2012.06.13
eBooks: Should they be in our future?
This post is from reporter Mason Adams.
Since going to work for the Roanoke Times I’ve become a collector of the various books the newspaper has published over the years.
Visit a Timesland used bookstore or antique mall on the right day and you can find books of Ben Beagle’s columns or commemorative reprints of the Roanoke Times’ front page over the years.
These days, the Roanoke Times is not likely to publish a book for sale.
Admittedly, I’ve been a little slow to jump on the eBook train. I still like haunting used bookstores and looking for bargain finds there, and although I love turning pages, I have little desire to read my favorite tomes on a Kindle, Nook or iPad.
But I recognize the technology’s potential. EBooks have removed much of the cost and materials associated with publishing books, making it easier for unknown authors to publish their work.
Newspapers have already started to jump on board. The Los Angeles Times published its first eBook last fall, and the New York Times reports that other publications – Politico, the New Yorker and Huffington Post, among others – are doing the same.
I think that one of the Times’ greatest assets is its archives. Librarian Belinda Harris looks after files on a variety of subjects and individuals, plus an archive that dates back to the 1890s. She uses that to collect and write each week’s “Looking Back” feature.
So I wonder: Is there an audience for eBooks collecting past material from the Roanoke Times?
You could collect stories recounting the rise and fall of Victory Stadium, the Flood of ‘85 or even the best collected columns of Dan Casey from 2008 to the present (though that would make for a very, very short book).
I’ve got plenty of other ideas for Roanoke Times eBooks I’d like to see:
–The rise of Republicans in Virginia’s General Assembly.
– A collection of Beth Macy’s best stories and columns (which could be timed in conjunction with her upcoming book about John Bassett III and Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co.)
– An annual collection of Virginia Tech football reporting.
– The life and times of former Roanoke Mayor Noel Taylor.
– The wild and wooliest true crime tales of Timesland.
Those ideas deal just with existing material and don’t even begin to scrape the surface of the potential for long-form writing on news that’s breaking now. ProPublica published a gripping story last month that also spawned a radio show (and subsequent podcast) on This American Life and also an eBook. It’s clearly a rare story that merits that treatment, but to my mind that ProPublica story and the way it was published indicates a brave new world for enterprise journalism.
Would you read Roanoke Times eBooks? If so, what collections would you like to see?
And by way of background, incidentally, here’s a short video with one of the past books published by The Roanoke Times. This is the newspaper’s 100th anniversary publication, which I borrowed from education reporter Courtney Cutright’s desk.
eBooks…I don’t use them. WHile I do see the potential advantages for unknown authors to get works out there and into circulation, the cost for eBooks from actual publishers are almost what you pay for the physical book, so no thanks. If eBooks were say maybe $3-4 for non-fiction novel, I might give it a whirl. But last I looked on Google Play, a new Clive Cussler novel was running $12.99. I believe the paperback of it sold at Kroger for about the same, maybe even a dollar or 2 less. But, we don’t buy many new books anyway…usually I can find what I’m looking for at a thrift shop after a while, and walk away with it for under $2 per book.
As for something from the RT, I’d take a book/eBook of recipes from Lindsey Nair’s columns, that would be useful and fun.
Comment by Other John — June 13, 2012 @ 9:55 am
You ask “is there a market for ebooks of ______.” What you should really ask is “is the a market for _____,” and not worry about the format at this point.
If you decide you can likely make a profit on a particular subject, then produce the content in such a way that you can easily generate an ebook format (which really just means “do it electronically”).
For text-centric content, ebook generation is an almost trivial addition to the cost – you can create EPUB/MOBI/etc. formats directly from a Word document or PDF – which you’re probably already creating anyway.
A photo-heavy or very layout-specific book is a different matter, and much less likely to be successful in ebook form today. Most readers wouldn’t even support it well.
Comment by Andy — June 15, 2012 @ 10:16 am
I have used eBooks and regular books. I am divided on whatever the eBooks are worth it or actually are. The only advantage I can see is going the eBooks route cuts the middlemen out (publishing houses, etc) and allows authors to have more say in their works. My biggest gripe is the limited selection available at library (in my case, the Floyd-Montgomery branch is a laugh).
I believe the widely popular format is the ePub (which is actually an Adobe product, I think) and nearly all smart phones and tablets support reading the ePub format.
Is it the “future”? I think so. I blame it on Star Trek. Nearly all the technology in the TV series have become reality and it won’t be long before hold books vanishes.
I think the RT would be wise to invest, minimally, in the eBooks market and maybe release small samplings to measure responses from the readers.
Comment by Trevor — June 15, 2012 @ 2:56 pm
During a recent road trip, I used my phone to read an eBook, and it wasn’t all that bad. I still will not pay premium prices for eBooks, I think that’s nuts since they eliminate practically all publishing costs aside from writing, editing, marketing, and creating the file. No cutting down small forests to supply the paper, no printing costs, don’t have to ship them all over the place…so why am I going to pay $15 for an eBook when the real deal is $20? I won’t.
But, I did download numerous free eBooks of the classics (Shakespeare, Dickens, etc), and a few newer ones. It is nice not having to lug books around if I want to read something, but I’m still a fan of holding the actual book and reading it instead of from a device. Will I ever buy an eReader? No. But a multi-tasking tablet…perhaps.
And yes, Star Trek…they also showed the precursors for tablets, eReaders, cell phones, etc. Now…I hope they never create a transporter device in my lifetime. If they did, commutes and traffic jams would become a thing of the past, and my job would go with it!
Comment by Other John — June 21, 2012 @ 7:49 am
I love, love, love my Kindle. However, for books that have lots of pictures or I would be referencing back and forth, personally, I go for the actual book. That may change as ebook formats get better.
Comment by Michelle — June 22, 2012 @ 11:24 am