Monday 26 March 2012

Is Kindle another Betamax?

Some notes on epublishing

When people talk about epublishing it makes me think of the old Betamax video system that battled with VHS and lost. I suspect there will be many ‘Betamaxes’ in the epublishing world while the new technology finds its way. We need to keep up with developments so, last week, I went along to the Leicester Writers’ Club to listen to an epublishing discussion.


Chris Meade spoke passionately about the need to explore this new technology rather than just post up old style books on ereaders. He showed us some exciting children’s story apps being developed for ipads and his work on if:book further explores digital opportunities with literature. A recent project involved David Almond working with groups of school children in conjunction with if:book writers to create instant ebooks. He explains it much better himself at his website, Book Futures.


The author, Amanda Grange, is making use of ereaders to upload her backlist. She uses Amazon’s software for Kindle and assured us that it’s easy once you know how [isn’t everything!] What she likes about Kindle is that you can get up to 70% of the royalties. The downside, of course, is that you have to publicise it yourself.


Stephen Baker, from EBooks by Design, specialises in converting into eformat those books that need a bit more design, ones that have pictures, charts, tables, specialist fonts, the sort of things that Kindle can’t handle. His rates seem reasonable too. You can find him at EBooks by Design.


John Martin, from Leicester libraries, spoke about elibrary books. I was amused that they self-destruct* after three weeks but saddened by the refusal of Amazon to allow Kindle books to be included. This means that at the moment estocks are limited but library services are ‘in discussions’ with Amazon and have a determination to keep up with all the latest technological advances which is excellent news.
*OK, so they don't actually self-destruct but they do disappear off your ereader on the due date.


I came away from the evening with a tingle of anticipation for the future. The way forward with ereaders still exists in the minds of boffins but it’s going to be developed and soon and I’ve no idea in what way. How exciting is that!