Electronic books are all the rage, and they're improving in leaps and bounds--they're definitely one future for publishing. But there's an inescapable fact about the devices: they simply aren't real books. They don't have the look, the feel or the paper pages, and they don't have that new book smell. Until now.
We already pay subscriptions to watch the movies and listen to the music we want. Now, publishers are experimenting with all-you-can-read services too.
Mark Coker of Smashwords became the leader of indie e-book writers--including some with dirty minds--in a fight against censorship and PayPal. He also has strong feelings about the DOJ's e-book pricing lawsuit.
If e-books are the future, are libraries the past? Brick and mortar book-lenders haven’t gotten on the e-book bandwagon because publishers make digital rights too expensive. Maybe we can help them out.
When I dipped my toe in the world of digital publishing, I expected the tech to be puzzling, the marketing untested, and the devices shiny but confusing. What I didn't count on was the crowd of people we used to call "readers" to turn into a chorus of critics demanding to be engaged. The journey to creating this app involved a whole new way of thinking and a unique workflow.
