LEGACY OF THE EMPRESS is FREE for St. Patty's!

For today only, snag a copy of Legacy of the Empress free for Kindle! :)


Happy St. Patrick's Day, all!

Guest Post: Author Callie Kingston Shares Her Story!

Today, Callie Kingston is back, sharing with us the story of her journey as a writer :). She recently published her first novel, UNDERTOW. 


Take it away, Callie!

My mother passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. For a week afterwards I stayed up late each night to write her eulogy, after having spent the day planning her funeral, cleaning her apartment, and taking care of myriad details. I hadn’t written anything for years, although I had wanted to be a writer since I could hold a pen.

Something gave way in those midnight hours. I haven’t stopped writing since.

The months that followed found me turning over plots and characters in my mind. Twilight had taken the world by storm, and I started imagining Belle as a young girl who was suffering a delusion, a girl on the brink of a psychotic break. What would that be like, I wondered? What if the story was not about her union with a magical creature, but instead focused on her resilience and recovery from a mental illness? Undertow was born.

At first, I wrote in secret. In longhand. Months later and at risk of developing carpel tunnel, I had a rough draft. Finally, I shared my “hobby” with others and discovered an amazing community of supportive writers. Rounds of critiques and revisions were followed by the standard next step: querying agents and pitching editors.

My timing couldn’t be better. Traditional publishing was just getting hit by a tsunami of incredible proportions.  The rise of indie publishing, the demise of the legacy model, and the massive implosion caused by the recession; all of this was eroding the likelihood of a new author like myself getting picked up. Especially with a genre-bending novel about a girl in college who was losing her mind.

The indie publishing journey has been a wild ride, and one I wouldn’t give up. I like the freedom, the control, and the fact that my work remains mine and true to my vision.

Thank you so much, Callie, for sharing your journey with us :). You've been through a ton, and it's inspiring that it brought you to such a great place, publishing your novel!

Check out UNDERTOW, Callie's fascinating debut!

The Wave of the Future: Subscription Book Services

As a big fan and user of Netflix, I got to thinking about what the new Kindle Owner's Lending Library means for readers. Will a similar program as the unlimited streaming be coming down the pipeline, only with e-books instead of video?

I read this great blog post by author David Gaughran today, which addresses mainly this topic. I'm of two minds about the whole thing, really.

As a reader, I'm excited.

I love Netflix because I get free access to movies I wouldn't have otherwise purchased. That's basically what I use it for--experimenting and finding new, cool things to watch without commiting myself to buying a new Blu Ray or, God forbid, coughing up for a movie ticket.

If I find something I truly love, OR (more likely), Netflix doesn't have it available for free streaming, then I'll buy it or rent it if I've heard it's awesome.  I still have a blu ray collection that I add to every year, so Netflix isn't cutting into my purchasing decisions just because it's free.

As a writer, I'm worried.

In the blog post I linked above, David closes with an excellent point about how we as authors want to get paid. If everything goes subscription-based, then we're basically agreeing to a flat rate, set by the retailer and can never hope to make more than that.  Right now, I get to set my own prices, and the only things determining my earning cap are a) how hard I want to work to produce more content and b) reader interest. 

There is no limit to how much I'm "allowed" to make! If I keep churning out great stories that people want to read, the potential is there to make a nice living. 

However, if my only choice is to be locked into a flat payout (or even worse, some mystery payout like Kindle Select offers), then that will seriously suck. 

I like being in control of my own destiny, and I especially like being paid properly for my hard work.

So, here's my question to you:

Would you use a subscription site as a reader, and if so, how do you think it would influence your book-purchasing habits?

This is a fascinating time to be alive :).  Only time will tell how this all shakes out.

New Kindle Lending Program: Good for Indie Authors?

I got a very interesting email this morning from Kindle Direct Publishing, letting me know about a new opportunity for indie authors: Kindle Select.

