on e-books

[avrelia]

I have made my first e-book purchase. Yay?

I've had e-books before, of course – from free sources and giveaways, but I couldn't bring myself to actually buy one. I hardly ever buy books at all these days – library yay! - and when I buy, it is the old-fashioned paperback or trade market. Yet I keep thinking that I should start buying e-books, and then I think what do I want from them. I've always dreamed of having a real library at home (and possibly getting lost there and staying in it forever.) But with our current nomadic lifestyle it is impossible – I have to cull my books regularly and leave only those I couldn't be without, or find people who would love a certain book as much as I did and giving my books to them. So e-books are an attractive option to keep my library with me in my travels.

The two problems are that I don't find them convenient to read – currently, on my iPod or desktop, and don't fully trust them. The first problem can be solved by purchasing a decent e-book reader. But: the cost of it and the books that I'll have to buy to justify the purchase is way more that I want to spend. If I read that many books and that fast – might be. But as now I can manage a book in two weeks, and I have a huge “to read pile” at home already plus a luge list of books I can get for free from the library... If somehow I acquire an ebook reader, than occasional purchase of a e-book would make sense to me. Which I think will happen eventually, just not soon. The second problem... has a lot to do with the pricing and the formats. I understand that from the point of view of the seller, it is basically the same product: the license to read a copyrighted object – a story. But when I buy it I am getting one bunch of rights or another. And I need to weight how much is each bunch is worth to me. In one case I am getting a paper book that I have to carry around to read and keep, that adds weight to my backpack and takes space on the shelf and in the box, but the one I can read anywhere and anyway I like (starting from the end, jumping back and forth). And after I am finished with it, I can re-sell it, or give it away, or just lend it to as many people as I like. With the e-book bunch I get a file that doesn't take much space, and I can store it easily and not think whether I have to get rid of it during our next move. There is also the factor of immediate gratification – I can desire for a book, buy on the spot and start reading it immediately. It doesn't really matter for me at the moment, but it is there. What are the limitations – I can read only in the specific way and using the specific device. I can keep it, but it is always under control of the seller whether I keep it on the server or download to my computer or other reading device. I cannot re-sell it or give away. There are some opportunities to lending e-books – but only some. Which is all a fine bundle of rights – except I don't want it. And I certainly don't want to pay the same price, since I am getting less rights valuable to me. So we are back to the “library yay” paean.

What price am I willing to pay, then? Well, as I wrote before, I've just paid $2.99 for “Ten Thousand Kingdoms” - the promotional sale price only good for May (http://www.orbitebooks.com/). I've read it, and I wanted to have it with me for the future. We'll see how it goes. I bought it here: www.ebooks.com, because they sell in multiple formats, but alas, all of them proprietary, bound on specific devices or software. Still, $3 is the price I can easily pay to risk the inconvenience, even though I understand it is not the price I can find a lot of books for.

There also was an interesting discussion at Jennifer Crusie's blog about the pricing of e-books: http://www.arghink.com/2011/04/22/apparent-value-whats-the-right-price-for-an-e-book/

Comments

[soundingsea]

I'm just starting to get into ebooks - for travel, because I just can't carry a whole bunch with me (and wouldn't want to take library books out of town). I'm reading them on my iPhone, though, which is kinda small. If you get a different reader, let me know which one you decide on? I've looked at the Kindle, but it seemed kinda low-contrast.

[avrelia]

I think eventually I'll get into the ereader research, and I'll let you know about results. But right now I cannot justify the purchase - so my iPod it is. I like its contrast, but yes, the size seems too small now (and only five years ago I was happy to read from my way smaller PDA)

[cavocorax]

Hi! (I found your post because I was looking up ebooks, and decided to comment instead of randomly lurking).

Anyways, I just bought a Kindle because I had similiar concerns about wanting to collect a big library and not having the space for it. A lot of people are uncomfortable with ebooks, and the Kindle in particular because of all the complications regarding DRM, different formats, and keeping the content that you have paid for. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that a lot of people use Calibre to help manage their ebooks. With it you can transfer a book from one format to another without too much difficulty, and if it's locked by DRM you can also set it up so that as soon as you add a book to that program it will strip the DRM off. (This was a bit trickier because I had to download plugins from a different site, configure them in Calibre and add my serial number so it work properly, but the directions weren't hard).

I don't know if you live in North America, but the Sony and Barnes&Noble readers are set up to borrow books from local libraries, and Amazon has promised that the Kindle will be able to borrow from libraries as well later this year. It's even rumoured that they will support the ePub format that is standard with the other ebook readers so that should simplify things (and in my opinion it would also allow Canadians to borrow from libraries as well as we can already do so in ePub format with other readers).

I've had my Kindle for 2 weeks now and now that I have everything set up in Calibre I can basically buy any kind of book I want in any format from any store I want (so whoever has the best price. :D). I just wanted to make sure you were aware of all that in case it would help your decision.

Happy reading! :D

[avrelia]

Thanks for reminding me of calibre. I've heard of it, but never used it. Now will have to check it out. I think eventually I'll get myself a dedicated ereader, and hopefully by that time, it will be easier to decide. Yes, I am currently in New Jersey, and could borrow from the library if I had an appropriate device, but I only have iPod, which won't let me do it. Oh, well, they have amazing choice of paper books anyway. ;)

[cavocorax]

Calibre is really useful if you want to open up your options on where you get books (and what reader you want to read them on, if you decide to get one). If you try it out, and run into any difficulties, let me know and I will try to help you out. I'm no expert but I'm fairly comfortable with it if you're just using it to organize books and change the formatting.

Thanks for recommending The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I'm 9% through it and completely hooked. I'm surprised I was able to get it at the $3 price because that was supposed to be US only, but Kobo let me buy it, and then I used Calibre to strip the DRM off it so I could convert the ePub to Mobi for the Kindle. A lot of work, but totally worth it. :)

[cavocorax]

Also, thanks for recommending Orbit Ebooks! I like to buy directly from the publisher and I hadn't heard of this one yet. I'll probably scoop up both of those books. :D

[avrelia]

it's not really directly from the publisher - you still have to choose a store from which to buy, but it is a publisher's promotion, so every month they drop the price on one or two books to make it hard to resist.

I'd also recommend to subscribe to Night Shade Books news - they occasionally have promotions and give-aways of their books.

[cavocorax]

Thanks! I've added them to my "watch" list. I'm starting to realise that if I keep my eye open for deals and freebies I won't have to throw too much money at Amazon. :) (Not that I have anything against them, I just want to get the best prices for the books I want).