Comments on: The Rise of the E-book: My new essay for Nature http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/ Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:13:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Reading Renaissance « Guy Librarian http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17300 Reading Renaissance « Guy Librarian Tue, 01 May 2012 19:01:57 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17300 [...] from Discover Magazine’s The Loom. from → Books, Industry, Tech ← Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare No [...] [...] from Discover Magazine’s The Loom. from → Books, Industry, Tech ← Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare No [...]

]]> By: The Rise of the E-book: My new essay for Nature | The Loom | StigmaBot http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17299 The Rise of the E-book: My new essay for Nature | The Loom | StigmaBot Sun, 18 Mar 2012 09:39:55 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17299 [...] 21st, 2011 2:24 PM by Carl Zimmer in Meta, Writing Elsewhere | 2 comments | RSS feed | Trackback This entry was posted in Health and tagged health by alex. Bookmark the [...] [...] 21st, 2011 2:24 PM by Carl Zimmer in Meta, Writing Elsewhere | 2 comments | RSS feed | Trackback This entry was posted in Health and tagged health by alex. Bookmark the [...]

]]> By: Ralf http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17298 Ralf Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:05:07 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17298 It's my understanding that royalties are not affected as long as the middle man, i.e. the publisher, is cut out. After all, their job is managing the marketing, printing and distribution, none of which is required any more. Some indie music groups have reported higher income after putting MP3s on their website for a buck or two compared to income from CDs or iTunes. The same should apply to authors. I'll gladly pay a buck or three if I can easily download an ebook. Reqirements: No DRM, open format (PDF or epub) so it's supported on desktop Linux and Android, direct download, easy payment. It’s my understanding that royalties are not affected as long as the middle man, i.e. the publisher, is cut out. After all, their job is managing the marketing, printing and distribution, none of which is required any more. Some indie music groups have reported higher income after putting MP3s on their website for a buck or two compared to income from CDs or iTunes. The same should apply to authors. I’ll gladly pay a buck or three if I can easily download an ebook. Reqirements: No DRM, open format (PDF or epub) so it’s supported on desktop Linux and Android, direct download, easy payment.

]]> By: Joel J. Adamson http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17297 Joel J. Adamson Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:24:35 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17297 You are correct, authors are reaching their audiences faster. However, authors have had access to the internet for a long time (e.g. the cyberpunk movement, pre-dating the www). The new thing is ebooks on portable devices. Now I ask: are authors really reaching their audiences better? Or do publishers just have a better model for making money off of authors? You are correct, authors are reaching their audiences faster. However, authors have had access to the internet for a long time (e.g. the cyberpunk movement, pre-dating the www). The new thing is ebooks on portable devices. Now I ask: are authors really reaching their audiences better? Or do publishers just have a better model for making money off of authors?

]]> By: John Kwok http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17296 John Kwok Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:36:30 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17296 I have a friend - a well known writer of fiction - who has told his audiences that he'll even sign their Kindles at his literary events. But, having said that, I think there are serious issues with regards to how much royalties authors will be able to earn from the sales of e-books. While I am thrilled that e-books may be circulating more literature - as well as textbooks - to substantially larger audiences, I hope that this won't result in further erosion of authors' rights to earn royalties. As for me, I love the feel of printed paper myself and have no interest in acquiring a Kindle or a Nook any time soon. I have a friend – a well known writer of fiction – who has told his audiences that he’ll even sign their Kindles at his literary events. But, having said that, I think there are serious issues with regards to how much royalties authors will be able to earn from the sales of e-books. While I am thrilled that e-books may be circulating more literature – as well as textbooks – to substantially larger audiences, I hope that this won’t result in further erosion of authors’ rights to earn royalties. As for me, I love the feel of printed paper myself and have no interest in acquiring a Kindle or a Nook any time soon.

]]> By: Erik N http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17295 Erik N Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:31:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17295 Is the $32 price tag on the essay part of the message? <strong>[CZ: Heh. You be the judge. (My new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Cuttings-Fifteen-Journeys-ebook/dp/B0045U9UFM/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2" rel="nofollow">ebooks</a> are only $7.99, by the way...]</strong> Is the $32 price tag on the essay part of the message?

[CZ: Heh. You be the judge. (My new ebooks are only $7.99, by the way...]

]]> By: Katie http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/12/21/the-rise-of-the-e-book-my-new-essay-for-nature/#comment-17294 Katie Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:41:14 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5330#comment-17294 One huge change I'm seeing is in technical books. Times were, you'd buy a technical book, then check the site for errata. There was ALWAYS errata. Code wouldn't work. Sections were mislabeled. A security bug was found, rendering certain examples moot. These days, when I get an ebook from O'Reilly or Apress, if there's an update, they just update the book and send me a new one. That is AWESOME. They've even added sections to deal with new issues. This is also encouraging writing smaller books. Small is not always bad. I'm writing a book on making websites accessible. As great as this topic is, it's not exactly going to be a tome. My editors and I are aiming for 150 pages for a first pass, which would never fly in a brick and mortar store. As an ebook, however, it works. I don't have to pad the book with crap the reader doesn't need, they get something that's informative, and that the market needs. One huge change I’m seeing is in technical books.

Times were, you’d buy a technical book, then check the site for errata. There was ALWAYS errata. Code wouldn’t work. Sections were mislabeled. A security bug was found, rendering certain examples moot.

These days, when I get an ebook from O’Reilly or Apress, if there’s an update, they just update the book and send me a new one. That is AWESOME. They’ve even added sections to deal with new issues.

This is also encouraging writing smaller books. Small is not always bad. I’m writing a book on making websites accessible. As great as this topic is, it’s not exactly going to be a tome. My editors and I are aiming for 150 pages for a first pass, which would never fly in a brick and mortar store. As an ebook, however, it works. I don’t have to pad the book with crap the reader doesn’t need, they get something that’s informative, and that the market needs.

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