Basically, they have a new program that indie authors can enroll in that will allow people with Amazon Prime memberships to "borrow" their books through the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

The kicker is that for every person who borrows the book, the author gets a share of a profit pool..

From the FAQ:

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How is my share of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library fund calculated?


Your share of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library Fund is calculated based on a share of the total number of qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles. For example, if the monthly fund amount is $500,000 and the total qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles is 100,000 in December and if your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn 1.5% (1,500/100,000 = 1.5%), or $7,500 in December.

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While I seriously doubt most of us will be making $7500 a month from this, it's still very intriguing.

Kindle Direct Publishing even went so far as to sweeten the deal by allowing authors enrolled in this program to make their book free as a promotion for 5 days during enrollment.

Now here's the rub. Nothing is perfect, right guys? ;)

Your book must be exclusive to Amazon for 90 days to participate in this program.

This means if your book is selling in any other store (Sony, iTunes, Kobo, Diesel, Barnes and Noble, etc,) you must take it down from those sites in order to be a part of this new Lending Library.

This article has a very good summary of what the program entails:
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/pressed/2011/12/08/amazon-provides-boost-for-independent-authors

Now, I'm hesitant about this because I'm selling well at the other stores. I've heard other indie authors talking this morning about pulling all of their titles from Amazon's competition, and couldn't help but ask "What happens if Amazon gets a monopoly on indie bookselling?" Will they still treat authors as well as they are now?

What happens to our 70% royalty rate once they're the only show in town?

For now, I'm going to sit back and see what happens with the folks who are putting most or all of their books into this program. There could be amazing potential for profit, but there is also a high risk when you rely on one source for all of your income.

What do you guys think?  Should indies jump on it, or hold out to see what happens next?

Update Roundup!

Hi, All,

Man.  So sorry I've been neglecting you all lately!

I promise, I still love you.  It's just been one stressful/good/fun/crazy/sad/weird/funny week.  I feel like it's a been a month.  But, also in a good way?  It's like I'm in the Twilight Zone, and I ain't talking about sparkly nosferatu.

Since 7/9, bascially, I've sold 2200 books.  What??

Anyway, things are going really well, but I'm now working harder than ever getting the next installments of Veronica Grim ready to go, as well as getting ready for a sequel to Legacy of the Empress.  My alter ego has a trilogy planned. People:  It is ON!

I had a lot of highs this past week and a half, but I also got my first one star reviews. Egads! They totally happen, and I'm even sort of happy that I got that "milestone" over with ;). It's like waiting for the first rejection from an agent, or getting your period or something. It's a part of the beautiful cycle of Nature.

Okay... I admit I felt like this *just* a little bit:

But, then I read the one-star reviews from some of my favorite authors and felt a smile creeping onto my face.  Dude!  A one star means I'm like... a real author.  With books out there for people to have opinions about!

That's seriously awesome :).

Also, I got some lovely 5 stars for No Rest for the Wicked, Carnivore, and Legacy of the Empress. From Internet Strangers!  Wooo hooooo!

So there you go.  Roller coaster of happy/sad/happy and some hard workin's.

In other news, I promise to actually ship your books out, you lucky contest winners. I still don't have a couple of your addresses, so please email me forthwith to claim your treasures.

There have been lots of fascinating discussions lately in the blogosphere, so expect linkage later this week. 

In the meantime, how the hell are you all doing?  Any projects that you're working on?

I'd love to hear about them!

June Sales Numbers: Knowledge is Power!

I learned something recently that baffled me.  People in other countries, or even in unions in our own country talk about their salary all the damn time.

This came as a surprise because in Corporate America, talking about your salary with other employees can be enough to get you fired.  I started to think about it, and realized the only reason it's frowned upon and forbidden is to keep people ignorant.

You won't complain about getting screwed over if you don't know in the first place, right?

Well, in the book world, it was Indie Authors shirking the taboo to talk about their sales numbers that helped me decide this was the path for me.  So, now that I have two months' worth of data, I'm going to pay it forward and share it with you guys :).

