-book readers are expensive. While Kindle admittedly is, other readers, like the Cooler, eBookwise, and others are very reasonably priced. The eBookwise--which is a very basic reader, durable, able to be taken into schools with kids, and so forth--is selling for less than $100, including shipping.

I'm glad to see you singled out the major conglomerates as giving low royalties on e-books. Indie/e tends to give between 30 and 50 percent on site sales and that amount of net on third party sales.

Brenna

Thank you so much for this information. I've ...

2009-11-25T12:40:25.642-08:00

Thank you so much for this information. I've been debating whether or not to purchase a Kindle or similar reader. I like to read when I'm on a plane but it's hard to predict what I'll be in the mood to read. An e-Reader would take up less space in my carry-on than the three or four books plus crossword and sudoku magazines I generally bring.

I can't see my having an e-Reader causing me to stop purchasing hardcover books and such. There's something intimately tactile about having a physical copy of a beloved book in your bookcase. Besides, I imagine they haven't figured out a way for authors to leave a personal inscription in an e-Book.

Thanks again for compiling this information. At the end of the day I think anything that has the potential to get people to read more should be welcomed and embraced.

THANK YOU.

2009-11-25T10:51:04.018-08:00

THANK YOU.

I love reading on my iPhone. I reread War and Peac...

2009-11-25T10:01:37.633-08:00

I love reading on my iPhone. I reread War and Peace, and it was a fabulous experience. Now I am rereading Proust. It works very well for very long books.

@Ryan, check out the Vook, which actually looks ve...

2009-11-25T05:55:02.985-08:00

@Ryan, check out the Vook, which actually looks very cool and has LOTS of possible applications (the cooking and exercise books being great examples of a good use for this): http://www.vook.com/

Does anyone know if Kindle or Nook plan on having ...

2009-11-24T22:16:37.040-08:00

Does anyone know if Kindle or Nook plan on having the technology to play a short video within a book file? We love pictures in books. Why not a short movie in an e-book? Imagine a memoir with tightly edited shorts within the pages. Mine can be the first. :)

I'm thinking shorts no longer than two minutes long that would add to the experience. Still lots of work to do on the videos and more revisions on the book itself but something along these lines.

http://thechinproject.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/round-em-up-chapter-8-excerpt/

Thanks so much for this. I've been considering...

2009-11-24T19:05:08.806-08:00

Thanks so much for this. I've been considering getting a Kindle once the price goes down and this really helped seal my approval for them. I wasn't worried about too much... I think anyone who's actually seen an E-reader in real life knows most of these myths to be untrue. Still, some of those tidbits were really helpful. I, for one, would've never considered putting an E-reader in a ziplock bag for the beach XD Thanks again!

Oh - but yeah, if you drop your Kindle in the pool...

2009-11-24T19:00:29.359-08:00

Oh - but yeah, if you drop your Kindle in the pool you're out a Kindle.

Steve- Not quite true. epub books can be read on ...

2009-11-24T19:00:03.875-08:00

Steve-

Not quite true. epub books can be read on multiple devices. You also don't lose your e-books if you lose your device provided you've either backed them up or bought from Amazon, who knows you bought them. I'm not an expert on the green issue, but I've only seen studies that say that they're green - the only dissents I've seen have come from nonexperts.