The e-Volution of Books

It seems that no one is writing about any aspect of publishing these days other then e-books. It's an important topic for sure, but one that's hard to keep up with, since it changes faster than the chameleon (named Fred) who lived in my apartment changed his colors. To help, here are a few of the latest developments:

There's been a lot of discussion about how e-books aren't environmentally-friendly, due to the toxic materials included in some models, the same argument given for computer and TV monitors. But Brian Palmer of the Washington Post argues that "As long as you consume a healthy number of titles, you read at a normal
pace and you don't trade in your gadget every year, perusing
electronically will lighten your environmental impact." 

Another controversy is the price of e-books, which has led to a pricing war of sorts in the industry—witness the latest salvo, an e-book price war in the UK spurred by Amazon's discounting. How are publishers to make money, then?  Ads in books as has been bandied about lately. Or perhaps, product placement in books is on the horizon. (I'm not sure which of the two is less appealing…)

There's been a lot of talk about the death of bookstores, too, and even big-box chain Barnes & Noble is up for sale. But are these stores doomed or merely evolving? Barnes & Noble recently reported a net loss but that included a 21 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The chain also announced new leaders for their digital business side, so you can sense where things are heading.

Several high profile authors are leaving traditional publishers behind in a cloud of whale dust. One such author is J.A. Konrath, who's been quite vocal in his disdain for the old model, experiencing booming sales via e-books (his most recent post says his Kindle sales outpace his iBook sales 2 to 1). The latest author announcement came from Seth Godin, who criticized the "antique and expensive distribution system" used by publishers to help "authors reach unknown readers."  He added that the the business race is on "to have the relationship with the reader"

Which e-reader to get? The Nook, Kindle, Sony, Kobo, iPad? (In case that's not confusing enough, here's a listing of the various offerings.) There are some who say that smart phones may end up being the real winners when it comes to the most-downloaded number of books. In case you want to try that out for yourself, this site lists some of the most popular apps for the iPhone, Android phones and others. Even libraries are getting into the act by lending e-book readers and offering smart phone titles, too. 

Does it have to be print or e? Agent Nathan Bransford and consultant Mike Shatzkin (here and here) both believe the two types of stores can co-exist peacefully, although the brick-and-mortar stores might look a lot different in the types of items they offer.