May 11
20
Digital Tidal Wave
Each morning there seems to be news of a new digital triumph, with sales of ebooks both in this country and abroad outstripping those of paperbacks and hardbacks. All my online digests burst with ebook headlines. Ereader statistics prove this exciting new world is open to everyone who wants a piece of the digital action. Many authors are going it alone, without publishers, and achieving great success. They look to people like J.A Konrath, Barry Eisler and our own amazing authors like Linda Gillard. This courageous lady’s wonderful novel HOUSE OF SILENCE was rejected by mainstream publishers and so she decided to turn it into an ebook. (See link below for more info). Just a few weeks after she uploaded it, HOS hit the top of the ebook charts and stayed there. And I’m happy to say some of the Rivers novels are now for sale at Amazon, ready to download to the Kindle ereader. I bought a Kindle at the beginning of the year and can’t imagine life without it. Somehow I read more, enjoy more, and love the computerized voice that allows me to rest my eyes or use my earphones as a welcome alternative to reading. The “little grey slate” as it’s known, is a miracle of invention for all ages.
I recently interviewed a group of students (I live in a university town) who have invested in Kindles. They love being able to select dozens of really inexpensive books (e.g. 99p and £1.99p) which take up no room at all in their portable digital library. Many use the text to speech facility as they travel to and from college and uni. A slim Kindle slipped into their rucksack instead of space-consuming paperbacks is their idea of heaven. Today’s youngsters have cut their baby teeth on computers and the digital voice, like their music, has a big appeal. What a wonderful innovation and a great way to reach a new market hungry to experiment with new genres and authors! I don’t believe the paperback is dead, but it does have competition. This is a new age, with new demands from the purchasing public and they must be met. It is a revolution and nothing will stop the force of digital development as it heads towards us like a tidal wave.
