Authors showing the way in promoting their own work:. Their tone is upbeat, content is good, and essentially in each case, they have something of substance to promote.
Bookiness of the Book
Readers are still coming to terms with what they are losing in the move from paper based to electronic reading:
When I read a physical book, I remember the text and the
book—its shape, jacket, heft and typography. When I read an e-book, I
remember the text alone. The bookness of the book simply disappears, or
rather it never really existed.
Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times
The M(e)dium is the M(e)ssage
Ebooks are continuing their blitzgrieg assault on print publishing. Book publishing is starting to go through similar convulsions to the recording industry. Unlike the recording industry, piracy is not a massive issue (yet). But Ebooks are not just replacements for the printed book. They are something very different, and will become more different still. If the ebook does largely replace the printed version, designers, publishers and authors will have to make many adjustments. Ebook readers may expect a much more sophisticated and dynamic interface than a print book could ever supply. Their expectations of what constitutes a 'book' will rapidly alter. Content will shift to match these expectations. And unlike the printed book, which took essentially the same form for several hundred years, the ebook will be subject to continued and rapid development.