Comments on Nathan Bransford, Author: Top 10 Myths About Our E-book Future

I think that ebooks will change how we teacher. I...

2010-09-13T19:54:12.909-07:00

I think that ebooks will change how we teacher. I will no longer have to go to the teacher supply stores and get my curriculum guides. I think that it is wonderful.

E-book readers continue to drop in price. New Kind...

2010-07-29T09:35:00.093-07:00

E-book readers continue to drop in price. New Kindle is $139. That's almost affordable.

I can't say a little literal once fast. Good p...

2010-07-27T22:00:37.864-07:00

I can't say a little literal once fast. Good post. Very interesting.

Re: cost of ebook readers making literature an eli...

2010-07-27T11:36:45.996-07:00

Re: cost of ebook readers making literature an elite privilege. Undoubtedly at a certain point there will be more opportunities to buy used ebook readers. Presently, a laptop that sells for $1000 new goes for under $200 on ebay a couple years later.

Also I thought your opening was funnier if you stopped at the end of the first paragraph ;)

Well done, Nathan. Not sure about how you can shoo...

2010-07-27T10:17:47.574-07:00

Well done, Nathan. Not sure about how you can shoot down "future myths" with any certainty but at least you are acknowledging what a lot of people in your position don't want to hear.
But I also predict the platforms created by co-op and major publisher push will become less important in the next decade, as the audience starts anointing bestsellers instead of advance money pre-determining them. You hit on it with the rainbow guy but that will become the way more authors make it than the other way. In other words, hype will trump quality every single time, just as it does today.

Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com

Behold! Yet I myself am impartial to Lo! Not to ...

2010-07-27T07:32:04.761-07:00

Behold!

Yet I myself am impartial to Lo!

Not to be confused with Lol.

Hi Nathan, Excellent list. Thanks so much. King ...

2010-07-27T05:14:40.050-07:00

Hi Nathan,

Excellent list. Thanks so much.

King County Library (suburban Seattle) offers e-readers, I believe. I was told that they are for the folks who need the big-print books...because of course that can be easily done on an e-reader, right?

Program coordinator Deborah Schneider was the one who suggested the move, if memory serves.

Thanks for the sanity, even amidst the humor.

2010-07-26T13:42:47.505-07:00

Thanks for the sanity, even amidst the humor.

Exactly what I was NOT talking about! http://ljse...

2010-07-25T12:08:28.529-07:00

Exactly what I was NOT talking about!

http://ljsellers.com/wordpress/the-new-gatekeepers

(HT to @mikecane)

As I just published a book of personal Taos storie...

2010-07-25T11:39:33.445-07:00

As I just published a book of personal Taos stories on Amazon Kindle, the issue of reviews for ebooks suddenly becomes more relevant.

Seems like someone is missing a terrific opportunity here. Googling "ebook reviews" brings up a few sites, but nothing truly trustworthy or authoritative. (BTW, if anyone out there wants a review PDF, just holler.) I would be happy to correspond with anyone who has ideas in this area and share the meager information I possess.

In the meantime, Nathan, thank you for this post. I've bookmarked your blog and will return!

Good article but I didn't like the rainbow vid...

2010-07-25T00:05:25.656-07:00

Good article but I didn't like the rainbow video.

Good rebuffs to myths. (I think myths persist in p...

2010-07-24T23:32:52.853-07:00

Good rebuffs to myths. (I think myths persist in part because people find fun in making doomsday predictions.)

Behold!

2010-07-23T18:33:53.816-07:00

Behold!

this is reason #94574386525424523765453 why you ar...

2010-07-23T16:47:34.461-07:00

this is reason #94574386525424523765453 why you are awesome.

He feared the words. Yes, it had been the words th...

2010-07-23T14:52:58.295-07:00

He feared the words. Yes, it had been the words that upset him for a long time now. Listening to the howling of the new dogs outside the fence, he pressed against the brick and mortar. There was no consolation this time. It used to be his safe haven, his sanctuary, but now the doors were tightly shut and it only seemed to push him away, ever closer to the fence and the world outside it. Frantically he leafed through his treasures, again. They gave off the slightest hint of printer's ink, but no answers, again.
Was he indeed doomed? Would the brick and mortar crush him into submission to the new dogs and their words?

Psst . . . Melanie . . . Zip-Lock Bags . . . 1 Gal...

2010-07-23T14:12:21.465-07:00

Psst . . . Melanie . . . Zip-Lock Bags . . . 1 Gallon Size.

;)

The only way I'll buy an e-reader of any kind ...

2010-07-23T13:40:44.618-07:00

The only way I'll buy an e-reader of any kind is if they make them waterproof - not because I'm worried about the same bath water scenario you've come up with, but because I hate reading in the bath and having to hold my paperback at a strange angle to avoid getting the bottom of the pages wet. And heck, if they do that, maybe I'll just read in pools, in the ocean, in the rain... I'd consider these possibilities a true advantage.

