Sunday, April 17, 2011

Ooooh, Shiny Book

(Disclaimer: No books were harmed in the writing of this post. No vampires were made shiny and no werewolves were turned emo. Had either of the latter two occurred, said vamps and wolves would have been humanely extracted from the world of the written world for their sakes as well as for the sake of all readers out there.)

I must start with a confession. I am an e-book addict. You all know that. I've made no secret of how I love being able to put hundreds, thousands of books on my kindle or iPod touch and carry them with me. I love the convenience of being able to use my kindle to shop directly if I suddenly feel the need to have a new book and I just can't wait on it any longer. Besides, why would I work for a digital press if I didn't believe in e-books, right?

So what, you ask, do I have to confess? Well, I fell in love the other day. No, not that sort of love, although I did want to sleep with the new object of my affections. (Quit laughing, Sarah) Ah, I can see the looks of puzzlement in some of your faces and I see Kate covertly trying to find the number for the men in the white jackets. No, I haven't lost my mind. But I have discovered something many others before me already knew.

Thursday I received the bound proof of Nocturnal Origins. It was like Christmas morning all over again. My hands shook as I ripped into the box. My breath caught as I carefully lifted the book from inside and turned it over. There, finally, one dream come true. I actually held a book with my name as author.

And it was soooooooo cool.

That isn't to say I was more proud of the hard copy version of Origins than I have been of the e-book, because I'm not. But there is something about holding a book in your hands and seeing the physical manifestation of all your hard work.

Does this mean I'm not as big of an advocate of e-books as I was before Thursday? Absolutely not. But that feeling reminded me of something -- there really is something special about "real" books. For those folks who are tactile, physical books will almost always be more enjoyable than e-books. What we are going to see over the next few years is a balancing out of the industry -- I hope. E-books will gain more respectability while physical books will be ratcheted back some. I think we'll see more of the POD hubs cropping up in bookstores and other outlets so stores don't have to keep a lot of stock on hand. The customer simply orders the book while in the store, goes to have a cup of coffee or something, and comes back later to pick up his book. Technology like this may very well be one of the saviors of the print end of publishing.

In the meantime, however, let me have a moment to just go, "SQUEEEEEEE!". I promise to be back to normal -- or as normal as I ever am -- next weekend.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

It looks very good as p-book too :-). Congrats!

Jim McCoy said...

Congrats Amanda!

Looks like I'll have to make room on my bookshelf...

Err...

Now that you're publishing in DTF you wouldn't happen to have any advice on how to talk my wife into making room for another bookcase would you?

Francis Turner said...

is enjoying the ebook edition.

Stephen Simmons said...

Conga-Rats!
We have the Nook, and I'll probably be buying myself something that supports e-reading soon because my wife is getting touchy about sharing ... But there are still authors that we HAVE to buy on paper.

Sarah A. Hoyt said...

As the woman who once slept for a week clutching her acceptance from Analog in her hand, I can't throw stones... (I didn't SLEEP for a week, but when I slept I clutched the paper, because I was terrified it had all been a dream.)

And Stephen -- whispers -- KINDLE. I should change the song "I'm in love with my car" to "I'm in love with my kindle."

Amanda Green said...

Dave, thanks. I still can't believe it.

Amanda Green said...

Jim, tell her it's a really special bookcase, meant only for the best of books. If that doesn't work, tell her the author of this particular book will hold her breath until you get your bookcase and blue, much less purple, is most definitely not my color.

;-p

Amanda Green said...

Francis, thanks. Glad to hear it.

Amanda Green said...

Stephen, I second Sarah's comment about the kindle. Although, to be honest, right now the nook is more all purpose than the kindle simply because it supports e-pub and that means you can check e-books out from the library using the nook.

And, yes, there are still authors we have to have in DTB. But I also get them in digital so I can carry their books with me. In fact, I finished rereading one of Dave's books on my kindle last night after getting to the hotel.

Amanda Green said...

Sarah, if you can't cast stones, why did you lob one at me -- and laugh -- when I told you I wanted to sleep with the book? What's that you say? You were laughing WITH me? ;-p

T.M. Lunsford said...

Congrats, Amanda! I will chuckle at you and your desire to keep your book close to you until I'm in the same situation. Then you can laugh at me all you want 0:)

Amanda Green said...

Taylor, just remember, I shall laugh and point and make fun now... ;-p

Actually, thanks. And you will know the feeling soon, I'll lay odds on it.