Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, Guatemala

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Is e-publishing for you?

Who isn't interested in the topic of epublishing right now? A year ago I wasn't in the least. Now I'm compelled to find out more about it. My publisher plans on trying it out with my novel Uncut Diamonds as it's first trial and error project. I'm fine with being the guinea pig. It won't be the first time lol!

I interviewed author Victoria Wescott a few months ago on my blog. You can read that interview here if you want to see why she went this route and how she made it happen. Another blogger and writer I have followed for some time, Simon Kewin over at Spellmaking, recently made the decision to publish on Kindle.

As usual, I have a lot of questions about the process, and Simon has agreed to be interviewed about his experience. So watch for it in the coming days! Meanwhile, I'm wondering-- has anyone else considered epublishing as an option? Why or why not?

23 comments:

  1. Well I have a short story under consideration for an e-book anthology... so *if* it's successful then I may find out! :)

    E-publishing is a godsend for us at work though - I wouldn't be without it, if only because I can actually google my desktop and find the random passage I was thinking of!

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  2. I'd love to hear what Simon says...no pun intended.

    Stop by my place tomorrow, I've got something for you.

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  3. I think you might as well get into it because it's here to stay. I plan to do some e-publishing with my next book. I don't always like to read online or on Kindle but I think the way of the paper book will advance less and less.

    ann

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  4. A woman whose blog I follow just self-published and has the book in hardcover and an ebook format. In the last few days, she's been covering all aspects of the process, if you want to take a look:
    http://myimmortalstories.blogspot.com/

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  5. Theresa, thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

    Ann, I'm with you. It's important to know the whats, whys and wherefores, but personally I can't read a book on a screen. Ever. I tried on my daughter's Kindle.

    Piedmont Writer, haha that's pretty funny. Wonder if Simon has heard that his whole life lol?

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  6. I would be curious to know the demographics of E-book readers. Is there a majority of a certain age? How about commercial vs. literary--is one type of book sought after in this medium over the other? Is it mostly people in a certain income who would tend to buy a kindle?

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  7. Mary, this kind of thing interests me as well. I think a lot of it's all still in flux. My son who's 18 says no one he knows reads books this way. His peers also are not twittering. So there's the generational trends, income trends and all that which would be interesting to know. And my guess would be it would be commercial fiction, not literary that appeals to e-readers. At least to start with.

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  8. That's interesting your son doesn't know anyone who reads ebooks. Right off the bat I thought YA might be some of the biggest readers...but maybe that'll happen in the future. Or not.

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  9. My son's fifth grade teacher is buying two Kindles for her classroom. She's tired of buying books to keep her more avid readers reading. (One is my son. He's read everything she has.) This will be much cheaper in the long run. I think she may also have some technology money to spend so the Kindle money doesn't come directly out of her pocket.

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  10. Kate, this is where I see the Kindle taking off. Or whichever company comes up with a classroom compatible device first, and even offers it to schools at a discount. Like Apple did with pcs back when. When that happens, watch out.

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  11. As with all areas of publishing, this is something writers need to be informed about. That said, traditional publishing is still my preferred route.

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  12. Hi

    It was so easy downloading the freebie Kindle application from the Amazon (US) site! Harder to find which stories to buy - I only did this to read Simon's story - but there were a lot, a lot of stories!

    :-)

    The only problem I found with this downloading Kindle was that I was unable to print the story. Which sort of shows how old fashioned I am and how I prefer old fashioned ways still when it comes to how to read a story! Saying that I do think of all the paper used and I do know someone with a proper £300 kindle who used it to read and loves it. But she holds the screen very close to her face and is so red-eyed at the end of her read, she gets headaches!

    Now I am really rambling! I think e-pub if you are able so sustain financially all the publicity and the cost of publishing and the publicity! 100Stories for Haiti was published by a POD publisher and even with its rigorous editorially checked and chosen content, big shops like Waterstones and WHSmith are giving it a hard time - as in not buying them in bulk to be stocked at their warehouse, subsequently shops. I always think E-pub boils down to having enough money to sustain your publishing venture to be able to compete. It's also good to have your work editorially assessed and rigorously checked by, er.. editors like you, KarenG!

    A writer I came across on youwriteon site e-published her novel "When tomorrow comes". Of course I ordered it and told her. She emailed me saying to not read the blurb at the back of the book because apparently they printed the whole synopsis - all 1000 words of it. She had asked them to change it to make it more of a blurb type but the publishers wanted more money to do so.

    That's all I know about e-pub! LOL! Look forward to Simon's story too!

    take care
    x

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  13. Reading on a screen isn't my favourite way of reading, although that is just going via my monitor - perhaps kindles etc, which are built for screen reading, might be better!

    I'd be interested to read more about it. I would always hope for a traditional outlet for my story, but think it is good business-savvy to keep aware of how the industry moves, and what new ways people can get words to the reader.

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  14. I am not an ebook reader, and am not sure I will ever be. I do think it is another route for writers though. It appears to be quite popular, and I think it will stay.

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  15. Glynis, me neither. I would be like Old Kitty's red-eyed friend.

    Jayne, I feel compelled to find out more about it for the same reason. If this is our business, we better stay aware of the trends.

    Old Kitty, I appreciate your in depth comments. That's too bad about the stores not wanting to take the Haiti book. Doesn't surprise me though.

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  16. I would be interested in finding out more about e-publishing. So I look forward to the interview. I don't have a kindle, I am a bit old fashioned, I like a book in hand and the comfort of turning the pages. I like to highlight passages I want to remember also.

    I am enjoying Uncut Diamonds in its book form.

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  17. I've had two shorts published online, and I love having the ability to direct people to my work with just one click. I don't know anything about the novel side of epublishing, but check back in a year - I'm working on a novel now, and once it's completed I'll need to start gathering info on this important new side of the publishing industry.

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  18. Ann, you bought a copy of Uncut Diamonds? That's awesome & I'm glad you're enjoying it!

    B. Miller, I think that is awesome. I love to hear about writers who are doing this, which is why I'm interviewing Simon. I hope you will enter the discussion later this week when I post his interview.

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  19. Hi Karen, I can see the E book thing taking off, it definitely has potential for schools and universities. Also, as much as I love books, would be wonderful on holiday especially for us avid readers. I would however miss the smell of print and the feel of a new book in my handbag waiting to be enjoyed.
    I think it will be like the photography industry, a lot of people use digital but there are still a lot of people who like to use old fashioned film.

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  20. How could I not comment on this topic. I love my Kindle. I wish every book was availble as an ebook. I could then have all my favorites with me all the time, I would never have to decide which book to take with me. I make the font large for reading at the gym while I run and make the book talk to me when my eyes are tired. My only complaint is with books used for research. It is too hard to find fast something you are looking for. Too bad, because textbooks are heavy.

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  21. I am considering it as an option. But I'm not rushing. I do believe it is the new mid list for authors who are trying to get published. I think it is a viable option for many out there who are willing to self-promote, which is occurring at the print level, too.

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  22. I work in a small publishing company in Ireland, we're a bit behind the US and UK when it comes to ebooks and ereaders, but we're dipping our feet into the pool.

    I'll tell you now, we're very keen to go straight to ebooks where it is possible. However, we have found quite a few authors are not keen on the idea of epublishing. It seems that many feel the prestige is in the hardcopy so it's very interesting to see the comments here.

    I wonder if being behind the US by a year or so in the development and awareness of ebooks is the reason for this? My boss is adamant that the advent of the iPad will change everything. I'm quite interested to see what will happen.

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