Girls Write Out
Wednesday, January 25, 2012

With so many changes happening in the publishing industry, writers and publishers alike are nervous. What will happen if eBooks continue with the art department for the beautiful covers and selected fonts inside of the book? What will happen to editing? How will a reader know if something has been edited or thrown out there by someone who claims to be "published" and has just thrown their book on the Internet? It's all a lot of the unknown and we all wait with bated breath.

I'm sure things will sort themselves out soon enough. I own a Kindle, but I still prefer a real book. I like the "pretty" of a book. Its cover and its design interior, so I'm not wanting to see this industry completely go electronic. Although I will say, it's easier to read the Kindle in the bathtub, but then again, I haven't dropped it yet.

My biggest concern is for the publishing houses and my editors. I don't think a non-writer can understand the beauty of a good editor. She knows your voice and she can fill in things for you. She can remind you where you haven't tied up loose threads and she will make the book 100 times better than it could have been. This is my biggest concern. For them and for the quality of the books. You don't want to see my books without editing.

As a reader, what concerns you about the brave new world of books?
Kristin  
posted at 1:49 PM  
  Comments (16)
 
 
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16 Comments:
At 2:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

a friend of mine owns an ipad and gets books on there. i admit, i'm old fachioned. i love the feel of pages, the smell of books (even old ones!) and the different fronts and the look of ink on paper...etc. i would like to puplish something one day so i hope things dont go completely electronic. i like books and their covers and yeah lol! :)

 
At 2:57 PM, Blogger jel said...

I can see would and ereader would help someone, but they are not for me! my eye glaze over when I try to read on one, even on here, my eyes tear up reading a long post.
I just love hardbacks or paperback.

it would bee a sad world,if they didn't print anymore books, what if they ban the printing of books or mags. and ya had to go underground to print them, and
the hardcore book reader would have to score a book, just like a junkie scores a hit. the HORROR OF IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!

 
At 3:06 PM, Blogger Jasels said...

Woe is me if the day comes where we don't have "real books"with real paper and artwork. But we all know that the publishers have to make profit the bottom line (a necessary evil). I,too, have a Kindel. I use it to buy cheap, as in reduced price,books. But I will still pay the price to keep up with my favorite authors. You are one those, by the way.

 
At 4:45 PM, Blogger Timothy Fish said...

I think people spend far too much time worrying about things that don't really matter.

 
At 5:19 PM, Blogger Denise Hunter said...

My biggest worry with the publishing changes is that piracy will cause the same problem it caused in music. Musicians can survive--they've turned to touring to make money since they're not making as much on the CDs and downloads.

Authors don't have concerts to fall back on, and if people stop buying books, writers won't be paid, and who is going to write books for free?

 
At 6:00 PM, Blogger Kristin said...

Thanks for all this great feedback. Denise, I'm worried about that too. My DH is working on technology that will make it easy to grab text and photos and put them elsewhere. That makes me nervous. We're working against each other.

 
At 1:05 AM, Blogger Beth said...

I refuse to get ebooks. Books are meant to be touched and held in your hands. Pages turned, put in a book mark. Underlined or highlighted if you want to mark sections.
You also don't strain your eyes looking at a screen to read.
I would hate to see my favourite books edited like some of my favourite movies, with some scenes cut out just because they don't fit into the right file size.

 
At 5:28 AM, Blogger grammajlb said...

I don't know which of you wrote this article, but I totally agree that a book in hand is the best therapy for me. I loved Smitten, by the way. I am disturbed when I walk in to an area and a child is reading a book on a Kindle or other ereader. What happened to interaction with the parent, teacher, the feel of closeness, the sound of the human voice that is so nurturing. I can see where the Kindle is great for people who have a sight problem when they can make the font as large as needed and appreciate that kind of technology for them, but I will stay with the books, thank you.

 
At 5:28 AM, Blogger grammajlb said...

I don't know which of you wrote this article, but I totally agree that a book in hand is the best therapy for me. I loved Smitten, by the way. I am disturbed when I walk in to an area and a child is reading a book on a Kindle or other ereader. What happened to interaction with the parent, teacher, the feel of closeness, the sound of the human voice that is so nurturing. I can see where the Kindle is great for people who have a sight problem when they can make the font as large as needed and appreciate that kind of technology for them, but I will stay with the books, thank you.

