It’s something I’ve been wondering about for some time now.
There’s a ton of talk about the move from print to digital books. And as more and more publishers report in, the trend has become clear there. In fact, my own publisher, Portfolio, which is part of Penguin, just revealed earlier this week that ebook sales had grown at a rate of 128% over the last year and now comprise 14% of all revenue, which is actually lower on both counts than most of the other big publishers.
I get the move from print to digital (though I personally still love the feel of a book in my hands). At some point, even print curmudgeon’s have to acknowledge that the ability to search for, buy, download and read a book from your chaise lounge at the pool is pretty damn cool. And the ability to take along 100 or so books when you travel is pretty nice, too.
But, what about the leap to more fully-featured interactive book experiences and apps, jam-packed with video, games, background and all sorts of other add-ons?
I can see how, for certain types of books, this could truly add to the experience. But I also wonder if much of it will end up amounting to bells and whistles that will taunt readers repeatedly out of the story, potentially even create a sense of sensory and processing overwhelm and, in an odd way, potentially diminish the sweet, simple, linear experience of the “pure read?”
Curious, what do YOU think?
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There are some good bells and whistles – hyperlinks as opposed to footnotes – but I really would hate to see the basic concept of what it is to read change. It’s like when Star Trek presents a ‘holonovel’ as a ‘book’ in which you can ‘play’ a character rather than simply imagine yourself as that character I can’t help but remember what my mother’s generation did for toys and what toys have now become. Much has been lost along the way.
I think there are some really interesting potential applications of enhanced e-books, but I doubt that the pure story is ever going to disappear entirely. Just like physical books will never disappear entirely.
I love physical books but, ever since I bought a Kindle, it’s hard for me to part with $25 vice $10. That said, sometimes I do wish I could look something up right there; instead of running to my computer to do the same
I’m mostly a nonfiction reader so I don’t know how well I’d do with interactivity. Although it might work out for fiction readers. I like to think and take notes while I read. Too much whiz bang would probably be bad for me.
I like the solitude of a book. I like that the printed book doesn’t interrupt me with tweets, videos, etc. In short, I like it because it’s not the web.
Possibly a complex maketing product mix where one book becomes 10 different products, and books can then generate revenues in a mutitude of ways for different target market equations.Smart publishers will lead the way.
For me, it would depend on the type of book. A novel or short story? I want an uninterrupted, linear experience, thank you. But I also do a lot of reading to gather information (child development is my “world”) and for that, I think certain enhancements would be wonderful! …a video to demonstrate or illustrate a point, a link to get more in-depth info, an audio of an interview with a researcher, etc. As long as each enhancement is an option that the reader chooses. Yes, it makes the reading less linear, but it also allows the reading to be more customized to the needs/interests of each reader – to provide a richer experience that the reader controls.
There is something akin to sharing when reading a book. Although the book represents a monologue from the author presented to the reader, it is the reader’s imagination which fills in the myriad details left unexplained, or unexplored by the author. Multi-media books are an intersting concept, and may work in some situations, but the loss of the dialogue between the author’s and the reader’s imaginations in a work of fiction could greatly dinishish the mutual creativity, and the intimacy of the experience. People play computer games based on films because they want to actively interact with those places, characters and events. A book seems more akin to a computer game, actively engaging the reader in the way film does not. Because of this I think tradtional books still have a valid place amongst all the new media experiences consumers are being offered.
Books are like candles, aren’t they?
Yes, electric light bulbs are more convenient and we all use them, but who would want to do without a beautiful white candle or a patchouli scented one, or a black one for respectively that romantic diner, drinking herbal tea after yoga class or listening to your collection of vinyl death metal albums.
The more practical the purpose of the book, the less I would care whether it was “real” or digital. If the book that is supposed to help me loose 25 kilo by the end of the year has special digital features that suggest alternative recipes and calculate how I am doing, great!
But after a week of working from behind my laptop, on Saturday I want to stroll through the cobble-stoned streets and alleys of the city, to the tiny little bookshop where that girl with the long red hair sits behind her mahogany desk (She’s writing something. Poetry, no doubt…). There I will buy me a book. A real book. Which I will read by the light of a patchouli scented black candle.
I still believe that everybody, especially those who enjoy reading, need to power down once in a while.
I have a drastic amount more of my book sold digitally (as an ePub and as an iPad and iPhone app) than I do in the physical form. So those stats you posted are nice. Lots more room for me to grow. Since this blog is about selling lots of books I’m surprised you show any reticence towards a new and emerging market. I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to get daily updates from around the world of people getting access to my material. It’s kind of a thrill when you get readers from countries you’ve never been too, halfway across the planet.
There are pros and cons with every medium. That any of us can’t deny. But let’s not just point out the negative. Let’s look for a success story, or be it?
Sent from my iPad
The fact is that we’re self-selecting, and intelligent when we want to be. I read the New Yorker magazine on the iPad and it has audio and video and all sorts of things. I occasionally go to the audio or video, but mostly stick with the story.
It’s the same thing as a web page.
