Micheal Smith (head of the International Digital Publishing Forum) says”
E-books are a growing niche for now… but I certainly don’t see a time when everybody will be reading them. People just love what the traditional book represents to them. Link
Yet…
Public sightings of e-books remain rare compared to iPods or iPhones… Link
And…
Publishing house Penguin said today that it…. is… working on turning its 5,000 title Penguin backlist into ebooks for publication this year and next. Link
Yet…
The publisher is digitising its entire worldwide backlist so that it can make the most of the emerging ebook trend. It also hopes the print-on-demand opportunities – whereby customers can have one-off copies of out-of-print titles printed, bound and shipped to them – will give older books a new lease of life. Link
Does that last part make sense to you? Penguin plans to publish ebooks and POD out-of-print titles? Why? Why, I ask, if the ebook is available would you want a POD of that title?
Here’s an idea; why not offer limited edition printings of out-of-print titles to collectors and bibliophiles. Due to limited supply, Penguin could charge more for these special lifestyle objects. Ebooks are geared for a completely different audience—an audience who just wants the content and not the packaging. Don’t waste time on POD. POD books are for university creative writing students and vagrant poets.
Coffeehouse Junkie 