 
At 11:11 AM, Blogger Chris Jager - Baker Book House-fiction buyer said...

I have an IPad but still like the book form myself. It is nice for vacations and I have downloaded a couple of manuscripts on it and that is much easier to handle. :-)

Just a thought. Readers are smart and they will still demand editors etc... for their books. Why? I look at the music industry that did this grown pains thing just a few short years ago. People still want the polished version of songs. The Indie industry holds it own, but the over night sensations are few and far between, why? Because it can be hard to listen to a song that is not well recorded.

Some of the self - pubs will do well and most will fail. Word of mouth will still be around fiction readers love to let everyone their opinions. Readers will look for the publishing house tags and know. It will be an learning process for us all and that doesn't help art depts. but thankfully the demise of good books is not coming anytime soon.

 
At 5:02 PM, Blogger Ginny Hixon said...

I got a kindle for Christmas - I have to admit that a love it! I still like real books (the smell, the feel, the fact that I can't lose it due to technical malfunction). My biggest concern is that with ebooks you can't always tell whose books have been self-published and whose have come from a publishing house. I just finished a book that was so disorganized, was riddled with bad grammar, and just didn't have well developed characters. I don't ever want to go through that again...

 
At 5:12 PM, Blogger Kristin said...

Great insights Chris and Ginny, I'm not faulting the Kindle. Like I said, I have one. I just downloaded two books onto it this morning. But I will say, one I downloaded because the cover (Simon & Schuster) was so ugly, I didn't want to look at it. WHen a publisher puts out a cover with no thought like that, I have to wonder what they're thinking.

I would have never picked up the book and I'm its primary market. it's about how Literature plays into today's dating world. Comparing romances to great novels. It was called "Much Ado about Loving"

You know, I bought a really good book for research on my Kindle that was self-published and it was really well done. Though I have to say, it could have been better organized, but I thought for doing it herself, she did a grand job! But all those free books that are terrible, people are learning it's not worth the space on their Kindle.

 
At 5:47 PM, Blogger aa said...

I'm most concerned about libraries. The local libraries in my city have been suffering these past few years. Oh they offer ebooks to checkout, but it's not enough for the city to send money their way. Less people are checking out books, music, and movies because those are easily obtained online legally or illegally. With the economy, there are more factors in play but it's all connected.

 
At 1:36 AM, Blogger Ronya said...

I have owned two different eReaders...I like mine, and I do use it, but even so, I prefer to be holding the book in my hand, somehow it's more comforting and relaxing to me.

Probably what concerns me most is the price of purchasing an actual book rather than the digital edition. With fewer people buying them, the price will have to go up, if they're offered at all.

 
At 11:51 AM, Blogger Barb said...

I work for a library system in the Kansas City area that has 30 branches, the branch where I work being #1 in circulation. According to the numbers, our circulation has dipped a small percentage over the last year or so, but it doesn't account for some factors such as materials being stolen or not checked out properly. I don't think it includes e-books, either.

At first I didn't want an e-reader because I like actual books. I got some money for Christmas and decided to treat myself and get a Kindle, partly so I could have more knowledge in helping library patrons in accessing e-books.

I really like my Kindle. I don't see it changing my book buying habits much. I have downloaded quite a few free books. When I am done with a book and it's not worth keeping or given up on a book for whatever reason, I delete it from the Kindle. The only books I am usually willing to purchase are ones by a select group of authors.

 
At 8:26 AM, Blogger Scraproni: Adventures of Single Woman said...

I love ebooks because since i live in oz i get my fiction quicker and at half the price. You can generally tell when a book has been unedited it just does not have the polish and flow that an edited one has. Plus i only download ebooks that are from publishers and authors i love to read

 

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The Authors
Kristin Billerbeck
Kristin Billerbeck is a proud Californian, wife, mother of four, and connoisseur of the irrelevant. She writes Christian Chick Lit; where she finds need for most of the useless facts lulling about in her head.

www.KristinBillerbeck.com

Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.

www.ColleenCoble.com

Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.

www.DeniseHunterBooks.com

Diann Hunt

Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.

www.DiannHunt.com

Hannah Alexander

Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.

www.HannahAlexander.com

 
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