z

Young Writers Society


Is the hardcover novel dead?



User avatar
3821 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 3891
Reviews: 3821
Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:09 am
Snoink says...



Nate wrote:1. Kindle doesn't support the e-pub format. The Nook does, but I've tried the Nook and I don't like having the touchscreen at the bottom. The e-pub format is important because then you have access to literally hundreds of thousands of free books. On the Kindle, if I want to read Mark Twain, I have to pay for it. On the Nook, I can download Mark Twain for free. But unfortunately, as I said, the hardware for the Nook just doesn't feel right to me.


I thought this too at first, when I was looking through Amazon's bookstore. However, with some looking, I found this site:

http://manybooks.net

It has Mark Twain's works, available for Kindle. And many many more books. I kind of adore it. :)

2. Licensing. When you buy a hardcover book, you own it. You can sell it, lend it, burn it, whatever. But with an e-book, you never own it. You're only renting it, and so your ownership of the book is at the whim of whomever sold it to you. What if Amazon or Barnes & Noble went bankrupt one day? I'd be in danger of losing all the books I bought (it's the exact same with iTunes, which is why I use Napster and Pandora).


I thought you owned the songs? You can burn them to a CD anyway, which pretty much makes a hard copy of the songs!
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





User avatar
6 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 2145
Reviews: 6
Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:20 am
Wolfie2 says...



I really don't like e-books. I know that it looks similar to the page itself, and you can still turn it, but I prefer a hard book. And, what's going to happen to book signings if book disappear?
You can't argue with all the fools in the world. It's better to let them have their way, then trick them when they aren't looking- Brom
  





User avatar
367 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 37290
Reviews: 367
Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:20 am
Mizzle says...



First of all, I would like to state that no, the hardcover novel is most definitely not dead. I know many people who are frustrated with the new e-books, because, despite their many perks, they also have quite a few downfalls. Personally, I enjoy reading a hardcover novel more than I enjoy reading from an e-book, though I do have a Kindle DX, as well.

Perhaps it is just the feel of a novel's pages in my fingertips, or the knowledge that not everything has to be technologically advanced, but I love reading hardcover novels whilst curled up on the huge beanbag in my living room with some green tea. Or maybe it is partly due to the fact that, growing up, I have always read books in a hardcover/paperback format and even now, with the new e-book out, I still prefer hardcovers. Though I was blessed enough to receive a Kindle DX, and do enjoy reading books from it, I find that I will probably always prefer a true, hardcover novel.

There is also another wonderful thing about hardcover novels: whilst holding that hot chocolate, coffee, or green tea when reading, and it spills, it will merely be dried up on the pages (versus that if that liquid had been spilled upon an electronic e-book, the e-book might have gone haywire and been severely damaged).

Nate wrote:2. Licensing. When you buy a hardcover book, you own it. You can sell it, lend it, burn it, whatever. But with an e-book, you never own it. You're only renting it, and so your ownership of the book is at the whim of whomever sold it to you. What if Amazon or Barnes & Noble went bankrupt one day? I'd be in danger of losing all the books I bought (it's the exact same with iTunes, which is why I use Napster and Pandora).


As Nate said, you never truly own an e-book, which is a terrible downfall to that system. Another sad thing about electronic books is that not all novels that I want to read come in a Kindle format, which is (believe me) extremely frustrating. When I read hardcover novels, I own the books once I buy them, and I can buy any book I want!

I guess I will just always be a hardcover novel girl.

But can you blame me?

~Mizz
"Chase your dreams, and remember me, speak bravery,
Because after all, those wings will take you up so high."
-- Owl City, "To the Sky"
✯ ✯ ✯
  





User avatar
425 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 11417
Reviews: 425
Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:21 am
Nate says...



Snoink ->> Firstly, that site is awesome. Thanks for sharing it. Still, I'd prefer something that did support the e-pub format because then I'm not as constrained and I could use http://www.gutenberg.org/ to get even more books. Heck, all it takes is a few lines of code, and every topic on WriterFeed could be formatted in epub.

This is a good recent article about ownership of digital music:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/09/07/ ... urt-rules/

Still, I do think the advantages of a Kindle outweigh its downsides. Just waiting for the third generation... I tend to be a late adopter :)
  





User avatar
3821 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 3891
Reviews: 3821
Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:54 am
Snoink says...



Psh, I knew this would come down to WF! ;) Though, I think they're ARE open-source programs which change files into .azw's. So it's not impossible to do. Still, the Kindle does read .txt files fine, and since a lot of Gutenberg is in .txt, that isn't too hard to do, I think! It's just too bad they have no italics that way.

