Some thoughts on eBooks

We’re very excited to announce that we’ll shortly be releasing some of our books in ePub format, for use with electronic book readers such as the Sony Reader (and others that accept the ePub standard).

Well, I say excited, but I’m kind of in two minds about it. In theory, the growing (albeit slowly) eBook market is a good thing. As a consumer, it’s certainly not for everyone, actual books being preferable for many folk – but the display technology of reader devices is impressive and for people who read a lot of books, it gives them the choice not to carry them around.

As a publisher, it’s also obviously very appealing – in theory no printing and distribution costs, and the ability to supply a product to our readers instantly – in the same way we’re getting used to doing with music and films.

However, it seems that ye olde publishing industry is alive and well. Getting eBooks listed on Waterstone’s and WHSmith (for now the main two players in the UK) is proving less than straightforward, so we’re selling them here on our site too. More to the point, anyone who’s been shopping there can’t have missed the fact that most publishers (seemingly as terrified of digital distribution as music publishers were a few years ago) are setting unrealistic prices – in most cases, in excess of the printed book.

This may change with the arrival of Amazon’s Kindle – currently semi-available in the UK but will likely take off when it’s properly for sale on amazon.co.uk. Both their format and reader are proprietary – I’m more in favour of open standards (how un-Sony of Sony to be more standards based!), but suspect they will come to dominate the market, so we’ll very likely list our titles there too when it does happen.

The other barrier is the price of the current readers – I’m sure the manufacturers are trying, but the tech is fairly new and there needs to be a bit more demand before they become cheaper. The current Sony models are about £150 and £230 – you’ve need to be reading a lot to make that worthwhile, I think a lot more will sell when they are under £100.

Having said that, I urge anyone who hasn’t seen one to pop into a branch of Waterstone’s – where they usually have them on display – to have a play. The screen is very different from anything you’ve seen before, much easier on the eyes than an LCD screen (it’s not backlit), and much closer to the feeling of reading on paper. I have the 6” model with a touch screen and search & dictionary features – however, I’d recommend the 5” one which is cheaper, and the non-touch screen is easier to read (which, after all, is what it’s for).

So, on balance, although it’s early days, I am excited about it – and anything that gives our readers more choice and convenience can only be a good thing.

More to read in the following links, and of course let us have your comments below!

More about the Sony Reader
Waterstone’s eBook store
Lots of free eBooks (mainly classics) at The Book Depository

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