No ebook for the next Stephen King

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Well, he didn't say it would never be published as an ebook. Just that "we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being."



This is what amazes me most about the whole affair, and makes it seem more of a marketing ploy than a genuine swipe at ebooks. A few years ago he wrote an Amazon-only novella called "UR" especially for the Kindle. It was about a customer who received a Pink Kindle with very special EXPERIMENTAL options, including being able to buy the books Ernest Hemingway wrote after July 2, 1961.

This. I'm thinking that the publisher may be the one behind this and they likely arrived at a "special deal."

[elemenoP]

I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that this is an original paperback (which is unusual in and of itself). Typically new ebooks are priced around the same price as a discounted hardcover, which is more than a paperback. So the ebook price would look too high next to the paperback?

Or maybe it truly is nostalgia for the "pulp" format. Otherwise, why are they not doing a hardcover release?

eP

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Never read one of his books and never will. Not my style.

and how do you know that?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Or maybe it truly is nostalgia for the "pulp" format. Otherwise, why are they not doing a hardcover release?

King is in the unique situation of not "needing" every single dime he can get out of his work. So who better for publishers to use as an experiment to see if they can still make "enough" money without the big hardcover release (where they've always claimed they recover the bulk of their initial investment)? If they can recoup their investment with one single print format (more than likely the pricier trade paperback), then surely they'll be able to survive in a Trade PB + ebook world.

Basically more of a controlled experiment to see if eliminating hardcovers for big-name author releases can still move enough product to realize profits than it is poking a stick in the ebook's eye.

Maybe.

I'm quite often full of bull-puckey, so keep that in mind.

[ProfCrash]

I don't have to read King to know I am not going to like his work. It has nothing to do with style and everything to do with genre. I just don't like the genres that he writes in. Those books and movies give me nightmares. It has always been that way so why bother testing it time and time again and ending up waking up in the middle of the night scared?

Just like there are many people who do not read romances because, well they are romances. There are a wide variety of sub fields within the genre but overall, many people know that is not the type of story that they like so they avoid the field all together.

(shrugs)

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Perhaps it is a scientific experiment. By not releasing an eBook for a while, maybe they have some software that will count torrents to figure out how many pirated copies will be in circulation during the non-release time span?

As I recall, this is the same thing they did with "Under the Dome." I believe it was 3 months after the release of the book (and audiobook) that the ebook was finally released.

[ProfCrash]

Did anyone keep track of pirated downloads?

I am opposed to piracy but stuff like this is what makes me think it is not all evil.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by johnnyb

and how do you know that?

Sometimes you just know.

other times you read a few excerpts here and there and you just know.

other times you read the first chapter or so and you just know.

[6charlong]

There's a nation-wide shortage of pixels. That's what I heard.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by 6charlong

There's a nation-wide shortage of pixels. That's what I heard.

That's what I heard, too. The pixel farmers just can't make a decent go of it in this economy... and the numbers of wild pixels are dwindling at an alarming rate.

[6charlong]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

That's what I heard, too. The pixel farmers just can't make a decent go of it in this economy... and the numbers of wild pixels are dwindling at an alarming rate.

This explains a lot of weird stuff on the internet. The good news is that it's a local US problem. I just bought a book on Pottermore and it reads fine.

Too bad about Stephen King' stuff though.

[maxiart]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

Utter nonsense. Of course there will be an ebook, the publishers are in the game to make money.

Correction: There will be an ebook, be it by the publiher's hand, or another's.

Poor fool...

[Indio777]

Originally Posted by danskmacabre

Count yourself lucky, my Charcoal sticks and Ochre sales company (for use in cave painting) went bust when your Stone tablets arrived and ruined everything for everyone!

I prefer the birch tree bark format myself

Whatever, it's his book. Maybe it "is" a case of nostalgia for paper on his part. Anyway, he was somewhat of a pioneer when it came to trying to distribute books in electronic form. I am thinking of "The Plant."

I assume that both he and his publisher are aware that it will be pirated. Maybe he doesn't care. I doubt he needs the money, although his publisher might ....

I suspect that many people who would download a pirated version might do so even if there was an "official" ebook version released in conjunction with the paperback.

Will be interesting to see how sales go.

[rleguillow]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

“I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts,” he said in the press release. “I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.”

Well, I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts too - but my Stephen King collection is NOT paperback, because I reread them often enough to wear them out. I didn't buy Green Mile till it came out in hardback, and won't buy this one in paperback either. I have his books (nearly his entire output of novels, novellas and short stories) in hardback, plus ebooks where possible or necessary (couldn't even read my copy of Under the Dome, it was too heavy - had to wait till I could get the ebook too) and audiobooks as often as I can. So I guess I won't get this one as soon as it comes out. Sigh.

[rdfry]

Because he is one of those authors that writes interesting and uninteresting books, What he does with the format makes no difference to me. I will borrow it from the library if I am interested in it.