Oooooh. So that sort of licensing. Still, those licenses are mostly meant to prevent piracy. For those who want to legally own the music, they can pretty much use the music like they own it. Except they don't.

And, I thought amazon released its third generation Kindle... ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





User avatar
159 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 7386
Reviews: 159
Mon Oct 04, 2010 4:26 am
MeanMrMustard says...



Prokaryote wrote:
You need some ridiculously powerful supercomputers and connections to keep that running smoothly.


The music industry made the transition, and music files are usually at least three times larger than book files.


The point is not size, when you're sending out the demand they'll be taking on file size had better not be a problem. It's the industry's willingness to change from tradition at the right time. Music is a poor example considering it came close to being put on an iron lung. The same could very well happen to publishing; I guarantee you they want certainty they will make money before they change. That's not saying they won't eventually, they're just looking for the right model to make most revenue possible against all possible foreseeable losses. The music industry just showed everyone many ways how not to go about the process.

Prokaryote wrote:
My guess is you'll see e-readers as the de facto way of reading in the far, far-off future, which will be a pain for people that get migraines, but c'est la vie.


Silly. E-ink looks like paper. No headaches. E-ink does not equal LCD. There's way too much confusion about what modern ereaders really are. We're not talking about reading on an iPad, ya dig?


Apparently "c'est la vie" has lost it's sarcastic connotation? :wink: I understand what you mean though.
FWIW I'm not a die-hard hard cover lover. E-books are the future and resistance to them is futile.
  





User avatar
798 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 6517
Reviews: 798
Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:26 am
View Likes
Jiggity says...



Eh. People tend to have a fatalistic approach to this issue - it must be one or the other; the one side decries the loss of traditional services and says no, no, no we're not dead, it's just a fad and could you tech-junkies please go away now? Whereas the other side puffs up its puny electronic chest and squeaks 'we're the future! all you dinosaurs back off!' and because it's electronic and is everywhere, the squeak is distorted into a roar and everyone sits up to pay attention.

Books aren't going anywhere. Ereaders are not god's gift to Earth, they're not taking over, but neither are they going away.

As it stands, e-books make up (last I read) about 7% of the publishing market, which is around $200 million out of an $80 billion-a-year industry. People seem to think it's a lot more than that, that books are on a downward trend, etc and it's really not the case. There's just been a lot of hype. I don't think the hardcover is dead, and I think the original quote from this thread was a little silly. I think it went something like, "I'm sick of trying to get people to go places they don't normally go to buy things they don't normally buy" - how in the world does that translate to digital is better? The market is the same - the audience doesn't change because of the medium, you still want the people that like reading the books, to buy the books.

I don't think there will ever be a complete transition between the two. Any significant changes are likely to take place over a long period of time, so we can all settle down a bit. Right now, it's the prices that are killing print medium. I don't understand the logistics of it really, but I do that book prices need to go down. I haven't, nor will I in the foreseeable future, buy a hardcover book because it's simply too expensive at $30-40 a pop. That being said, a lot of the new books I've been seeing as paperbacks have been around $38 and I simply don't know why. Books in Australia are silly-expensive on the whole, so we might not be the best example to use, but it's all I know. But that hasn't stopped me from buying books.

It just means I've turned to Book Depository, which is a great online site that ships any amount of books and comics, anywhere in the world, for free - and their prices for the books themselves are far, far cheaper than anything you'll find in the store. I recognise, however, that not everyone is as book-oriented as I am, and they will turn to the ebooks as a cheaper, easier option (once you get the initial $200-400 price of the reader out of the way). It's not do-or-die is all I'm saying and it's not as big a deal right now as some people think. It will grow, I'm sure, before it's done and the publishing model that we see and know now will change to some degree to accomodate that growth, but novels will never cease to exist or to be produced. With every new advancement, with every new technology, from short story to novel and from radio to film to televsion to the internet, people have decried the death of the previous technology and they're all still around.

Kay? Kay then. That's my two cents, anyway.
Mah name is jiggleh. And I like to jiggle.

"Indecision and terror, thy name is novel." - Chiko
  





User avatar
558 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 22481
Reviews: 558
Mon Oct 04, 2010 10:39 am
View Likes
Matt Bellamy says...



Hmm, well I still prefer to buy CDs over downloading MP3s so I doubt I'll be buying a Kindle any time soon. I like the authenticity of books, I like to feel like I really own them; I think turning things digital makes them seem sort of abstract. And when I eventually get my novel published, it will feel a hundred times better to see it as a book on the shelf than it would seeing it as something downloadable.
Matt.

