Say Goodbye to the $9.99 Kindle Book---thanks, Apple!

[AdamJury]

I dont get the e-book phenomenon at all... paper is better than it all with kindle close, but free book from library or shipped from Amazon at great rates is plenty good. Its not like you cant wait for 2 days to get a book that will take you weeks to finish.

I think the experience of reading an e-ink device is very close if not identical to that of reading a print book. Sure, there's the slightly annoying page refresh -- but everyone is used to the slightly annoying page flip in a print book, and nobody complains about that.

Another advantage of an e-ink readers (but not the iPad!) is that they're small enough to tuck into your jacket pocket or into a woman's purse, and of course, you get all your titles with you at once, no need to pick one or two "airplane books" when travelling. I spend time reading now while standing in line at the bank or virtually any time when I would previously be standing around doing nothing (or toying around with my iPod). Having an e-reader has increased the amount of time I spend reading, and increased the amount of time I spend reading print books too, because it has me back in the habit of reading for pleasure (something that can drift away when you work in publishing... )

Some libraries are starting to loan out ebooks now, too.

[TechMaster]

As a publisher, the power that Amazon currently wields and may wield in the future is actually rather scary. As a consumer I'm unhappy to see higher ebook prices, but Amazon being so dominant in the book and ebook market may well cause more damage to the publishing industry: as Amazon drives book prices to the point where readers begin to think that printed books "should" be priced at only 60-70% of cover price, eventually other retailers will have to follow, which will create a situation where retailers and distributors pay publishers even less per title (and right now, it's typically less than 40% of cover price). As publisher's profits per-title shrink, so does their ability to market new authors, perform quality control, etc.

Publishing is both thrilling and terrifying right now.

As far as I'm concerned the Publishing industry can go to hell. Most are no better than the Music Industry's RIAA. Ripping off the artist and pocketing the savings they make as pure profit for themselves.
If they don't change their ways they just might do themselves out of business as Writers decide to self publish. As for new writers, I have found quite a few from Amazon's self publishing setup.

[AdamJury]

The "publishing industry" is a lot more diverse than the "big six," TechMaster.

And when people self-publish, one of the reasons they do so is they can make more money per-unit, but that's generally under the assumption that they will likely sell fewer copies as they don't have access to the major chains. If the price of a book continues to erode, that profit also continues to erode, perhaps to the point where authors end up no better than they were under the umbrella of a major publisher.

Is publishing fraught with issues? Hell yes. Is there any easy fix, like "destroy all big publishers"? Hell no.

[November Mike]

Print has been dying a slow but ever present death for a very long time now. I used to buy alot of books and it would always be hardcover. I found out that they do not resell very well. People want them for pennies compared, and it doesnt matter how great of a condition you kept them in. I've made the switch to audio books several years ago and they still resell well. But if I was put out a book, I would do it through lulu or some place like that so that I and only select others can have a copy.

[joejet]

Another advantage of an e-ink readers (but not the iPad!) is that they're small enough to tuck into your jacket pocket or into a woman's purse, and of course, you get all your titles with you at once, no need to pick one or two "airplane books" when travelling. I spend time reading now while standing in line at the bank or virtually any time when I would previously be standing around doing nothing (or toying around with my iPod). Having an e-reader has increased the amount of time I spend reading, and increased the amount of time I spend reading print books too, because it has me back in the habit of reading for pleasure (something that can drift away when you work in publishing... )
.

Dude, you REALLY need to see the size of a paperback. Not that heavy at all, and you can actually carry it around and stick it in a coat pocket or purse!

Also - i get the Kindle a little, BUT not the I-PAD or reading books on a non-e-ink device.

[Asuran]

ppl still buy books? OMG I must either be so behind or so ahead. I haven't seen a book shop in a long time, Heck I only relised Amazon sold books last year when a friend on skype told me that I can get a book for my dads birthday from Amazon. The closest to a book I read is a Game/PC instruction manual.

Ok well maybe I have read a bit of a book recently, about a year ago and it's been sat on my bedside table for awhile being used to hold my DSi so it doesn't fall onto the floor and even that book is my dads. I have never spent more then $14 on a book and never will, not even ebooks which I feel should be much cheaper then their hard/soft back counterpart. Although saying that I have 1 ebook on my Nokia 5800 which got deleted a few months ago as I never actually read it, the wizard of Oz ebook sounded good when I downloaded it for free.

I want to see a Ebook reader released in a UK as I have only seen them for sale in the USA As for the ipad I have a feeling it's not going to be popular, apparently the reception wasn't that well received *shrugs*

[AdamJury]

Dude, you REALLY need to see the size of a paperback. Not that heavy at all, and you can actually carry it around and stick it in a coat pocket or purse!

My Sony reader is both thinner and lighter than a paperback, and easier to hold open in situations that aren't "normal" reading situations. And, of course, it has a billion titles on it.

I love reading, I love books. I'll use the best tool for the job -- sometimes that's a hardcover, sometimes it's an oversized softcover, sometimes it's an ebook. That's the way I try and produce books, too: using the format and presentation that best fits the material, how it will be used, and who will use it.