Here's how it's going so far:

April Total Sales:  19  (I had 2 short stories up for 2 weeks)
May Total Sales:  30  (I put out a short story and a novella under a pen name)
June Total Sales:  123
(Legacy went live as well as 1 short story under that name, and 2 more under my pen name)

This month I more than quadrupled last month's sales!  My jaw almost hit the floor when I passed 60 for this month, much less 120... just... wow.

Amazingly enough, the more writing I did, the more sales I had :).

So far on this journey I've made $120.37 on my e-books, $45 on freelance editing, and have spent $133.18 on 250 business cards, 7 pieces of cover art and a domain purchase.  That's $32.94 in profit.

When I make money, I've been investing it back into the business.  I am treating this like it's my small business and I'm growing it for this first year.  When I'm in the black again, I buy more cover art.  Next, I'm thinking of paying $39 to produce a paperback version of LEGACY through Amazon's POD service, CreateSpace.

So, there you go :).  If I manage to double my sales each month (versus quadrupling), I'll be at 1000 sales/month by the end of this year.

That's what I'm working toward, and I plan to put out two more short stories and AT LEAST one novella, if not a full novel by January 1st.  I will also be releasing stories under my pen name.

I hope this was helpful to some of you who are deciding which road to take with your own career.  Best of luck to you, and let me know if you have any questions I can help with, either in the comments or through email.

Here's to July!

Edit:  Almost forgot to post this excellent blog post from super successful indie author Victorine Lieske comparing sales trends.  It's very helpful for gaining some perspective on where people are in this industry.

The Power of Free

It's Summer!

And you know what that means :).  Garage sales and bargain hunting. 

I'm a total sucker for garage sales, especially for that bin full of mismatched, weird, misfit Free Stuff.  You know the one I'm talking about. The one off to one side with the huge cardboard sign next to it that says FREE, but it might as well say "Oh, Dear God, please take this Billy the Big Mouth Bass out of my life forever."

Finding free stuff is like treasure hunting, and one freebie I've recently loved hunting for is free books. Apparently, this is now a viable marketing strategy, among the Big 6 selling e-books as well as indie authors.

The difference is, this isn't a junk box--this is like you went to a fancy estate sale in the rich people neighborhood and found a box full of free fabrige eggs and fist-sized rubies.

This is the best Freebie Box ever.

From watching other people's success with making one of their books free to give readers a chance to discover them, I'm doing an experiment.

I just made NO REST FOR THE WICKED free, and I'm going to keep it that way for at least a month.

I have no idea what this will do, but I'm fascinated to see the results.  The way I see it, a few things can happen:

a)  People download No Rest for the Wicked from Smashwords for free. They dig it, and they purchase the next in the series, Carnivore.  Hooray!  I do a happy dance.

b)  No one downloads No Rest for the Wicked for free.  I feel like the shy kid with acne at the middle school dance.  I consume chocolate.

c)  Some people download it, hate it, then find me and throw rocks at my house.


I'm hoping it's option a, but we'll see!  I'll let you know how the experiement goes along the way :).

My question for you is:  How has a freebie affected you as a reader? Is it like the awesome Fantasy Garage Sale bin?  Or are you indifferent?

Love for Indie Author Cole Drewes

Like I said in my earlier post today, Cole Drewes releasedhis book HOUNDS OF HEAVEN recently, and was kind enough to host my guest post on his blog.  Thanks, Cole! :D

In the spirit of paying it forward, here is a brief word from Cole about his new novel:

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Hounds of Heaven is a science fiction novel with urban fantasy/paranormal elements. I would consider it a hybrid novel inspired by the mythology of vampire and werewolves. It’s been compared to Starship Troopers with vampires. This action-packed novel is set in a futuristic dystopian New York City inhabited by vampires and demons.

