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eBooks: Pro and Con; Two different articles
Topic Started: Jul 22 2009, 06:26 AM (108 Views)
Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Weird. I read this article in WSJ a week or so ago:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124744388627630253.html

Here's the meat of it:

Quote:
 
A leading independent publisher is saying no to the e-book format for one of its big September titles...

Sourcebooks' chief executive said it will delay by at least half a year the e-book version of "Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse," a young-readers title in the vein of Harry Potter that goes on sale Sept. 9.

Publishers are concerned that so many successful new titles are sold for $9.99 or less on Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle electronic book reader and Fictionwise, an e-book retailer owned by Barnes & Noble Inc. In contrast, new hardcover novels typically retail for $25 to $27.

"It doesn't make sense for a new book to be valued at $9.99," said Dominique Raccah, CEO of Sourcebooks, which issues 250 to 300 new titles annually. "The argument is that the cheaper the book is, the more people will buy it. But hardcover books have an audience, and we shouldn't cannibalize it."


But you hear this sort of thing all the time, too:

Quote:
 
I don't buy books anymore. That is I don't buy hard copies of books anymore. I've been an eReader user for more than three years. ...


Honestly I think they're asking the wrong kind of questions. It's a different format, folks. eBooks have some features that books cannot provide. The opposite is also true. Both have their place, and as usual companies are making some mistakes as they figure them out, but ah well, that's the way it works.

I personally think that eBooks can really pave the way for novellas, short stories and maybe even poetry. Does anybody know where the short story section is in their local Borders? Do they even have one? The beauty of on-line shopping, though, is that short works will be just as within reach as the stuff on the NYT bestseller list.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
Baen has found having a free library of ebooks actually increases sales of an author's backlist.

The library:

http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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