MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - How E-Books Will Change Reading And Writing (NPR)

neilmarr · 12-31-2009, 03:50 AM

I don't think ebook popularity will affect traditional novel writing styles -- though it might well add a new dimension for fiction and non-ficton.

For instance there's a new wave of (usually teenaged) scribes in Japan who write free short episodic romances specifically for mobile phones. Last year, the county's top ten best-sellers included six of these that had been picked up and published in treebook form.

I'm guessing that the young readers who pushed these mini-books to the top slots would otherwise not have read fiction at all, so this brand new form of presentation (basically three-minutes-a-day reading) can only be a good thing. Here's hoping the easy and target-specific introduction to reading will encourage them to look further and become absorbed in more fulfilling literature in later years.

So that's maybe a sign that ereading will open up new fiction possiblities rather than stifle old ones. Non-fiction and text books are something else entirely. In these fields, I reckon authors and publishers will have to adapt themselves to electronic presentation, especially where graphics and tables are involved.

Cheers. Neil

12-31-2009, 03:50 AM	#11
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	I don't think ebook popularity will affect traditional novel writing styles -- though it might well add a new dimension for fiction and non-ficton. For instance there's a new wave of (usually teenaged) scribes in Japan who write free short episodic romances specifically for mobile phones. Last year, the county's top ten best-sellers included six of these that had been picked up and published in treebook form. I'm guessing that the young readers who pushed these mini-books to the top slots would otherwise not have read fiction at all, so this brand new form of presentation (basically three-minutes-a-day reading) can only be a good thing. Here's hoping the easy and target-specific introduction to reading will encourage them to look further and become absorbed in more fulfilling literature in later years. So that's maybe a sign that ereading will open up new fiction possiblities rather than stifle old ones. Non-fiction and text books are something else entirely. In these fields, I reckon authors and publishers will have to adapt themselves to electronic presentation, especially where graphics and tables are involved. Cheers. Neil