Werewolf and battle hardened resistance fighter Dom Craddock is sick of losing. Dom is a member of the resistance called HADES, a paramilitary organization made up of humans and werewolves. Hades has been on the losing side of a war that has spanned six hundred years led by the vampire regime known as The Tartarus Corporation.
Dom and his elite recon team, finally find hope while on an otherwise routine mission. What they find might help them win the war against the vampires, save the dying planet, and hopefully what’s left of humanity.
Throughout Dom’s last mission he struggles with the world he once knew, and the world he now suffers in, hoping for one day to see the sun shining on his face again. Dom must first comes to terms with his past-the same past that assisted in the genocide of mankind, and handed the planet over to the vampires. A past he wants to forget and leave behind, but the actions he set in motion all those years ago have come back to destroy the only hope at saving humanity.
Monique Snyman of the book review blog Killeraphrodite, says that Hounds of Heaven “was a rollercoaster of awesome… you won't have any fingernails left by the time the book ends. Action, romance, treachery, horror, historical references that's been changed in such a way that it's somewhat plausible... Damn it, just get the book and read it!

Below you can buy Hounds of Heaven in the following e-book formats for $0.99:
Amazon.com

Smashwords

You can read 25% of the novel for free through Smashwords.
A paperback version will be available through Amazon in about a week.


All profits made from my books sales during 5/23/2011-6/23/2011 will be donated to Red Cross to help the victims of Joplin, MO.


On a side note I am currently running a book launch contest. There will be plenty of winners and the grand prize is a signed book, various swag bag items and a new Amazon Kindle! Check out my blog for more details at www.coledrewes.com.

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I love that Cole is donating to such a great cause for these next couple of weeks, so if he book sounds up your alley, please give it a try! :) 

That's the beauty of a lot of indie published novels.  They are so inexpensive, that it's easy to find new authors.  I haven't read Cole's novel yet, but it sounds fun as Hell (pun intended), so I'm sure I'll be picking it up in the very near future.

Game Changer: Barry Eisler Signs with Amazon

For those of you who don't know, author Barry Eisler recently turned down a two book, $500,000 deal with one of the major publishing houses and self-publish instead. On J.A. Konrath's blog he said "I know it’ll seem crazy to a lot of people, but based on what’s happening in the industry, and based on the kind of experience writers like you are having in self-publishing, I think I can do better in the long term on my own."

So, imagine my surprise today when I heard that Barry Eisler has taken the same kind of deal but with Amazon. You can read about it on agent Janet Reid's blog.

What made Barry change his mind, and what does this mean for self-publishing?

Well, from what I understand, Amazon has changed the playing field yet again.  Not only are they launching their own imprints that publish authors in a more traditional structure, they pay advances AND still give the authors 70% royalties on reasonably priced e-books.  They also give authors more artistic control.

Basically, instead of either choosing to self-pub to maintain control and get higher royalties, Amazon has given authors a third option:  Get traditionally published, but with a better deal than the Big 6 publishers can ever hope to provide.

Did Barry make a good move?  What do you think about this new option for authors?

I'll be interested to see what you all think :).

Guest Post: Laura E. Bradford, Author of FLYDAY!

We're fortunate to have another guest poster here today:  Laura Bradford, indie author of FLYDAY (a futuristic time-travel adventure). 

I met Laura on an internet forum I frequent that doesn't have anything to do with authors, read her book, enjoyed it immensely, and then asked if she could share her story with us.  Why indie publishing?  Why now?  She was kind enough to share her thoughts below.

***

Take it away, Laura!

My journey so far:


I have been writing for about as long as I can remember. I currently blog over at A Writer's Notes, which serves as my personal writing blog, and I released my first novel, Flyday, in January. I'm currently working on the next novel in the series, and this week I released a free collection of short stories, Sunset on Mars.

It took a long time to finish the novel, off and on. I started with the basic ideas and characters in 2006; in early 2008 I tore it apart and completely rewrote it. I gave it to my betas, took their advice, and eventually finished it the following year, and then I had to put it aside for nursing school.

