The Flood of e-Books...What does it mean for readers?
If you're familiar with the Internet, which you probably are since you're reading this, then the world of ebooks has already made itself known and maybe even inspired your personal digital library.
With this in mind, it probably comes as no surprise to you that the ebook world is flourishing to the point of overpopulation. Within the last couple of months at least four, if not more, new epublishers have opened their cyber-doors to welcome customers. Many offer a wide range of genres while some focus exclusively on the hottest trend - erotic romances.
This is ONLY ebooks we're talking about here. You'll also notice that when you go to the bookstore, the print publishers have leaped onto that particular bandwagon...Kensington, Dorchester, Avon - and even Harlequin (yes, Harlequin) now offer "extra spicy" lines of erotic romance novels to toast your chilies. Or whatever you choose to toast. It seems that everybody has finally acknowledged what car manufacturers have known for years - SEX SELLS. (Which may explain Paris Simpson. I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that one out.)
But leaving miniscule-brained blonde heiresses aside, the world of ebooks is certainly expanding about as fast as the universe according to cosmologists. Will it suffer the eventual, inevitable collapse the same way? Will there be a Big e-Bang that will splinter and obliterate the world of epublishing? Or will it continue to grow, scattering new seeds along the way?
In a recent, non-scientific, totally-not-monitored-by-anybody poll, we asked around amongst friends and colleagues about this whole ebook phenomena. We asked for thoughts, both pro and con, and elicited comments overall. Reviewers are amply qualified to respond, since they're caught full face by the initial deluge. Many epublishers will forward pre-release copies (known as ARC's) to review sites for their consideration - and hopefully a really neat quote the author can flash around like a naked bottom at a baseball game.
Comments varied across the board when we raised this subject. Most agreed that having plenty of choices is a good thing. It's what our society is based upon - giving the consumer (in this case the reader) selections that vary in genre, length and content. It would, after all, be pretty dull to find shelves filled with books from the same small number of writers.
That was the "pro" argument. Then came the "cons".
Almost everybody who stuck in their two cents to this discussion agreed - it's getting out of hand. Several folks mentioned they'd tried to read books from some of the less-well-known epublishers, only to find a deplorable lack of editing, errors that glaringly jumped off the page, and content that could have used significant adjustment.
Others said that even the larger epublishers (and a few of the print publishers too, to be fair) needed to tighten up their editing departments. Proofreading wasn't thorough enough - readers becoming distracted by typos or misspellings that, in their opinion, should have been caught prior to release. After all, several people insisted, readers aren't getting these books for free. They are paying for them and are entitled to value for their money.
Often, a reader faces a decision when it comes to a purchase. Do they buy a favorite author who happens to have a book available from a new epublisher? Or do they stick with their tried-and-true source, where the purchasing system works and they have experience with the process? Many resort to research - visiting the author's website and learning more about the book before they make that final decision. Others, making an impulse purchase, simply don't bother. There's a growing level of confusion, as well. Where is Author X writing? How come her books are showing up all over the place? I thought I could buy them from ePublisher Y and now I find her titles elsewhere.
All things considered, the deluge of ebooks seems to be intimidating and discouraging to most readers. Several said they just weren't bothering to try new authors any more; it was too much of a risk for their money, and the work involved in digging up other novels wasn't worth it. Review sites (like this one) are inundated on a weekly basis with many releases that simply don't get reviewed - it bears repeating that most reviewers are VOLUNTEERS - they donate their time and effort to read and write a review. They can't afford to expend any of that valuable time on books that are poorly written and edited. If they do, you'll hear about it in their review. Many feel that the newest epublishers might be acting as a refuge for manuscripts rejected elsewhere. We have no idea if this is the case, but reviewers are usually in touch with the world of romance novels. You'll have to draw your own conclusions.
The conversation amongst authors runs along similar lines - sales are diluted by this massive explosion in the industry. Previously solid selling writers can no longer be assured that their books will be read or purchased, since that new site is offering one by a well-known writer. It's a lure that draws some readers away from their usual purchasing environment - and while the overall sales of ebooks is probably steady or rising, it's now spread amongst so many more companies that the effect is quite noticeable.
So...in summary...the bubble of epublishing may be approaching bursting-point. It has passed it in the minds of many readers who are finding themselves swamped by the onrushing tide of new releases. Will it burst? We don't know. Our crystal ball is broken, crushed by the combined weight of a gazillion bytes of romance. We do remember, however, the dot-com boom, disco and big hair. All trends that hit their heights and then slid into relative obscurity. Perhaps this phenomenon will suffer the same fate, or perhaps it will settle down in a few years to a state of equilibrium, similar to the print industry. We can only hope...
Come back and visit...we'll be watching and we hope you will, too.
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