The e-Book Phenomenon

By Cate Masters

You say you want an evolution? In a kind of literary Darwinism, stories are evolving as publishing continues to evolve, further driven by emerging technological advances. Sony’s eReader and Amazon’s Kindle make e-books portable and more convenient. As other brands enter the market, hopefully the price will come down, but I recently read a good argument for Netbooks – they’re about the same size as e-readers, and you get more bang for your buck. I can see them playing a huge part in replacing bulky textbooks for students – a great plus for the environment.

I understand the argument for going digital at home, too, though I love print books – walking into a room with a bookcase jammed with books feels like walking into a roomful of friends. On the other hand, since we moved two and a half years ago, I still have ten boxes of books still waiting in my closet to be unpacked but sadly, I have nowhere to put them. And the thought of ever moving again–oy.

Now that Lexcycle and Kindle are offering e-reader apps for iPhones, readers have even more flexibility in reading e-books. GalleyCat said iPhones will be a huge player in the digital book market, especially as more developers such as Scrollmotion enter the game.
iPhone apps are definitely suited for graphic novels, or books such as the “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs" anthology, which Amazon ranked 532 as of 4/1/08. Great stuff to fill down time during commutes, or standing in line at the store.

GalleyCat also noted authors on Twitter broke ground in 2006 with six-word stories, followed up by Wired Magazine’s six-word scifi contest. Eileen Gunn’s made me smile, as did Alan Moore’s and Charles Stross. And Margaret Atwood’s made me laugh, but she is a master of words – and having read most of her other work, filling in the blanks is devious fun. Okay, they were all great, but can blurbs truly be called stories? Flash fiction condensed to a whiff of its essence, and the reader’s imagination must fill in the blanks. But can that kind of writing stay with you like a good story?

In Japan, cell phone novels have made the bestseller lists for several years, according to the New York Times article, “I Heart Novels”. That completely surprised me. I’d never heard of cell phone novels, but apparently the genre, known as ketai, has been around since 2003. In the 1990s, e-books were touted as the next huge thing, but fizzled. When the economy tanked, sales of print took a nosedive (with the exception of romance and a recent comeback in Europe) but e-books rocketed up like a skateboarder on a halfpipe.

The International Digital Publishing Forum said e-book sales for August 2008 were up 83% over the previous August. That’s a huge leap. And a fun ride for writers like me who want to ride that wave. E-presses are much more receptive to authors than the Big Publishing Houses. And more new e-press sites spring up every month. Publishers have begun to catch on. In early March, Thomas Nelson said it would make its books available in all formats for one price. Hmm. A good thing for consumers, but with e-book piracy an increasing problem, is this a good thing for authors?

Also earlier this month, Barnes and Noble purchased Fictionwise for $15.7 million, and B&N will start an e-bookstore. Supposedly this is good news for e-book readers, but again, is it good news for writers? I’d hate for e-presses to become so elite as the print pubs. If you’ve ever sat through a timed pitch session at a writer’s convention, you know the anxiety involved. E-presses allow for all lengths of stories, something print pubs just can’t accommodate. But every story isn’t a novel.
So why is all this important to me? Well, last week, I had my first release from The Wild Rose Press called Seventh Heaven, set in my hometown during the 1960s. I have seven other stories, including two novellas, contracted with various e-presses due to release this year, too, so it’s a pretty exciting time for me. I’ve had various web zines publish my short stories before, but e-presses are a paying gig – and everyone likes to be paid for their hard work.

I’d love to hear from readers – what’s your take on e-books? Will the new e-readers influence you to buy more e-books?
Contest time!

To celebrate the release of Seventh Heaven, I’m giving away a PDF copy to someone who can tell me who the hero’s named for. The answer is here. Email me at cate.masters@gmail.com with the answer, and I’ll pick someone at random. You have all weekend to enter – I’ll post the winner here on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.

The author of four novels, Cate Masters’ short stories and flash fiction have appeared in various web zines and press sites. Visit her online at http://catemasters.ning.com/ or www.catemasters.blogspot.com or friend her on Facebook.