By the way, you ought to go play with the Barnes &...

2010-07-23T13:02:35.469-07:00

By the way, you ought to go play with the Barnes & Noble Nook - most of the books available are on the Lend Me program where you can lend your digital copies to friends and family. As long as they get the free eReader software (which works with just about anything), they can read the book.

Terin Tashi - Will the hypnosis wear off? I hope ...

2010-07-23T12:18:10.873-07:00

Terin Tashi - Will the hypnosis wear off? I hope not. I paid 3.99 for that phamplet entitled: "How to hypnotize people by telling them they're sleepy." I want my money's worth!

I have noticed that we tend to agree on many things, though, so I'm not sure it matters. :)

oops sorry about the double post - computer glitch...

2010-07-23T12:02:03.654-07:00

oops sorry about the double post - computer glitch

The ebook technology creates a great opportunity f...

2010-07-23T12:00:15.755-07:00

The ebook technology creates a great opportunity for both writers and readers. Publishing no longer has to restrict itself by the physical limitations of physical books, physical bookstore and the need for physical storage and transportation. These limitations are the basis for the publishing industries gateway over what can be published.

In my opinion the publishing industry doesn’t have a great track record as a gatekeeper. I believe about 60% of published books do not make back their advance. That also means that many of the remaining 30% may not make back much more than their advance. So from an economic perspective they aren’t great pickers. However I don’t know if that is a personal critique or it is just not possible to be a good picker. Perhaps no matter whom you are, you can’t consistently pick winners in an “art” market.

From a “good book” perspective I think the publishing industry isn’t so great in the gate keeping arena either. People/readers are always saying how did that crummy book get published? And it doesn’t matter what book. Some people say it about book “x” and others about book “y”. What it comes down to is taste and everyone has their own taste and why should your taste be restricted by someone else’s taste?

Apparently a lot of people like to read what I consider to be crummy books. Well god bless em, who am I to tell them no?

With the advent of ebooks readers could now have access to books they would not be able to before and I think that is a good thing. And writers to a chance at an audience they might previously be denied. And it’s not just because a writer can easily self-publish and ebook, it’s because that ebook can sell for a lot less and so a lot more readers may be willing to give it a try.

I think the mainstream publishing industry is out to lunch. IMHO if they were smart they would open ebook divisions and publish in a more expeditious manner more books directly as ebooks, charge less for them, give no advances and a higher royalty. Don’t try to pick winners or books you like but publish anything with up to a certain moderate standard of credibility and let the readers decide. There could be different tracks for books that need more and less editing. And the publishing industry should bring back editing – editors who’s job it is to work on books with authors. Maybe they should start hiring people who only do that.

Ebooks also make it possible for authors to make more money: 60% of a $2 book will get you more than 12% of a hardcover when you only sell 2k of your hardcover at $17.99 and you sell 30k of your ebook at $2.

Mainstream publishing now does: hard-cover to soft-cover to ebooks. The have it backwards. It should be, and I think in the future will be, ebooks to soft-cover maybe and lastly hard-cover maybe. Publishing houses will not cease to exist but they will change and some of the now existing ones will close. Probably others will open. This will not happen over night.

I have worked in tech r&d (research and development). And this is how you get great results in r&d: you hire a lot of people, throw a lot of money at it and let people work on their ideas. You get a lot of crap, but you also get the gems. This is how America became great in technology, mostly by the government supporting r&d in Universities and big corporations. I believe it is the same with “art” you let people work on their ideas and let them bring them to market and let the market decide. Ebooks technology can allow this to happen.

The ebook technology creates a great opportunity f...

2010-07-23T11:59:30.239-07:00

The question I continue to have about ereaders is,...

2010-07-23T10:55:39.590-07:00

The question I continue to have about ereaders is, "What do we do those first %@* 30 minutes on a plane when the device has to be turned off?" Sit there quietly? I think not.

Still, I have an iPad.

Richard Nash said in an interview that he thinks t...

2010-07-23T08:48:01.616-07:00

Richard Nash said in an interview that he thinks the mega chain bookstores may well disappear and a few indies will take their place. Those stores will become integrals part of the community. I love the sound of that.

I'm with you; I don't think the sky is falling. I posted about that today.

http://www.keetha.com/2010/07/weighing-in.html

Great post. And thank goodness for #4. I go to the...

2010-07-23T08:19:21.110-07:00

Great post. And thank goodness for #4. I go to the library more often than the bookstore. And in a silly, personal way, #4 makes me laugh a little since my first "real" job was actually at OverDrive, just before they became the largest supplier of eBooks to libraries.