I just read the latest post from a self-styled newbie book writer and found his thoughts interesting (Changing Face of Publishing). While I can’t comment from his perspective, I can certainly offer my thoughts as a book reader. He believes the new electronic publishing wave will eventually eclipse traditional paper printing.
I wouldn’t say so.
From my perspective, the reason traditional books are suffering a lag in sales is because most folks (even voracious readers) consider the price of new books to be too high. $29.99 for hardback or wait until next year and pay $19.99 for paperback. Still a lot of money when you consider the monthly $100 cable and $50 Internet bills. Add to that the growth of pad devices after you have purchased a gaming console and most families today do not want to spend more money on entertainment. We live in a fast paced world. Personal time needed for reading is scarce and precious. If you have kids like I do, your reading time will be limited to late evening and very early mornings (read post below). When you consider the time and expense of reading a book, it’s just easier to do something else.
I assume we’ll eventually reach some compromise that allows us to have both paper and electronic formats of books. You can’t lend or check out electronic books, but they can be distributed cheaper. Once publishers make their peace with the market’s desire for lower prices, we may move in that direction. Unless that happens, we will continue to see a volatile electronic marketplace struggling to carve our space.