I gave serious thought to releasing the book myself after reading J. A. Konrath's blog. I had been submitting to agents, sending carefully crafted query letters, and kept receiving either form letter rejections or "Interesting project, but not for us" or, worse, no response at all. One agent's assistant asked to see the first fifty pages, but ultimately passed. I took someone's advice and rewrote the beginning of my novel, and everyone agreed it was much improved. But aside from a vague idea that ebooks were taking off, I had no idea about e-publishing.

Enter: Zoe Winters' book on self-publishing, Becoming an Indie Author, which describes exactly how one would go about uploading an ebook and setting everything up. I dove into the project on a break from school, hired an artist, and released my first novel in January. I also set everything up on Createspace, so my book is out in paperback as well.

I'm still figuring out the "promotion" aspect. Someone convinced me to give Twitter a chance, and I'm exploring areas, so right now I'm balancing promotion and writing. All in all it's been quite a whirlwind experience, and I hope to release many more books and see how e-publishing goes for everyone.

Promotion seems to be the toughest part for indie and traditionally published authors alike!  Thank you for taking the time to share your story with us and best of luck with your novel, Laura! :)

If you haven't, definitely check out Laura's blog or Flyday over at Amazon.com.  What really impressed me was the way Laura effortlessly interweaves timelines through the story.  Definitely worth a read, especially at $2.99!

Also, if anyone here is an author and would like to guest post, I'd like to make this a regular thing on this blog :).  I'd love this to be a place where writers share their stories, both their writing journey AND their fiction! 

Shoot me an email if you're an author--I'd love to have you!

No Rest for the Wicked is Free For a Short Time!

My short story, No Rest for the Wicked, is getting a facelift soon, so for a short time, I'm making it FREE on Smashwords.

If you'd like a copy, you can download it here for free!  You can read it on your Kindle, Nook, Sony, or even your PC or iphone.

I've written another Veronica Grim story and am just getting it ready for publication.  This first one was short, 1000+ words, so the second story, Heartless, will be for sale as a bundle with the other for .99 cents.

Get it while it's hot :).  Thanks, All!

I hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Weekend Reading: HOUSE OF SKIN by Kiana Davenport

Recently, I've been haunting author J. A. Konrath's blog, and I came across a lovely new author totally by accident.

Everyone needs to read this moving story about how she went from the absolute blackest depths of depression to starting a new writing career.  J. A. shared an email he received from her telling her story, and asked the readers of his blog to please purchase her collection of short stories, because, in his own words, she's a better writer than he is.

I took a $1.99 gamble on her, and let me tell you, that dude wasn't messing around.  I devoured the first two stories during my lunch break at work and they are both breathtakingly beautiful and chillingly sad.  They are the kind of stories that make your heart ache, but it's a sweet ache... the kind that makes you sit back in your chair and sigh after you read the last sentence.  I'm SO glad I picked this up.

This is not fluffy reading, but the stories are wonderfully crafted--absolutely gorgeous, lush language on every page.

If you pick up one book to support a writer for this weekend, please download Kiana Davenport's HOUSE OF SKIN.

Also, for those of you who don't have a Kindle, you can download a free Kindle app for your PC here, or download the free app for your iphone.

Happy Reading!

____

Note:  I'd love to start recommending great reads on a weekly basis, but I'd also be delighted to hear from you guys! :)  What books do you love to read?  Also, if you'd like to do a guest post recommending something, please email me at rebeccaknightbooks (at) gmail (dot) com.  Thanks!

Self Publishing: Why I Changed My Mind

AKA, "Is she nuts or what?" ;)

I'll admit it. 

I used to think "self publishing" was a dirty phrase.  It conjured up images of people who got suckered into buying a few thousand dollars worth of books from a vanity "publisher" and then ended up trying to sell them out of the trunk of their cars.  I did not want to be one of those people.

Money should flow toward the author, not away from it, and I'd never heard of anyone making money with a vanity press except the presses themselves.

