2009 was the year that e-book readers became hot news. Amazon released both the Kindle 2.0 and the Kindle DX, which created quite a bit of publicity for e-book readers in general and the Kindle reader in particular. Companies like Sony and Barnes and Noble responded with their own readers – the Daily Edition and The Nook – whilst others, such as Apple and Microsoft worked hard to develop their own offerings for release in the near future.
It is very easy, and perfectly understandable, when dealing with what are essentially consumer electronics devices, to focus on the technical aspects of the hardware involved. The Amazon Kindle has wireless connectivity, the Nook has a color screen, Sony’s Daily Edition lets you lend books to your friends – and so on.
However, it may be worth considering that e-book readers may very possibly be the biggest thing to happen to reading – and publishing – since the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1440. The invention of the printing press allowed books to be mass produced on paper instead of parchment or vellum. It reduced the cost of books and, quite literally, put them in the hands of the common man.
There have been very few changes in the way that we read books since then. Of course, there have been advances in printing technology, computers and word processing have made the already existing process more efficient. Nevertheless, the end result has been pretty consistent – we read books which consist of paper bound between retaining covers with text printed upon it.
As a consequence of the end product, publishers had certain restrictions. They have been producing a physical product for years, which carries some level of cost and also needs to be delivered, either to a bookshop or possibly by direct mail to the customer’s home.
The difference with e-book readers is that they do not simply offer a way of carrying out the existing process more efficiently. They totally rewrite the rules – both for the publishers and the readers. There is no physical product which means that fewer materials are consumed. No ink, paper, chemicals, bindings etc. are required. There are also serious savings in the cost of delivery.
What this means is that not only do e-books cost less to publish and deliver, but they are – even when taking the materials used in the production of the e-book reader devices into account – less harmful to the environment.
Publishers now have more possibilities for marketing both books and authors. If a publisher wished to highlight a particular author for example, then they could offer samples of their work either at very low prices or completely free. Another technique, which is rapidly growing in popularity, is to offer the first volume in a series free, in the expectation that the reader may go on to buy subsequent books in the series or other books by the same author.
On the Amazon website there are a large number of free Kindle books on offer. Other Kindle books on the site generally have the first chapter available as a free download. Prospective readers can try before they buy. This may well encourage readers to experiment a little and try new authors that they might otherwise have overlooked.
The strong focus on the new, sexy, hardware is perfectly understandable. However, in the longer term it will be the increased marketing opportunities and the ease of access afforded to readers that will make the difference in the way books are both published and read in the not too distant future.
Learn more about the Amazon Kindle reader and find out how you can save money by downloading free Kindle books straight from Amazon’s Kindle store.
