A little Wizard of Oz is all it takes for sleepy time
Of course there are the standard benefits: the ability to carry hundreds of books around anytime, not having to take the time to go to a physical bookstore, not having to worry about the book you're looking for being out of stock, etc. However, I quickly learned that one major perk is getting exposed to tons of authors that you would never find in a bookstore, usually because their books are indie books only available in ebook format. I have read some wonderful books from authors that I never would have known about without my Kindle. Heck, if not for eBooks, many indie authors would never get their work out there - and many times, their work deserves to be in the hands of readers.
The main problem, though, is that I still love the smell and feel of books. I love turning pages instead of clicking through them. I love being able to see the cover art any time I pick up the book. This problem has been tempered by buying books and reading to my son as I talked about in my last post. He loves his picture books, but before bed, I've started reading to him from chapter books as well. I thought this was all I needed to get my physical book fix. Today I learned otherwise.
My favorite author, Brandon Sanderson, just released his newest book, a fantasy novella called The Emporer's Soul. It's not yet available in eBook(a major disadvantage to eReaders sometimes) and so I ordered the physical copy off Amazon. When I got it in the mail today, I got that old feeling again and my excitement to read it grew beyond just having a new work from my favorite author(yeah, I'm a dork like that). I learned today that every now and then, I'm going to need to buy a nice paperback or hardcover book to get my fix.
So, what's your preference. eBook or physical books?
In other news, progress on Book 2 of Korin's Journal has been slowed a bit, but will hopefully pick up over the next couple weeks. I'm a couple chapters away from hitting that home stretch. In other words, right now, I'm at the calm before the storm(those who hate cliches, I apologize for that last sentence).
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Brian Beam
Love this post, Brian. I could have written it myself. Although I never thought I would be one who would turn to an eReader, once I found the ease of carrying my library around with me I was hooked. However, just like you I need to feel and smell books - they are so special. So I still spend lots of time at the library and have shelves full of books at home to read. Every so often I do just that - and I keep a favorite on my nightstand. The age we live in almost forces us as authors to conform or lose out on new readers!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Authors may be forced to conform, but in doing so, they're given great opportunities that they have never had before. eBooks and internet social media have given authors incredible levels of control over the release, pricing, distribution, and marketing of their books. I just hope that we don't see too big a drop in print books. I can't imagine a world unable to support bookstores, whether big box ones or indie.
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