Recently, I learned that self publishing is not what I thought it was.  True self, or Indie Publishing, has recently been made possible by the explosion of products like the Nook, Kindle, and Sony e-readers.  Hell, even by the iphone!  Authors can upload their books and sell them directly, often receiving 70% royalties with no up front costs.

HOLY SHIT.

Why did I not know about this?  How did I not get that the e-book explosion has officially changed the power dynamic for authors?

Honestly, while I was writing and editing and learning all about the publishing industry, the publishing industry was changing around me.

Today is a brand new day, and the world of publishing is a brand new world :).  E-sales are dominating in a way they never have before, and I'm helping them by downloading fistfulls of books to my iphone, even though I swore I'd never enjoy digital as much as print.

Hell, I bought a Nook this winter.  And I *love* it.

Before making my decision to have a go as an Indie Publisher, I did some research, and it was hearing from these authors and bloggers that really made me do my 180. 

Author J.A. Konrath is a huge advocate of indie publishing, and has basically made a total killing off it, as opposed to going with a traditional/legacy publisher.  Check out this amazing, in-depth conversation he had on his blog with author Barry Eisler about Barry's decision to turn down $500,000 to self publish.  It's a lengthy read, but FULL of incredible information.  Worth it, for sure.

They both give straight talking sales numbers, and even answer commenter questions in this second blog discussion.  There are even graphs...... I love graphs!

Then I thought "Pfffffft, maybe this is only a viable option for fancy, luckypants writers.  I wonder if there are any folks in the comments section who are regular Joe Authors with similar experiences." 

Turns out, there were!  There were plenty.

For example, Sarra Cannon decided to self publish her YA series a mere five months ago and has already sold 13,000 copies and counting.  13,000.  If she's selling her books at $2.99 for the Kindle, she gets a 70% royalty.  Logically, this means she could have made $27,209 in five months.  All on her own.  As a newbie author.  (Disclaimer--I have no idea about the money she's made, I just know she published 5 months ago and sold that many books.  I am just making a point that a total newb has already sold more books than many a debut author could dream of selling.) 

Publicist and wife of successful author Michael J. Sullivan, Robin Sullivan has a blog post comparing two mid-list genre authors, one who was published by a legacy publisher, and one who chose to self publish.  There are charts there, too.  Sweet, sweet charts.

In a nutshell, she discovered that the traditionally published author with several books out wasn't quite making a living wage, while the self published author quickly went from $800/mo to $12,000/mo with sales holding steady.  They both have comparable books and backlists, yet one is living the writer's dream.  He got to quit his day job.

I don't plan on striking it rich, and I definitely don't want to be famous.  All I've ever wanted out of my writing career is to be able to stay at home and be a Full Time Writer.  Oh, and not starve while doing so ;).

It seems to me that indie publishing my work is the most practical way to accomplish that goal.  And how cool is that?  Now, I can rely on my own hard work for my success, which is something I'm very comfortable with.

I'm gambling on myself... and it feels great.

Some Exciting News!

As promised, I'd like to share some exciting news with you today :)!

Some of you may remember when the kindle first came out, and I blogged about the end of physical books as we know it.  Well, thankfully, the hardcover isn't going anywhere soon, BUT new opportunities have opened up for the aspiring author as far as e-publishing goes.

I'm sure by now everyone's heard of Amanda Hocking, the 26 year old author who self published her YA Trylle Trilogy on Amazon, sold 450,000 e-copies, and just signed a $2 million book deal with Random House.  This definitely got me thinking--she may be a stand out, but what is the downside to publishing your own e-books?  IS there a downside?

The publishing industry is rapidly changing with the new impulse-buy-ability of e-books.  Now, self publishing doesn't have to be a dirty word.  A writer's options are no longer limited to either a traditional publishing contract, or paying a vanity press to print books that will never see the light of day.

