A Cool Survey About eBooks -- Your eBook Reading and Buying Habits

Interesting, especially the question about 'brown bag' effect, I commented that if that is the case, then publishers should change the cover images in order to attract more readers.  Could it be the cover images caused a lot of people making that sweeping comment 'trashy romance novels'? 

And I commented that it would be great that publishers make some out-of-print books available in ebook.

number of books I read a month

Hugs

Sadhbh

Nancy, you made me grin, you're obviously very passionate about this, but the reason would be the story inside, right? That's what people pay for, hopefully, more than packaging. Authors, editors, art, etc all still have to be paid for their work on the book, and packaging is only part of what you pay for (and this is new packaging -- it requires computers, programmers, etc so the cost on the publishing side is still there).

So while I agree that I would never pay hardcover prices for a book, any book, I would, and do, actually, pay the same for an ebook as I would for a paperback, since it's really more about the story than the medium. Though I also listed my reason as convenience because I like how quickly I can get them, even at midnight on a Sunday, :) and I don't keep books, or very few, so having the electronic bookshelf is perfect for me.

Sam

What's Fictionwise and what was the debacle?

I have only bought ebooks here and at BoB, so I am relatively unaware of the other marketers. I wish Amazon or B&N would supply other formats, but maybe someday...

Sam 

The only e-books I have are free books.  I buy real books.

How pay scales work, but I assume as people are paid by salary, not by project (authors are paid per project, obviously, but someone who works on production isn't paid per book, because they are probably working on a lot of books at once). There's so much to it, so many people who work to create a book, it's hard to know for sure, I think. I certainly can't account for it all, but equally, I know there are discussions "out there" why royalties are not higher for e-books as they are from e-book publishers, who pay something like 30% instead of 6%, but again, I have no idea how it all works, and on some level it gives me a headache thinking about it. I just write. *G* Maybe Penn knows. I think Lorie or someone may have explained it a long time ago, these questions/thoughts have been around for a while.

I think everyone should buy what they want for their own reasons, and thank goodness we have so many options!

I'll go check out that Fictionwise thing, thanks,

Sam

You said, "I could probably get used to reading from an electronic device that
allows me to bump up the font size and produces its own light."

My Axim does this with Mobi books -- I can also set the backgound and text color, as well as size and font, so I can read, for instance, off-white text against a black background, which is what I use if I am reading in the dark (when dh is sleeping). Otherwise, the white background and black text work fine. Nice thing is, you can pick some up still NIB on ebay (Dell doesn't make them anymore, but I bought mine new on ebay and find it very reliable), for half the cost of a Kindle or other readers. You can also write on them (I have a regular sized BT keyboard that works great, no teeny keyboard), do email, check the web, and change the screen to landscape, so the lines are longer.. I use mine for reading and for writing away from the house. Lorie H turned me on to them, and Tawny Weber loved hers, too, so I ended up buying one and have to agree. I got the newest one they make, new, and it cost me about $225 with shipping, and then I bought the keyboard for $80, but everyone might not need that.

Sam

Hey Debi,

I totally understand...and I have heard a lot of stories where folks have lost their ebooks, and I absolutely agree with you, it is not fair...because we pay a very fair price for the files. 

As far as portability goes, have you tried the Ereader software yet?  That one does not require any third party activation, nor does it require PID's that are linked to devices.   It does require your credit card to "unlock" the file, and you can then unlock it on as many devices as you need to,  but I understand not everyone has a credit card to do that. 

Take Care,

Tammy

sent them my two cents worth but I love my Kindle and it makes reading so much easier on my tired eyes. I still buy print books for my collections but I love having 20 books to choose from in my purse at any time. Great when you go out of town and you can take one small device instead of a suitcase of books. The ebooks at Amazon are cheaper for the Kindle so I do like that.

Nope, I don't know anything about that.  A credit card isn't a problem for me.  Tell me more! 

And yes, Penn, I definitely put my thoughts in the survey! LOL!!  They didn't have to ask me twice to give my opinion!

-- With the Sony, I like that all the books are downloaded as a library
database on my computer - I wouldn't be comfortable with someone else
in control of my library.

Is that he Sony, or the software? Mobi does the same thing for me with the Axim -- I have the books on the Axim, on my laptop, and on the store shelf. 

Sam 

I'm going to try it this weekend.  It's a long three day weekend so time to play with it or throw my computer around if it hiccups for some reason! LOL!!

