Books you cannot find in e-versions

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Bugs me I can't get George Alec Effinger's Budayeen series in ebook form...they are some wonderful fun pulp/cyberpunk kinda SF...expecially "When Gravity Fails". I once emailed the publisher about 2yrs ago now and was told pretty much to not hold my breath.

Those of course have been scanned if they pretty much said 'never going to do it.'

[K-Thom]

Originally Posted by Barcey

I would actually be interested in investing in the cost of converting some of these to ebooks for a share of the profits. It wouldn't be hard to find someone that owned a used bookstore for 20 years who could tell you the big movers.

Yeah, isn't it a shame? Publishers could so much benefit from the enthusiasm of customers who simply would like to see some back stock released ... but then, that's a wish for another world.

[Treven]

I'd like Chrome, by George Nader. I have it as a paperbook, but I'm not going to spend all the time to cut the binding from the book and then feed the pages through a scanner; which I'd have to do at the office as I don't have a scanner or multi-function machine at home.

[alecE]

I'd love to see the Arthur Upfield 'Bony' detective novels in e-format, and all those "Year's best SF" books, in fact there's humungous quantities of SF (mainly Penguin) that I read about 40 years ago and don't have p copies of.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by K-Thom

Yeah, isn't it a shame? Publishers could so much benefit from the enthusiasm of customers who simply would like to see some back stock released ... but then, that's a wish for another world.

Interesting idea - you mean fund part of the costs for the publishers who own the rights to do it?

e.g. Baen has a 'authors you are interested in seeing reprinted' suggestion forum - same sort of thing, but have pledges?

I am a fan of X, here's 10 bucks towards converting backlist?

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by alecE

I'd love to see the Arthur Upfield 'Bony' detective novels in e-format, and all those "Year's best SF" books, in fact there's humungous quantities of SF (mainly Penguin) that I read about 40 years ago and don't have p copies of.

Bony would be a fine pick - at least an omnibus of some of the best, anyway?

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Barcey

Patrick O'Brian - Aubrey Maturin Series
Colleen McCullough - Rome Series
Guy Gavriel Kay - Fionavar Series

I would actually be interested in investing in the cost of converting some of these to ebooks for a share of the profits. It wouldn't be hard to find someone that owned a used bookstore for 20 years who could tell you the big movers.

Originally Posted by K-Thom

Yeah, isn't it a shame? Publishers could so much benefit from the enthusiasm of customers who simply would like to see some back stock released ... but then, that's a wish for another world.

I agree. There are many older titles that would be of interest to many readers as ebooks. Readers could do the work of formatting the work as an ebook (for a reasonable fee), and then the publisher could offer the ebooks to the public for a small fee. If done in sufficient numbers, it could provide a continuing profit to the publishers from a source that wouldn't exist otherwise.

Comic book publishers have learned this lesson. Used to be, when an issue left the rack, your only hope to read the issue was to find a back issue at a comic shop, or find someone willing to sell your their copy. Otherwise, you were out of luck.

Now, publishers are releasing reprints of older issues for a reasonable fee. For example, DC Comics is releasing a series of black and white reprints called "Showcase Presents" which collects all of the stories of a character/group and presents them in chronological order. In most cases, to get the actual issues would likely cost hundreds of dollars, but this reprint costs less than $20. This reprint allows readers access to stories they otherwise would not be able to.

This could also be the case with ebooks for previously released printed books. Even if only a relatively few ebooks sold for each title, those are sales that otherwise would not have happened.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by VicLavigne

I have loved Gordon Dickson's "Dragon Knight" series since the first of this series, The Dragon and the George was released. After a few years he started writing an amazing series until his death. They are all available in both hardback and paperback, but unfortunately no ebooks yet.

An ALL TIME fav of mine...it was one of the first exposures I had to fantasy scifi along with The Complete Enchanter (a really fun easy read too).

[jabberwock_11]

Almost all of the books that I really loved before getting into ebooks are unavailable in anything other than print format. All of the Tek War series, Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books, and Bringing Out the Dead are the ones that spring most quickly to mind.

It would seem to me that out of print books and previously successful books would bring in quite a bit of capital with very little expenditure on the part of the publishers, but maybe that's just how I see it.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by jabberwock_11

Almost all of the books that I really loved before getting into ebooks are unavailable in anything other than print format. All of the Tek War series, Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books, and Bringing Out the Dead are the ones that spring most quickly to mind.

It would seem to me that out of print books and previously successful books would bring in quite a bit of capital with very little expenditure on the part of the publishers, but maybe that's just how I see it.

That's one of the best things about ebooks: If the original source text is properly formatted they never have to truly go out of print since they can be easily be formatted for a specific use (possibly even on the fly) when needed.

The low cost factor is very important. Once formatted and made available as an ebook, the cost of keeping it available is very low (it could be just the cost of keeping a website up and running). This is especially true if the book can be ordered and then sent to you via e-mail within a reasonable amount of time (giving them time to recall the book, format it, and saving it in a format for your specific reader).

[Laine]

Originally Posted by alecE

I'd love to see the Arthur Upfield 'Bony' detective novels in e-format, and all those "Year's best SF" books, in fact there's humungous quantities of SF (mainly Penguin) that I read about 40 years ago and don't have p copies of.

Some of the Bony books are available as audiobooks. I've seen them on a shelf in Abbeys bookshop in Sydney. Can't remember the company that does them.

[astra]

CanNOT find:

A Different Kingdom by Paul Kearney

The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney

Riding the Unicorn by Paul Kearney

The Confessions of Noa Weber by Gail Hareven

Queen of K'n-yan by Ken Asamatsu

Deadkidsongs by Toby Litt

Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel by Thomas Berger

Nights of Villjamur (Legends of the Red Sun 1) by Mark Charan Newton

Retribution Falls: Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding

Hunter's Moon by David Devereux

The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick

The Affirmation by Christopher Priest

Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart

Veil of Lies: A Medieval Noir by Jeri Westerson

[jabberwock_11]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

That's one of the best things about ebooks: If the original source text is properly formatted they never have to truly go out of print since they can be easily be formatted for a specific use (possibly even on the fly) when needed.

The low cost factor is very important. Once formatted and made available as an ebook, the cost of keeping it available is very low (it could be just the cost of keeping a website up and running). This is especially true if the book can be ordered and then sent to you via e-mail within a reasonable amount of time (giving them time to recall the book, format it, and saving it in a format for your specific reader).

That's what I'm saying. I just don't understand why publishers do not invest more effort into putting their older catalogue of books into ebook formats. They could make money off of titles that probably are not bringing them much in their current state, not to mention the possible influx of new customers.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by jabberwock_11

That's what I'm saying. I just don't understand why publishers do not invest more effort into putting their older catalogue of books into ebook formats. They could make money off of titles that probably are not bringing them much in their current state, not to mention the possible influx of new customers.

Added to the list of potential buyers are rebuyers. There are a number of printed books that I already own that I'd be interested in buying once again as an ebook just for the convenience.

Rather trying to do a mass conversion of ebooks, what might work better is to allow readers to indicate (via customer feedback) the books they'd like to see released as ebooks. That way, they will know that there is already interest in a particular title, or all of the works of a specific author. If a publisher receives hundreds of requests for a specific book, that is a good indicator that the ebook would sell.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kjk

I'd love to see some old childhood favorites, like Elizabeth Enright's Melendy family books come to eBooks. And C.S. Lewis, with Pauline Bayle's illustrations gracing the pages.

The "Narnia" series IS available in eBook form - complete with all the wonderful illustrations.