valueIn today’s Morning Links, I highlighted an interesting post from Dear Author on the subject of book prices and their relation to ‘value.’ It was an interesting question to me because I’ve just read a whole series of books on Kindle publishing which seem to take the total opposite view—they promote books not as an art form per se, but as a service.

Let me explain. These books are all aimed at nonfiction authors, and their premise is that if you break up your longer book into several smaller ones, you’ll have several advantages. On the business side, more books is better than fewer books. You’ll have better visibility in the Kindle store, more chances to get on the best-seller list, and more avenues through which to reach a reader. And for the reader, they get targeted, specific information at a low and accessible price point, and in a format they can digest in a single sitting. Win-win, right?

But I know that these short ‘books’ are what some of the ‘book as an art’ people lament—a flood of ephemera overwhelming the Kindle store and crowding out the literature. This is exactly what is wrong with self-publishing, they say. Anybody can churn out a hundred crappy books and there is no gatekeeper to keep them away…

So, what is the problem here? It’s two different clubs using the same meeting place for cross-purposes. Personally, I think there is value in these short nonfiction quick reads. I have purchased a few myself, and for exactly the purpose the authors of these books describe: the ‘book’ answered a specific informational question that I wanted answered, and the book or so they were asking for it was worth it to me in order to get that information. I wasn’t looking for literature. I wasn’t looking for an experience. I just wanted to read, learn and be done.

If the authors of these nonfiction books were to make the mistake of pretending their work was something it really isn’t—in other words, some great pretense to art—then I would understand the indignation. But most of them aren’t doing that. They are upfront about admitting that the ‘book’—and the only reason it’s called that and not a coaching package or information guide or something is simply that this is what the Kindle store calls it—is a non-literary straight-up answer to a question or problem or need. I have one that’s all about questions a vegetarian might have about nutrition. I have another that’s about tax issues Canadian freelancers need to know. This is not timeless literature for the ages, and nobody is pretending it is.

The problem comes when people don’t realize that, when they assume that it IS pretending. The problem comes when people believe that a reader is going to truly say ‘well, I only am going to buy one book today, and it will either be a great work of literature OR it will be the tax guide for Canadians.’ It just doesn’t work that way. If you need the tax guide, you’ll buy it, but as a business expense, not as a literary experience. Its presence on the Kindle store will not ‘crowd out’ the book you want to buy for your reading of literature.

It is a mistake, as it often is, to lump things together. I remember the indignation I used to feel in teacher’s college when I read about about ‘Hispanic students’ for instance. More than 20 countries use Spanish as an official language. To imply that a student from middle class Spain, where my cousin lives, automatically has something in common with a student from El Salvador just because they both speak Spanish is ridiculous. Similarly, I had a student once who had been raised to believe that all white people were colonial oppressors. When he learned that my family had been too busy fleeing the pogroms in Europe to colonially oppress anyone, it blew his mind.

Same with the books, in a way. It is a mistake to assume that all books in the Kindle store want to be ‘art,’ or that they should try to be art, or even that they should all try to be books! Your carefully edited opus of literary fiction is middle class Spain, and my tax guide for Canadians is lower-class El Salvador. It is not the same thing at all, but it has its own kind of value nonetheless.

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"I’m a journalist, a teacher and an e-book fiend. I work as a French teacher at a K-3 private school. I use drama, music, puppets, props and all manner of tech in my job, and I love it. I enjoy moving between all the classes and having a relationship with each child in the school. Kids are hilarious, and I enjoy watching them grow and learn. My current device of choice for reading is my Amazon Kindle Touch, but I have owned or used devices by Sony, Kobo, Aluratek and others. I also read on my tablet devices using the Kindle app, and I enjoy synching between them, so that I’m always up to date no matter where I am or what I have with me."

1 COMMENT

  1. One size does not fit all. Not all paper books are leather bound hard cover books. Different sizes and bindings serve different purposes and the publisher and author choose the appropriate one.

    With e-books, the distinction of format is lost and the content must stand on its own. The Amazon Kindle Store really has only one format. That all e-books are lumped into the one store means that the customer or reader needs to use other means than simply the format of the book now.

    There are plenty of tools in the Kindle Store to find what you want. That the Kindle platform makes it easier for many to publish more books is a separate problem.

    Knowing the author or title cuts through the clutter of all the many other books. Otherwise there are means to shorten the list to find that “Great Literature” that you are looking for.

    Times and technology changes. Do you still use a rotary phone and not a smartphone? Embrace the benefits of the Kindle Store and its abundance and learn the new tools it offers to find the books you want, be they great literature or a short book that answers an immediate need.

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