As what I do with my Mobi Library and my Axim. I download the book to my laptop, and then just synch the Axim and transfer the books there -- it just sort of created its own library on both, and I never really thought twice about it. LOL on changing the names. ;)

I never thought about the Canadian prices thing, either -- are the servers etc where the books are sold from in the US? I thought online pricing had to do with geography? But then again, New York, for instance, is making its residents pay tax now on any online purchases -- none of the states around us do, but the state is say it's based on the consumer's location, because we are located here when we buy it, regardless of where the item we are buying is located.

Sam

I hope you both enjoy using the Ereader software.  It would be nice if the eHarlequin bookstore would carry it, and since Penn is a hosty, she might be able to give them a little nudge?

I just took the survey too and my comment was about DRM. I hate that stuff. As for what I use I too like my Axim. I bought mine new from Dell just before they came out with the X51 series and paid as much as you would for a Kindle. I use mine for more than just books so it pays for itself. I use both Microsoft reader and Mobi's free version and both give me a library with books on both cards. I love the fact I can carry so many books around with me (nearly 100) and I get more from Project Gutenberg as they add older authors I like. Like others I doubt they will believe how many books I read a month but I spend time at work reading while waiting for the phone to ring. Maybe this survey will wake up some of the publishing houses that don't think ebooks are really viable. Some just don't get that if you price too high no one will buy the books and they are building their own failure for ebooks..

I just finished the survey, and I have to confess I am addicted to ebooks. When my boyfriend bought me my Ipod Touch the first thing I did was upload ebooks. I usually keep about 60+ books on my Ipod for easy reading on the go.

 For me, the brown bag factor is well true. While a great number of my  ebooks are classics (think Edgar A. Poe, Emily Dickenson, Charles Eastman, etc) or light hearted romance like Harlequins I tend to read a lot of more risque ebooks,(Cora Zane, Cassandra Curtis, Rachelle Le Monnier, etc.). 

Glad you found it easy today Debbie. 

I tried, because I really really want a book at Fictionwise that isn't in .pdf or sony reader format, but it completes my Jo Beverley library  and I've been looking for about 2 yrs now in the UBS's, with no luck!  So I downloaded their free book to use as a test.  Then, to activate my ereader account, it wouldn't take my personal/home email address.  I had to put in my work one, which meant I had to log into my work email account to retrieve the activation code.  Then it wouldn't activate.  Not particularly patient today, so I'll try again later.  Or maybe not, becuase I doubt I'll be able to get it into my sony library, so would be stuck reading it on my PC, which is shared with my DH.

Then again, I'm going to California for 7-10 days in April with my husband.  We'll fly into San Francisco, or maybe San Diego (he hasn't decided yet) and then drive to LA, and fly home from there.  He's well aware he has to let me go book shopping.  Maybe I'll find it used after flying from Nova Scotia to California!   DH works for Air Canada and goes every year or two, but its the first time I'll have gone.

Because I had mentioned project gutenberg I went there to see if anything new had been posted on a couple of favorite authors. I was really surprised to find they now have audio books as well as text books. Should have guessed the folks over there would be up to date on what folks like.

I too do not enjoy the price that comes with them.  You have to hunt for the good deals so you get the best value.  In my opinion, since ebooks involve using less resources like paper and ink, the lower cost to the public should be a given.

I enjoy using Microsoft Reader and Adobe to read ebooks.  Since I am on my laptop often, it's an easy way to get a read in, not to mention increasing the fonts for easier reading.  I have a thumbdrive keychain that's labeled for easy storage of ebooks and they are backed up along with other computer info, so I don't worry about losing them.

 Fifty years from now, I don't know if those measures will help me out since media is ever changing.  One can hope.  Out of habit, my favorite books, the ones I can read over and over again, I generally buy so they are always on my bookshelf.  Better safe than sorry because if Tears of The Moon or Garden In The Rain ever stopped printing and my thumbdrives were obsolete it would really hurt my feelings to know I could never enjoy those stories again.

welcome Kerri! You'll find lots of great people and lots of great reading suggestions here at eHQ! Glad to have you with us.

No, I don't have any type of hand held device, only my desktop and laptop.  My laptop is like a loved handbag, it goes where I go, so more often than not, I find myself reading with my laptop. I have thought of buying something hand held, but I worry that something handheld will be have such a smaller print than I am use to.

I love eBooks. I think because they enable me to combine two of my favorite things: reading & my ultra sweet laptop.