The Truth About E-books

E-Books and digital readers definitely had their moment but the hype as the printed book killer has mostly come and gone. Digital books are not doing to print what streaming did to the CD…yet. This is undoubtedly an extremely biased opinion of E-books from a seller of printed books. For the frequent traveling and voracious readers, Ebooks have a strong niche but for many, nothing replaces the feeling of reading a printed paper book. The convenience of digital readers only outweighs the experience or a printed book in specific user instances.

For authors building their presence, brand and writing, publishing an Ebook is a viable option But, publishing straight to Ebook first has the same vibe as straight-to-tv-movies did back in the day. And yes, I say back in the day because movies are now released simultaneously onto streaming and theatres and broadcast platforms.

The same is also true for E-books that have gained reputation and proved themselves valuable in among other attention-grabbing forms of digital. As a publisher and bookseller I see them as a tool in the author’s quiver. Don't ignore the potential of e-books but don’t publish exclusively to digital readers either. Consider Ebooks in conjunction with print and audiobooks to land the biggest audience.

I say all this knowing full well that Andy Weir’s book The Martian was self-published as an Ebook in 2011 then recorded as an audiobook in 2013, then in 2014 the same year that production began for the Ridley Scott adaptation it released in print for the first time.

Reasons why you should publish in all formats:

1 - Availability to readers: Readers will always have an e-reader or be able to access a device that can read e-books. You can't say the same for printed books. If it is only available as an e-book, then the person has to get something that can read it before they can get your book. It's not an impossible task but it is more difficult and perhaps less likely than having your book available on Kindle, Kobo, Nook and iBooks.

2 - Marketing opportunities: Having your books available in various formats means that you have more ways to market them and a greater chance of getting those sales.