The e-book train is moving down the tracks, not just for the one-off success stories like Amanda Hocking, but some established authors are opting for self publishing when it comes to their e-releases, because they take control of the profits.  When authors are already doing their own promotional work, suddenly releasing an e-book starts to make sense.

For those of you who read my blog before I took my break, you know I am not a pie-in-the-sky type person, but rather a work hard, practical person.  E-publishing my book that isn't a popular genre right now is speaking to my logical side (high fantasy hasn't been sellable for awhile in lieu of more contemporary fantasy, even though it has its niche).

After a lot of research and debate, I've decided to self-publish Legacy of the Empress as an e-book.  I see it as gambling on myself--I don't pay anything out of pocket, and I stick to the same marketing plan as if I had a physical book coming out.  I'd always planned to do the legwork myself, so putting my own book out there seems like an ideal plan :).  I believe in this book whole heartedly, so why not put it out there?

So there you have it:  I have an artist cooking up a fantastic cover for me right now, and I'm getting ready to launch this mofo.  More info to come!

What are your thoughts?  How do you look at e-publishing versus traditional publishing?  Have you ever impulse bought a low-priced e-book?

Maybe the Publishing Industry Isn't So Doomed!

If you're like me, you probably get an icy tingle down your spine every time someone mentions that THIS IS THE END OF PUBLISHING AS WE KNOW IT and that BOOKS ARE DOOMED.

I like books. I like the publishing industry. I would like to get to know the publishing industry better, if only it would return my calls (j/k).

After all, it's only my life long ambition to make my living as a writer! :P I have a vested interest.

So, when I saw this Huffington Post article this week, it made me smile.

Finally, someone defending the publishing industry in an intelligent fashion!

Take a look, guys--I'd love to hear what you think.

Steve Ross, former CEO of Harper Collins, makes some great points about e-book pricing I hadn't considered. What's to be done? It sounds like there's a reason there's a debate going on over Amazon's low low $9.99 price point, aside from E-BOOKS SIGNALLING THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL MANKIND. It's actually quite fascinating. I'm excited to see what happens!

It's nice to read a more optimistic (and I think perhaps, realistic) view point once in a while :).

What do you guys think? Doomed? Or just trying to adjust?

Book? What is this... "book" you speak of?

I found this comic today, and I had to share:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/3/9/

What do you guys think about the new Kindle coming out, and all of the hoopla in the publishing world over e-books?

The end of publishing as we know it?

Or a brave new world, where you put your e-reader in a ziploc baggy to read in the tub?

Mmmm... Book Smell

Today there were a couple of blog entries in the publishing world about getting over the "book smell" argument against e-books.

Kassia Krozser posted that we should all stop arguing that digital books shouldn't take off because the experience isn't the same as paper books (http://booksquare.com/enough-with-the-smell-of-books-okay/), and Nathan Bransford agreed with her on his blog, saying that car owners aren't always lamenting the fact that their subaru doesn't smell like a horse.

I agree with Kassia that the e-books and paper books are two entirely different things. However, when most people talk about e-books they are talking about whether or not they are the future of publishing, the next big step, the ultimate replacement for the books we know and love. It is exactly like deciding on whether or not you like horses or cars, and not deciding between a car or a train. The only difference I can see is that horses smell like asscrack.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of an e-book. But when I think of them taking over, I find myself saddened. I'm a rare book collector (yes, I'm a geek), and love not only the feel and look of paper books, but yes, the delicious musty smell. Mmmm... Old.

The smell brings up memories of my childhood when I'd tuck myself into the 2' x 2' place between my bunkbed and my bookshelf, tack a blanket up, and read for hours with my flashlight. It reminds me of waiting in the used book store until the bus showed up, stowing away in the attic and pretending I was that kid in "The Neverending Story."

I'm going to miss that smell, dangit, and I think we're allowed to say that it's not the same.

E-books are cool and probably necessary, but if they take over entirely, what will happen to the simple pleasure of smelling a good book?

What do you all think? Book smell: awesome or overrated?