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How real people buy, read and use e-books—and how freebies can help
June 18, 2008 | 3:49 am
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By Joanna
If publishers are going to get over the whole e-book phobia/e-babel addiction, they need to understand how real people buy, read and use e-books.
Do freebies really sell copies? Is e-babel really something that affects an average reader? Will people really pay for the convenience of getting a book Right Now?
To answer some of these questions from one reader’s perspective, here are the last five e-books I read:
- Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming by Christie Golden. Yes, it’s pure froth reading, and yes, it is a "protected" format, which normally I don’t buy. But it interested me (its summary indicated it was a "what happened after the show got canceled" kind of story, and I was curious to see how the author would extend the events in this show’s finale). And it was inexpensive enough that I was prepared to view this like a "rental" and not a durable book should the ‘protection’ make it in the future unreadable. My one regret? It’s part 1 of 2 and eBookwise does not carry the sequel, so I can’t finish the story. Fictionwise (the parent company) has it, but not in a format I can read on my ebookwise reader.
- Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. This was one of those "I want to read it, but it’s snowing and I don’t want to leave the house" buys. I enjoyed it, but this was before I got my eBookwise. I didn’t finish it because I came to the realization that the Dana, for all its other uses, is not the reading device for me. Now that I do have a reading device that better meets my needs, I can’t transfer it because the eBookwise does not read eReader files. E-babel strikes again. Darn.
- Little Brother by Corey Doctorow. This was a freebie download; Corey often does this with his books. I actually had planned to buy a print version as he’s generally a favorite of mine, but alas, it’s a hardback and I don’t buy those. I will consider buying a print version for myself should a paperback come out, but they haven’t totally lost me even so as I plan to buy one as a gift for my brother for his birthday in a few months.
- Modem Operandi by TK Sheils. This was a Fictionwise book that my sister sent me. I liked it, but not enough to buy the sequel. It was a little too raunchy in places, and the storyline was a bit confusing. It does strike me a tiny bit like the type of book people say is out in E because a print publisher wouldn’t want it. But…it had some sample chapters in the back of a few of this author’s other works, and one of them did intrigue me enough that I spent the money on the full version to read the rest of it.
- Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest. This was part of Tor’s freebie promo where they email you a link to one new book a week. I enjoyed it, for the most part. A few plot threads never quite got paid off, and I agree with the Amazon reviews that if she had slowed down a little, there might have been time for a subplot or two to explore some of her other characters a little. And I had some problems with the ‘voice’ when the lead character was still a child (this is a tricky thing for many writers). So, will I buy this particular title? No. But I am intrigued enough by the premise that I will definitely keep an eye out for the sequels. If they show up on Fictionwise for the right price, I may crack.
So, the tally for this batch of reads?
- One sale that could have been two sales had publishers not been so protective of their book that they failed to make the sequel available in a format I could read on my device
- One sale that was regretted and will not be repeated because I could not transfer it to my device
- One freebie I opted not to purchase for myself but may in future purchase as a gift
- One gifted book which gained a sale for one of the author’s other works
- One freebie I opted not to purchase but which put the author on my radar for future purchases
So, freebies and borrowed or gifted books do pay off. And format stinginess does not pay. I would have finished the Roberts (and perhaps bought others) had I been able to read them on my eBookwise. And if that sequel was available, it would have been a sure sale.
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Comments:
It seems basically like the core problem here is that format-shifting for personal use needs to be explicitly permitted as a fair use right. The tools are already out there to convert the books you wanted into the format you needed, but using them is currently illegal because they strip the DRM in order to do the conversion.
On the other hand, of course, legitimizing format-shifting would remove most of the impetus for the industry to do anything about the eBabel issue.
And here’s another one to try: my YA fantasy MORTAL GHOST, with YA SF/F hybrid CORVUS soon to be serialised online.
I would love to know how to strip the DRM and convert eReader files into a format I can use. I have googled to no avail. I have a few ‘protected’ ereader titles I would love to move to my eBookwise. And it continues to baffle me that Fictionwise carries slightly different title selections than eBookwise does. I know it is not their ‘fault’ and the publishers set the permissions, but would the publishers not want to get the books into as many hands as possible? Why offer it on the one and not the other? It makes no logical sense to me.
At the same time, I would love to see the indie e-book people step things up a little to be true competitors. I’ve read two more ebooks since I wrote this article, and one had major plot holes and would never have seen the light of day as a print book. The other was a good story (by a Teleread regular, which in part influenced my purchase), but had a few typos that suggest to me it would have benefited from one more pass by a good editor.
Ficbot, I’d also like to see us become true competitors, though not necessarily in a financial sense. One writer’s plot holes can be another’s intention, but of course it depends on the skill and talent of the writer.
My intention is ultimately to offer good quality, even literary, fiction online. It may take me many more years to get there … if at all! One problem, of course, is that many online readers prefer a different sort of writing to the kind I do.
Ficbot;
I completely agree with you about the apparent disconnect between eBookwise and Fictionwise.
If I were the same company, I’d be negotioating the rights for all formats I carry at my company, not letting them pick and choose. I’d explain it how it helps THEIR bottom line to have it available site wide. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
And about the ST:Voyager book. I purchased it through eReader and was a little miffed that Part 1 was not clearly identified in the purchasing decision. As I was getting to the end of the book I started to suspect something was not right.
I would have bought the sequel anyway (which I did) but I wish they would have informed me of that when I purchased Part 1 so I could have gotten them at the same time.
AFAIK, there is no way to strip the DRM from eReader. At least nothing I’ve ever come across. That might speak well to the company’s value.
I was just recently musing about what I’ll do when I finally get an iPhone and want ebooks. I really dread the idea of multiple readers and file formats.
Maybe the fact eReader text can’t be, um, exported is actually a strike against them?
For me, the most important part is the reader program UI. That will determine the file format I ultimately use. I’d rather flick pages than scroll scroll scroll. (Someone at Sony is now smiling!)
@Mike;
eReader is currently at work for a version that will work on the iPhone (I think I read it here).
They said all they need is to finish up the port since they already have a version for the Apple desktop and get Apple’s approval.
In fact, they said there would probably be an iPhone version before there is a BlackBerry version.
@ Aaron: Yes, I know that. But as I said, the UI is important to me. Until I see what their “iPhoned” version looks and runs like, they’re still just one of several contestants. If the best UI comes from a program that can’t do DRMed books, then that DRM has to come off! So that’s a major factor for me too.