There's no getting around it, anymore. Ebooks are coming into their own fast and furious.
When an author like John Grisham, who was adamantly against selling his novels as ebooks, capitulates on the issue--well, that's saying something, isn't it?
Although the iPad's appearance on the market has created more buzz, plus more industry concern about the whole thing, this was a revolution on its way, even before iPad's release was announced.
So, for publishers, it's e-publish or perish. After all, when an iPad is simple enough to be used by a two-and-a-half year old, you have to see where this will eventually go, right?
Notice her quick and intuitive understanding of this gadget. The girl doesn't need a user guide.
Not only that, but--shock and horror!--book sales (by which, I'm assuming they mean print books) dropped 1.8% in 2009, while ebook sales rose a whopping 176% (holy sh*t!).
Okay, so maybe publishers are trying harder to keep in the game now (because now they can clearly see this whole ebook thing is for real). But can they do it with the "agency model"? Can they really expect authors to sign their e-rights over and readers to pay more for ebooks?
Ultimately, how will publishers compete with authors who self-publish their ebooks, like Joe Konrath? (Read the post--Konrath so much as kicks publishers to the proverbial curb.)
Don't believe me? Read the last two paragraphs from Konrath's post:
"So in two years I can make more money on my own on a self-pubbed ebook than a book released by a major publisher in hardcover, trade paper, paperback, and ebook formats, supported by a tour and advertising.
"Unless it's a big offer, I can't imagine selling rights to my work ever again... "
Hello? Did you notice he didn't qualify that statement by limiting it to ebooks? Basically, he just said that unless it's a "big offer" (how big? don't know), he can't picture ever selling his rights to a publisher anymore.
I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
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