Quote:
Originally Posted by jplumey
For me:
1. More books, including books out of print.
2. Multiple formats for a book. I love what Fictionwise is doing with Multiformat. I'd buy tons more if I knew that books I bought for my Reader would work on my wife's Kindle (when I get her one)
3. I want a digital version of every p-book I buy. I want to be able to buy a book at Borders or Barnes and Noble, go home, type in a code on a special website (code comes from the book) and get an ebook copy
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Your first suggestion is a terrific one, especially because for the past 20 years or so books have been computer printed, so they're all in some sort of electronic format already. And it really bugs me the way that I'll get hooked on an author only to find that some of the earlier books are out of print and I just have to wait if I wish to read them in sequence. I spend a lot of money in used bookstores and at Amazon marketplace buying used copies of the books the publishers don't want to sell me, and they don't see a penny of that money. Making those books available at least electronically, even if they don't want the expense of printing and storing/shipping paper copies, would generate more income for both the publishers and their authors.
The multi-format books at Fictionwise are not quite what you think -- you have to make a commitment for ONE format, and once you've downloaded that format, to the best of my knowledge you can't download the same book in a different format. And it's not like you get a zip file with all the formats in it.
And the publishers will be very reluctant to allow number 3 because then you're getting two copies of the book, which can be read by two different people at the same time, for the price of one. That's the biggest fear they have -- that more copies than have been paid for will be in use at one time. What's to stop you from giving that code to all your friends who have Sony readers?
You know that's unreasonable and I know that's unreasonable, because it's the same as you buying one book and reading it and then having your wife or a friend read the same book (or even 10 friends in a row) but to the publishers, it's the biggest reason that they're not all jumping on the ebook bandwagon.