Got Tumblr? Me too! http://www.writersam.co.uk

Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine is accepting submissions! http://peekingcatpoetrymagazine.blogspot.co.uk
  





User avatar
63 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 314
Reviews: 63
Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:38 pm
iheartbooks says...



As much as I hate to believe it, hardcover is going down. E-books are the future, and cost less. Less to buy, less to publish. etc. etc. etc... Frankly, I think ebooks need to jump off a cliff and die (sorry, my new thing to say). I prefer reading books the old fashioned way, thank you very much.

-iheartbooks
"As the hungry are deprived of food, I am deprived of sympathy for those who deprive me of my sanity." ~Anonymous
  





User avatar
3821 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 3891
Reviews: 3821
Mon Oct 04, 2010 8:40 pm
Snoink says...



Jiggity does make a good point, lol... it would be a more interesting comparison between the paperback and the e-book. ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





User avatar
1087 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 44360
Reviews: 1087
Mon Oct 04, 2010 8:47 pm
Sins says...



I agree with Jiggity on this one. I think that he pretty much hit the nail on the head for me.

Fair enough, maybe the paperback/hardback novel isn't as popular as it used to be now that E-books are around, but I doubt they're just going to disappear. E-books aren't going to disappear anytime soon either. Like others have said, E-books kind of compare to downloaded music. I much prefer buying CD's than downloading them off iTunes. I've tried downloading music off iTunes before, but it just doesn't feel the same to me.

Another point I'd like to make out is that from the ages of about 5 - 18 _depending on the person) downloading a book onto a Kindle has complications. To begin with, as far as I'm aware anyway, you have to sign up to some kind of account or something? If it's like iTunes, then that means a credit card of some sort. People from the ages of 5 - 18 don't often have credit cards. Sure, they might sign up to their parents credit cards, but I personally receive pocket money/an allowance. Therefore, using my parents credit card isn't the easiest thing to do. Considering I have my own physical money and not a credit card, the only way I can really buy a book is by going to the store. Does that make sense...?

Different people are going to feel differently though. Some will prefer E-books, some will prefer paperback books. Some people might even like using both. If you want my opinion about the whole thing, I don't think paperback books are 'dying out'. When laptops came out, an awful lot of people were quick to say that computers will shortly die. They haven't though. Loads of people still use computers, even if more people do, in fact, use laptops now. Computers still exist. That's how I think books are going to end up. Paper books aren't going to simply die out, just become a bit less popular.

I certainly hope that paperback books don't die out though. There's just something about going to my local WHSmith's, physically buying a book with actual money in my hand, arriving home and smelling those clean cut pages, feeling the smooth card on the cover and admiring the cover art that makes me adore paperback books.

I won't go on now because I'm only repeating what other's have said. :wink:
I didn't know what to put here so I put this.
  





User avatar
61 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 1903
Reviews: 61
Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:32 am
Sierra says...



Nooo!!! I don't want regular books to die!!! However, i once read some of a book on my aunt's Kindle, and it was awesome. Urgh. E-books are the books of the future (sadly) so, yes, i too think hardcovers are becoming dead :( :( :( :(
What a shame,
We used to be such fragile broken things.
  





Random avatar


Gender: Female
Points: 4572
Reviews: 43
Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:57 am
View Likes
NepoGirl says...



There's alot of controversy about this. Personally, I do think the E-book will become big in teh near future, but hard cover books will never die. It's just sort of the feeling you have when you flip a page and the smell of the pages. You really don't get that feeling with an e-book. E-book's could get much more popular in the future but I don't think that hard cover books will ever die.

Lots of :smt049, Nepo!
This Months Disney Film: Beauty And The Beast

~Is It Wrong That I Find The Beast More Attractive As An Actual Beast Then His Human Prince Form?
  





User avatar
108 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 3342
Reviews: 108
Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:46 pm
View Likes
bluewaterlily says...



Hardcover forever and all the way 1000%

Plus I lost my kindle. :wink:

I will always prefer the feel of paper and the smell of ink though.

Image

Enough said.
"A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language." - W.H. Auden
  





User avatar
39 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 4842
Reviews: 39
Wed Jul 15, 2015 8:28 pm
View Likes
ClackFlip says...



I hope not. I can't stand e-readers for reading. I don't much like the self-publishing approach either, it's too gargled. I think that both will stay around as options -I hope so at least.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing the world he didn't exist.
And like ash in the wind, he was gone.
The man who lived.
The myth long forgotten.
The legend that lives on.
*poof*
  








"We're just all nosy little busybodies."
— SirenCymbaline the Kiwi