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Happy New Year 2015.
This last year has
just whizzed past. Electronic publishing is beginning to find its level. It’s
not all that innovative now. I think my first ebook was published about 14
years ago, when the Rocket was the reading device of the day. I do know that
last year, for one publisher I sold many more print books than I did the
electronic versions.
There are many more writers on the
market now, many of them doing their own publishing, so it’s getting a little
crowded. Amongst all the hype of this newness, business begins to take the
gloss from the newly minted masterpiece. The same enquiries pop up on the lists
that did the rounds twenty-five years ago. What to do about copyright, public
lending rights, writing rules, house styles. Agents, advances, royalties,
percentages, tax forms. The time for these tasks must come out of the writing
time. All have to be dealt with.
I must admit I prefer
to see my books in print form, though they all have electronic versions. To
start with the print books won’t disappear into the ether, unless you’re a
magician. There are some books that I know I’ll want to read again down the
track. They are on my keeper shelf. Books by Sharon Penman . . . Mary Stewart .
. . the dreaded Thomas Hardy. I love his poetry because it grounds me. I get
him. I get his slowness and his meandering sentences that wind like a path
through the heath lands. Perhaps our souls will meet one day in the future – The
return of “two natives” perhaps.
Some say print books
are old-fashioned, but then, so are many of their readers. They were brought up
without television and read books for entertainment. They are familiar with the
words and phrasing . . . the style. What's wrong with being old-fashioned, anyway? Today’s trend is tomorrow’s old-fashioned. We only have one life, so why rush through it?
The year has started
off well for me. Two of my print books are to be part of a Mother’s Day
promotion in the UK. Published by Simon & Schuster, they will be available
through Sainsbury’s and Morrison stores.
That’s at the same price
as an electronic book, and just the thing to wrap up with a box of chocolates.
As a bonus you can tie a red ribbon round it. You can’t do that with
an ebook!
