A few thoughts about e-books, collated from my various forum posts
Meta-novels are, I expect, an inevitable
product of a digital age. Every text will have info pop-ups & hyperlinks
built-in. The next generation of readers will demand such things, no matter what
‘book lovers’ say. I think age is the key factor in this debate. Like some of you,
I’m also of the last generation who grew up reading (and learning!) solely from
books, but the Internet has changed all of that, whether we like it or not. We
might cling to our cherished reading habits and wallow in a love for the
printed books (page-turning is an important part of the pleasure of reading),
but, eventually, technological progress catches up with publishing. Kids of
today are growing up with interactive texts, downloadable content, and
multi-player everything else. I just can’t imagine buying or using any type or
model of e-reader device but, in the related tech of being able to get online
anywhere, I still enjoy the convenience that wi-fi hotspot connectivity
offers.
I remember LPs of vinyl, 78s of shellac,
and Betamax videos - but I have got an MP3 player, a blu-ray and a hi-def TV. I
write monthly columns for niche markets like the printed magazines Interzone
and Black Static, but I realise that the whole publishing industry is drifting
from print to online, and there are valid ‘green’ and/ or economic reasons for
doing so. Should we quickly abandon reading and collecting books? No! I have
become a hardcover snob, and I no longer buy or read paperbacks (unless they are
non-fiction or comic-books). And yet, it seems to me, our book-loving culture
cannot last for much longer. As public libraries close, I suspect that ‘book
museums’ will be a major growth industry for this century!
Just as office tech of the 1980s gave us
desktop publishing, re-launching the ‘fanzine’ phenomena, and gave us ‘semi-pro
zines’, now the Internet distribution of e-books is presenting us with another
publishing revolution; one that’s already underway. With the new century’s growth
in self-publishing, and the process now being made simpler by e-book formats,
it’s becoming very clear that we really need critics more than ever. As what
used to be essential filtering functions of editorial gatekeepers in
traditional publishing houses are more frequently avoided (although without the
actual need for skilled editors being made obsolete!) by many writers, there will
still be a vital place for critics to occupy in the buffering zone between
writers and readers.
As the supply of newly self-published work as e-books
increases, somebody needs to identify (if not actually ‘police’) what’s good
and bad, and find the best stories and/ or non-fiction to help inexperienced
and new readers choose from the ‘slush pile’ - because that’s the big risk of e-books
and it’s what seems most likely to happen. The slush piles of trad publishers
will all get self-published by their writers, and the route from desktop or
laptop to downloadable ebook is unlikely to have any editorial oversight
whatsoever.