On my website I may choose to have audio, video and text. What will most people choose? Hard to say, but I’m betting on text. When a person sits down to read, they usually read. And all the buttons and links are ignored. If they head to an audio site, they don’t want to read, and audio becomes the most prominent and wanted feature of all. And the same applies to video.
I have an iPad (oops, you already know that) and I use Kindle on the iPad to read. I underline and do all the stuff that I would never dare do on a normal book. I even take screenshots of my pages, make notes and upload it to Evernote. In fact, I will read the same book many times over, sometimes whizzing through it at Evernote, sometimes poring over it in the Kindle app.
And frankly, once I’d read the book, I’d still want to watch a video. I’d still want to see a video. Video and audio and other stuff don’t take away from my experience. They add to it. I may not choose to click on something the first time around. But for sure, I’d want to go one inch wide, one mile deep on my second or third reading.
Again, the books that will have the whiz bang stuff will be the books that could do with the whiz bang. I would have loved to have my books (earlier published) to have that whiz bang, because it brings greater understanding of the subject. But if the book is a novel, or something read just for pleasure (like a New Yorker article), there’s still a lot of value in whiz bang. Reading about how chocolate is made, I’d be quite keen to see an embedded video (or an external video) of how chocolate is made. It would enhance my understanding. If on the other hand, I’m running through ‘Pride and Prejudice’, that video link may not interest me at all.
I do believe we are self-selecting. At least the smart ones are!
Your last paragraph — sensory overwhelm — is exactly what I was thinking when you began to ask the question. I’m sure super interactive mojo will be a plus for certain books, but over all, I think digital books in simple formats are the winner — with the personal, meaningful, memorable, physically tangible addition of print books for people who feel really close to the story or the subject, or want to share the message in some significant way.
I definitely see this happening in my own library; I have hard copies when I want to make a personal workshop out of them and take notes in the margins, I have hard copies when the book itself is very dear to me and when I want to have extras on hand to give to passersby. But a lot of the time, I read or scan new books via smartphone or tablet, especially if I don’t know much about it yet or don’t feel a particular personal connection. Then I pick up a hard copy if it’s clear I should have a hard copy, but I stick with digital when it’s just about absorbing at-hand information.
There’re two aspects of enriched ebooks – presentation and social connection. I agree that the presentation depends on the content. For social connection though, it’s already proven that there’s demand for it (i.e. tribes). Making it more integrated in the actual book is a natural trend.
At the risk of “plugging” myself, take a look at my video on a http://www.mobnotate.com for what I mean by book as ‘networked’ objects.
Great, thought-provoking post. As a student, I can say that I am no no longer able to tolerate old-school textbooks. Must have e-texts or PDF’s that I can annotate colorfully, and share with online study groups. As an avid backpacker & reader, there is no way I’m ever sacrificing desperately-needed equipment space for actual books ever again when I can “pack” dozens of volumes in my iPhone.
That said, when not traveling, nothing beats escape from the electronic world better than an actual book. I absolutely adore shutting off everything electronic, and cuddling with a tangible book without the interruption/pressure of incoming emails, texts/calls & outgoing links tearing me from the respite of a temporary non-electronic world.
Actual books are like a vacation from the pressures of electronic life…
I’ve loved books from the moment my parents started reading to me. I was the kid tucked under the covers with a flashlight so I wouldn’t get busted for being up after ‘lights out’.
I was sold on ebooks when I could carry more than one title with me anywhere, whenever. I started reading on my palmZ22 and received a kindle2 for Christmas and fell in love with the ebook experience completely. Just recently I upgraded to a smartphone and the kindle app is fantastic. This will be a big help and another way to enjoy books all the time.
As for the interactivity, I agree with you that for the right type of book this could add to the experience, but it’s not something I see as functional for every author or title. I write to entertain, but I certainly don’t want my reader jerked out of the world of the story. I can see that building resentment with my reader – too much of a good thing – or new thing can just be too much.
The bells and whistles suggestion really concerns me from a couple of perspectives. One being the sense that media can replace the craft of the writer and their use of words. This is what sets storytelling aside from interactive multimedia, movies and webpages. These too are all valid forms of expression but the blurring of lines between the forms concerns me as well.
Good discussion.
It depends on the type of book. For literary fiction, business and personal development books, I love to have the book in my hands and write in the margins. Making notes using an e-reader doesn’t feel the same to me. I am also finding that I am remembering more when I read a physical copy of the book than when I read it online and I’m not sure why.
Avil Beckford
Let’s remind ourselves that physical paper books are products of technological limitations, and old ones at that. There’s nothing “pure” about them at all. Just because their existence precedes us and we never knew a life without them gives them no special sanctity.
We’re creatures of habit. Look at the way people use word processors: as if they were nothing more than glorified typewriters.
What strikes me as funny though is that we’ve already been through all this. Remember CD-ROMs and “multimedia?”
What, people are using something other than CD-ROMs these days?
Completely agree with Michael. In fact, I think I’ve read more authors and books thanks to the kindle and ipad. I love the fact that what I want is a button/touch away. Yes, the wait and the drive to bookstore is romantic (or whatever other sentiment), but I’d rather get it know and READ! For that’s what everything is written for. To be read.
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