Comments on: The Death of Traditional Book Publishing

By: Big Announcement « The Southern Muse

Big Announcement « The Southern Muse — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:03:09 +0000

[...] up on the hubbub over the death of traditional publishing (you can also read about it here and here). Blog posts exclaiming that you too can write and sell an instant money-making eBook in seven easy [...]

By: Donald James Parker

Donald James Parker — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:24:52 +0000

This demo was very impressive – but it deals with magazines. Books need to be read in page order – magazines allow flipping back and forth. Video also is relevant to a sporting event where in addition to the story about the game, real life footage can be shown. That is indeed a rich experience. However how would that work with a book? I don't see how you could integrate video, audio, and pictures seamlessly into a book reading experience.
I actually pondered this functionality 10 years ago when I created a computer program to read books. Unfortunately I never aggressively pursued marketing this program when I was on the leading edge. I didn't see a way to make features like these work then. The only way I see them working now in a book is to present an option for the reader to interrupt their reading experience to watch a video or look at a picture. That might be great for children's books, which are often filled with illustrations aiding those with a short attention span to stay interested. When I read a novel, I don't want to stop the flow to look at a picture of something which might conflict with the picture I had in my head of a scene. Just having the technological wherewithal to do something doesn't necessarily make it useful to do it. This certainly could revolutionize the magazine industry in the near future, but I don't see books employing this technology on a wide scale basis.
Donald James Parker
Author of Homeless Like Me

By: chima o.

chima o. — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:49:28 +0000

Tradtional book publishing is not going away any time soon. Its proclaimed demise is both premature and overstated. Authors may have myriads of ways to get their works published, but of what good is a work that is not read? As of now, and in distant future, getting one's work to the book store is a surer way of getting noticed. And that is where tradtional publishers still hold the edge. If you want to be read or make somem dough, traditional publishing is the way to go. And that is the hard truth.

By: e-Books, e-Readers, and Publishing « PROSELADY

e-Books, e-Readers, and Publishing « PROSELADY — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:33:11 +0000

[...] The $9.99 new release pricing on Amazon.com appears to be a reasonable price point to many buyers. After reading many Kindle listserv posts on the topic, most posters believe they will not purchase books above this price point, except for extreme specialty items. Such a pricing model, I’ve read, would put publishers in the red. Another thread lauded the many samples readers can download before purchasing as a true plus with their Kindles. I have fallen in love with Amazon’s price for both an electronic copy and a physical copy of some books that don’t format well for the Kindle. For an additional $4, a few months ago I purchased a physical book and its electronic counterpart, always available to me at the Amazon site (this was before I got my Kindle). Thomas Nelson has been re-considering its publishing model. Read CEO Michael Hyatt’s amazing blog post here. [...]

By: jane

jane — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:38:03 +0000

I am unsure of what to say about this article. Mr. Hyatt you are right the publishing industry is probably about to go digital just like the music industry. But I would like to remind you that the artistry of music has not been the same since that has happened. Music is not like it used to be because artists are producing music just to make money. And the same will happen with publishing. There are enough people who think they can write that can’t and this will only get worse with digital publishing. Just something to keep in mind

By: Cliff Allen

Cliff Allen — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:57:26 +0000

I realize this post is just over two years old — and the Amazon Kindle is on the market — but my Motion slate Tablet PC meets most of the specs you list for reading e-books. A Tablet PC won’t work for everybody, but it’s great for people who take notes in meetings — and it works very well as an e-book reader.

By: Morten K. Holst

Morten K. Holst — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:28:52 +0000

I really believe in e-paper. Your head doesn't start hurting after 20+ pages because it's not an ordinary backlit screen but actual ink; one white 'blank' side and one black 'ink' side which then turns respectively to the page you're looking at. This also mean battery time is not in hours but page-turns. Oh, did I mention it bendable? Just imagine: anyone can publish anything.. books, papers.. all they need is a word-processor and internet connection. We'll see plenty e-paper devices in the following year, like the Cybook. Should be interesting.

By: Joseph A. di Paolantonio

Joseph A. di Paolantonio — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 20:55:47 +0000

I’ve been reading ebooks on my Palm for a few years now. I like to set the background to a deep blue, and the text to white. The text can be made any size or any font style. The battery life is more than adequate for a day’s worth of reading. I’ve never had to remove a book from my SD card for want of space – and it’s only 256MB. Of course, the PalmOS allows for thousands of applications. The eReader allows for highlighting, “dogear” bookmarking, notes, and even reference research or dictionary lookup.

Books from eReader.com generally start out at less than $20 per book when the hardbound edition first comes out, and quickly goes down to about $5.

Palm devices are much smaller and lighter than the device you describe. The Tungsten T|X and Lifedrive both have built-in WiFi and Bluetooth.

I still buy hardbound books for my collection, but rarely need to crack them open or expose them to the visitudes of daily life.

I don’t know why more folk don’t read this way. It is much more convenient and comfortable than traditional books, and far superior to reading on a laptop or desktop computer, or even a three pound tabletPC.

By: PRMAMA: Marketing to Go!

PRMAMA: Marketing to Go! — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 01:39:53 +0000

Corporate Blogging: Everybodys Doing It

It�s…

By: PRMAMA: Marketing to Go!

PRMAMA: Marketing to Go! — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 01:38:47 +0000

Corporate Blogging: Everybodys Doing It

It�s…