The pros and cons of royalty-paying indie/e for readers

The Pros and Cons of Royalty-Paying Indie Press
by Brenna Lyons

Why e-books? What are the pros and cons of royalty paying indie press, when compared with NY conglomerates? Basically, these pros apply to most indies, e-publishers included. Since POD print books and e-publishing have much in common, I’ll just use my standard answer for indie press, as a whole.

Pros for readers-

Backup… With off-site storage, on a server or bookshelf on a reseller site like Fictionwise, you don’t even lose your e-books in the case of fire, flood or other natural disaster.

You can purchase backlist titles in e-book that are OOP (out of print) in NY mass market/hard bound for $6 or $7, compared to $80 or more for a popular OOP print title.

You can purchase books, from the comfort of your own home, any time, day or night. You don’t have to drive to the store or wait for delivery. You download titles instantly.

You can read any books you want in public, without comments about your choice of reading material, since only you see the cover art. The rest of the world sees a PDA or other reading device. *Please note that the literary reading crowd has termed this a “down side” to reading e-books, since they can’t be “seen” with the latest hot literary title in hand.

PDAs and e-ink screens are actually better for your eyes than a computer screen or a paper book. Ophthalmologists SUGGEST these readers for their vision-impaired patients. CAVEAT: Reading a backlit device in a completely darkened room is bad for your eyes. Backlit in low light is fine.

You can often increase font of e-books to a comfortable level. You can’t do that with a paper book. If it’s not large type, it’s not.

Many programs, like ReadPlease and Adobe Reader, can turn your e-books into audio books, meaning that (simply by using a computer or other similarly-equipped electronic device), people who enjoy or require audio books can have a wider range of “reading” choices.

No allergens! For people who are allergic to dust/book dust, this is a wonder. Also, less dusting. Silly but true and a concern for some readers.

There is a wide array of devices you can read e-books on: desktop computers, laptop/notebook, PDAs or Pocket PCs, tablet PCs, Smart Phones, iPod/iPhone and dedicated readers. In fact, you may already own these devices and not realize you can read e-books on them.

Though we admittedly need an affordable, durable reader, we’re nearly there. Even if you don’t already own the hardware to read e-books, you can get durable readers, like eBookwise or Palm Tungsten E, for between $119 and $200. Though readers like the Sony and Kindle get more press, you don’t have to pay $350 and up for a handheld reader.

e-Books are perfect for the business traveler or ex-pat worker…or foreign readers searching for English-language books. Unless the internet is blocked where you are, you can purchase and download English-language e-books, instead of looking for somewhere that sells English paper books. You can burn them to CD to make more room on your hard drive, if necessary, and carry home hundreds of new books with you, rather than shipping books home or losing that investment.

Some readers, like eBookwise and Kindle, do not have to synch to a computer to download books. Others can be synched to a laptop, and many business travelers carry laptops.

Most handheld-sized readers/PDA/Pocket PC/Smart Phones automatically power down, if you fall asleep with them on…and bookmark your place for you.

Some e-readers/PDAs, like eBookwise, will allow you to read either portrait or landscape view. In portrait, it’s like reading from a sheet of paper. In landscape, it feels to the hands more like reading a book (especially on a large reader like eBookwise or the newer Kindle releasing this summer.

The search features allow you to find the information you need quickly and without much fuss, as long as you can remember key words of the phrase you need.

Cons for readers-

Some people find even PDA screens hard on the eyes.

Some people prefer the feel of a book…and the smell of one.
Print books never run out of battery time, in the middle of a book.

You rarely have to worry about someone stealing a print book.

Though I’ve found handhelds to be incredibly durable, some people fear breaking it and losing their investment. A valid concern, I admit.

Most of the other “cons” aren’t really cons.

People will say you can’t read a PDA at the pool or in the tub. Well, of course you can. You simply have to utilize a few cents of Ziploc bag to do it safely.

People will complain that their teens are not permitted to take them to school. Of course, they are. My oldest takes her eBookwise to school. They can’t take a do-it-all into the classroom, but eBookwise is a simple reader. It does nothing BUT read books, so she’s allowed it.