E-books are a fairly new phenomenon to me. I classify myself as a late adopter of technology, I just bought a Kindle not long ago. But I want to embrace the new wave in books and authorship because books have always been important to me. My one concern was that by buying into the new digital books, I might be playing a part in doing away with traditional bookstores, paperbacks and the novel as we know it. Below are a few of my fears and what others have to say regarding it.
What will happen to the brick-and-mortar bookstores of today?
People will actually determine what will really happen to it. Think about the last time you visited your favorite bookstore in town. What did you do?
My last visit was during a lunch break from work in which I was trying to escape some of the office stress of launching a new product in a soft economy. I took my time browsing the stacks, reading the synopsis of my favorite writers and then choosing one, I bought a cup of coffee and spent the remainder of my lunch hour reading the first few chapters before I left it on the table and headed back to work without making a purchase.
Other people do this as well. They grab books off the shelves and then hide in a remote corner of the store reading the time away without making a purchase. Other go just to get coffee and spend time with friends. While still others only come when an author is there to speak.
In essence, we’re starting to treat our local bookstore like the local library, a place I often frequent as well.
Is the paperback dead?
Not really, for two reasons. The first reason is that e-readers are still expensive. Whether it’s the new Amazon Kindle Fire or the new iPad just released this year, people still don’t have complete access to e-books and e-readers because of the cost factor. While there are a lot of free e-book downloads out there, have ever heard “You get what you pay for?” You won’t find James Patterson, Stephen King or even J.K. Rowling sending out free e-book downloads to their latest reads.
The 2nd reason that paperbacks are not dead is because with the advance of technology, there will always be those purists who like things the way they are. There is a whole group of people who avoid giving into the e-book fad because they worry that they will be giving in to something that will be the downfall of the industry.
How will e-books impact the book industry in general?
My boyfriend has been borrowing my Kindle in order to read the last book in the Hunger Game Series, leaving me to scan our bookshelves for something to read. I decided to read a couple books that his mother had recently given me. Problem was, there were large and bulky and couldn’t be easily slipped into my purse. I remember lugging around this one book that must have weighed 5 lbs and thinking, I wish I could have my kindle back.
Except I could. Although my boyfriend was borrowing my actual Kindle, I had a Kindle App on my phone and I could download what I had kept in the cloud on my computer by logging in at Amazon.com.
It’s this accessibility that is spear-heading the e-book evolution. Just like our music, us bookworms want constant access to our books. We’re always reading and having our books at the tips of our fingers – either through the computer, e-reader or phone – is why e-books are the next generation of the book industry. While it won’t kill it, it will definitely change a few things and those that want to survive, will need to adapt.
Will we start settling for shorter stories that will lead to the death of the novel?
This is my concern. E-books are giving into the societal pressures that we need access to everything at all times. And with our attention spans waning, I worry that authors will give in to the pressure that they need to chop up their stories and leave out the art of descriptive text or elaborate plot lines in order to accommodate a shorter story. Not that I don’t love a good short story – who didn’t read The Lottery when they were young – but I don’t want to novel to die.
Please e-book, don’t become the Lady Gaga of the book industry. Stay true to the art.
Now that I’ve told you how I feel, tell me how you feel about the e-book movement?
