Quote:
Originally Posted by Muckraker
Paper books may be time-tested but keep in mind that the only paper books you see today are the ones that actually survived. All sorts of paper material throughout history has been lost forever.
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And not just books: I'd written three times as many short stories of
The Onuissance Cells than made it to ebook. Why? Because I'd lost the original longhand papers. The stories that made it into the book survived because I had transcribed them to my PC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anamardoll
I do concur that print is still the dominant format, BUT I think what a lot of people forget is how transient that print is. Even if I were picked up by Random House (which I don't want to be, but hypothetically) and printed out and slapped onto the shelves at B&N, those copies would stay up for... how long? A few weeks? A month, maybe? But then MY books would be down and room would be made for the newest latest thing. If I was really lucky, the mega-stores would keep one or two copies on the back shelves.
So while, sure, it would be pretty to walk into B&N and see a display of my book, it's just not a reliable business plan for me. Although I'm sure it would work well for less "niche" literature.  |
This is the essence of the latest discussions regarding the old "scarcity" model of selling and the new "abundance" model that some say is replacing the old. Print is the model (even the icon) of scarcity, while ebooks are the model of abundance.