It Was Inevitable But Came Quicker Than Expected

E-Books have outsold hardcover and paperbacks in every reading category in the US.  The sales were over 200% higher than just one year ago. 

Is this a fluke?  Doubt it.  It's been discussed for a while but many that I've spoken to thought it wouldn't happen for a few years.  However, keep in mind that e-readers ranked among the top gifts for last Christmas and e-book sales have been on the rise..

Not something big publishers are too fond of.  Especially now that small publishers and self-publishers are taking the fight to the big dogs regarding prices.  This leads to smaller margins.  To make things worse, I'm hearing more and more about e-book libraries coming.  Why is that worse?  Libraries are more likely to buy extra copies of the same book, not just for demand but, let's face it, people are harder on things they don't own.  Library books are more likely to get damaged and need replacing.  That wouldn't be an issue with e-books.  Best part for library patrons is, unless the library can only share a limited number, no waiting list.

Books I'm Looking Forward To Getting In Early 2011

So far, there are two books that I'm looking forward to getting either in hard copy or as a download for my iPad.  In the last year, I've basically split my reading.  I'm keeping one hard copy book and one e-book.  The hard copy book is typically what I read on the bus coming home from work, and the e-book is what I'll read in bed.

Anyway.  First up is Center of Gravity: Star Carrier: Book Two by Ian Douglas, due out February 22, 2011.  I have to say that the first book I read by Ian Douglas didn't exactly rate in my top 10.  If you read my December post on escalation vs. twist you'd understand why.  The book had a lot of action, but it seemed too focused on the escalation and not enough twist for me.  That said, I was much more impressed with Earth Strike: Star Carrier:  Book One.  That had enough originality and twists to keep my interest throughout the book.  And it's perfect timing since I recently finished reading my first e-book, When All Seems Lost, by William C. Deitz (part of the Legion of the Damned Series).

The other book I just learned is coming out is the continuation of the Lost Fleet Series by Jack Campbell.  I was thrilled when I first learned that The Lost Fleet Series would be continued in two parts.  The first book for one of those, The Lost Fleet:  Beyond the Frontier:  Dreadnaught, is due out April 26, 2011.  The Lost Fleet Series is one of my three favorite science fiction series and has been a great inspiration to me in my writing.  One reason I loved the Lost Fleet Series is the twists and style of writing gave just enough details on the tech to give credibility and the space battle descriptions were among the best work I've seen.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching Black Jack Geary come to grips with his situation, learn to adapt to a new time and new military, deal with treachery, and his personal feelings.  All-in-all, an exceptionally well-rounded and well-written tale. 

That's all for now.  I urge anybody to put these books on their pre-order list and until you get them,

Write On.

Why Didn't Somebody Tell Me This About E-books

I've been talking here and on multiple forums about comparisons with E-books and paper books.  One thing that many have commented on is that there really isn't much money saved on e-books from best selling authors.  Well last week I broke down and bought an iPad.  First thing I did was download some free educational apps for my kindergarten son.  Mostly math.  But when he was willing to put it down, I downloaded a couple of e-reader programs (Kindle and the iPad reader).

I found something that I haven't heard anybody discussing about e-readers.  To me, this is where you can save money on the best sellers.  Nobody told me that you can download free parts of books.  From the books I've read, it's usually the first 30+ pages.  Just enough to let you know if you'll really be interested in the book.  If you like it, you buy the full book obviously. 

Naturally the cost saving is obvious.  If you don't like the book after the first 30 pages, you've lost nothing.  This also highlights the importance of hooking your reader early.  A general guideline I've heard and recommend when I critique is that the first chapter of any book has two functions.  Introduce the main character (or at least one) and set the direction for the plot. 

Another consideration is that, from what I've heard, if you go to Barnes and Noble with a Nook, you can read any e-book there for an hour.  If you go back frequently enough, you could probably read an entire book free.  Stop by, get a coffee (if they have a coffee store) and read your Nook.

Keep that in mind and

Write On.

Shopping for E-Book Readers

I picked up the paper today.  I usually don't but I was curious about the Black Friday ads in the Thanksgiving Day paper.  If you really want my opinion, I'd call it Gray Friday since more stores aren't waiting for Friday.  Some already began some sales.  Wal-Mart started doorbuster sales Thanksgiving night at 10 pm.  But that's not the point. 

If I was going to hazard a guess, I'd have to say that retailers are looking at E-book readers as one of the big sellers this year since e-book readers were probably the most common thing on the front of the ads.  Examples?  Kohls selling Literati for $99, Best Buy selling Nooks  for $99, CVS Pharmacy had an e-book reader for $98.88.  Radio Shack had a PanDigital e-book reader for $149.99.  There were more, but these were just some examples on the first pages of some of the ads.

One of the other things that surprised me is the number of different e-book readers on the market.  While the Amazon Kindle is the best known, followed by the Barnes & Noble Nook, and Apple iPad.  There are quite a few others.  Just for a little perspective, I conducted a quick Internet search on e-book readers and found an article on C/Net rating 75 different models.  Of course there were many variations of the same brand.  It basically came down to the following list of 19.

Astak EZ Reader

Amazon Kindle

Barnes and Noble Nook

Sony Reader

Entourage Edge

Apple iPad

Alex eReader

Kobo eReader

Pandigital Novel

Cool-er e-book

Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader System

Franklin eBookman

RCA REB1100 eBook

Augen

Aluratek LIBRE

The Sharper Image Literati Digital Reader

ViewSonic VEB620

Ectaco jetBook

entourage eDGe

For additional research, I also found some information on Wikipedia comparing, but not rating e-book readers.  It does provide information based on features.

Enjoy your leftovers and

Write On