Oh how the battle thickens.
It’s no longer a question between paperbacks or hardbacks.
It’s evolved past physical book vs e-book. Oh no, my friends. It’s become so
much more complicated.
You can’t just choose ‘e-book’ anymore. Now you must choose
which format of technology to read these precious stories.
Kindle, Nook, Kobo Mobile (iPhone or Android), laptop,
tablet.
.pdf, .mobi, .epub, and probably 10 more I can’t think of
right now.
The choices expand every month.
Forty years ago, you still
had options of which material you wanted your book printed on, but imagine…what
if not just paper, but perhaps cotton, leather, wood, chocolate (yes please!),
or stone (try balancing that on your head!).
And the battle continues, with additional, equal amounts of
confusion and choices.
Which do you prefer? Physical books or e-books?
If you prefer physical, the main choices are hardback and
paperback.
If you prefer e-books, which format do you use most?
And an even more dangerous battle to wage: what price are
you willing to pay?
I’ve realized that most e-books $2.99 and under are
significantly shorter than full-length novels from just 5 years ago. My normal
expectation is anything less than $3 is a novella or dime-length novel (pretty
sure I just aged myself with that term). Perhaps my expectation is inaccurate,
but that’s the impression I have. Or perhaps its because everyone’s attention
spans are significantly shorter than a few years ago…
What was I saying?
Wait, one battle at a time.
Personally, I’m still 70% physical books. At first my
reluctance to move to ebook was because I loved the feel of the paper in my
hands, turning the pages between my fingers, and more importantly the smell.
There are not so many things in the world better than that new book smell. But
now my excuse is far more superficial. It’s more along the lines of maintaining
a full battery in my electronic devices long enough to read what I want, and
the data usage charges my wonderful wireless
carrier imposes on me every time I download a book.
The remaining 30% for ebooks (if I actually have a charge on
my device and I’m not over on my data usage), I go back and forth between iPad
and my iPhone. I have evolved (slightly), as is the publishing industry.
Just in time for me to purchase my first pair of reading
glasses, which I’m sure is just around the corner for me.
By Susan Sheehey
Author of Audrey's Promise and Prince of Solana
