NYTimes Talks EBooks
By Jane • Aug 9th, 2007 • Category: Publishing News • •In today’s New York Times tech section is an article about the growth of ebooks. The writer, Peter Wayner, offers up a summarization of places to buy ebooks (Fictionwise) and formats (Mobipocket and eReader) and devices (cellphones, PDA, and Sony Reader).
There isn’t anything that you haven’t read here on eBook Sunday but Wayner’s explanations are concise and easy to understand, if a bit simplistic. Some articles that we have compiled on the subject:
- Where to Buy
- What to use to read an ebook
- What desktop readers are there for Windows Computers?
- What is the difference between all of the formats?
- A new ebook reader’s perspective
The interesting part of the article is that it sounds like Fictionwise is testing formats for the iPhone (yeah) and that ebook sales have increased $4 million in revenue since last year to $8.1 million. Not bad ebooks, not bad.
Jane is a long time romance reader whose passion is, you guessed it, reading. Jane also does not like to talk about herself in the third person, but apparently this is the way that this biography thing works (although in a true biography, someone else would be writing this blurb). Anyway, currently Jane loves urban fantasy authors Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews. She's really excited about this year's crop of historicals including Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady and Sherry Thomas' Private Arrangements and the upcoming Loretta Chase Her Scandalous Ways.
She's looking for a good contemporary author. Email her with a recommendation!
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Interesting how that last guy quoted (whose comment about covers is so true, alas) frames the issue as one of disposability, when the reason I’m interested in ebooks is that I *don’t* dispose of enough of my romance novels and I’m running out of room for them all. Do most people who buy ebooks really expect them to be a one-time read and don’t worry about maintaining their electronic archives? That is not my impression, but I really don’t know any data one way or another.
Oh, and since I’m delurking, I’d like to add that I really appreciate the work Dear Author does to cover ebooks and ebookreaders. Great stuff.
Octavia
Great to have you delurk. I agree with you that one of the primary reasons I moved to ebooks was the lack of space and that I wanted to keep them with me at all times. Because you can’t resell them, they aren’t disposable at all.