First Monday With Robyn: E-book Independence

By Robyn Gioia

Happy 4^th of July America.  May the coming year bring love, hope, and prosperity.

Something extraordinary happened this month in the world of writing. A monumental game changer. The most successful author in the world bypassed traditional publishing to open her own website. J. K. Rowling opened up the world of Pottermore. “Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books.” It hasn’t even opened yet, and the chatter around the world is buzzing.

Rowling has bypassed Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, Smashwords, and all the other avenues available for eBooks buyers to offer her own readers the opportunity to purchase the Harry Potter series exclusively from Pottermore as eBooks. That’s right. No middle man. Imagine the collective gasp coming from the publishing world.

Think about it. Millions (possibly billions) of fans, flocking to a place out in cyberspace where the Harry Potter phenomena lives. When the website debuted over a week ago, it told fans to leave their email and Pottermore would let them know when the doors will officially open for business. There was one small problem. The website was instantly overwhelmed. A message popped up saying they had all the emails they could take and to come back later.

Then it occurred to me. What if Rowling decides to start another series? It would be an instant success. And now that she has her own website, she wouldn’t have to use a publishing house at all. Could it be possible that the majority of books will be eBooks in the near future and bookstores will be begging for paper books? Will other famous authors decide to open shop?

Already, eBooks have turned the picturebook into interactive editions through iPads and other mobile devices. A child can press the screen and it invites them to interact with an activity. Or they can go straight to an interactive app that teaches and stretches a child’s thinking.

One of my Facebook friends, Roxie Munro has been busy at work delivering cutting edge books for kids.

Roxie’s a-MAZE-ing VacationAdventure is a top app where kids will need to think, use all their observation and thinking skills to go through the 16 beautifully illustrated screens. All the illustrations are done by famous Roxie Munro, author and illustrator of 35 books for children (including Mazescapes; Amazement Park; The Inside-Outside Books of New York City (New York Times Best Illustrated Award)).

Makes me wonder what else is coming down the pike. It will be interesting to see what happens with Pottermore and the other ground breaking trends on the horizon. Are we witnessing the slow demise of the publisher? Is the internet doing to publishers what Amazon did to bookstores? 

If you have a good idea, the time is now.

Happy reading.  

Mondays With Mike: Surrendering to the e-book revolution

OKAY, OKAY, OKAY … if you’ve been following the discussion here you know there has been a lot of talk about e-books. Last October I interviewed Jackie Vick about her e-book, The Grooms Cake, then my friend Robyn Gioia began her series on ending e-book snobbery, and that was followed by last week’s interview with Stephen Brayton about is two new e-books, Night Shadows and Beta. And during this whole e-book fascination I attended the annual Love Is Murder Mystery Conference in Chicago where much of the topic of discussion was the new e-book revolution.

Now add to that several readers who have chimed in about their e-book experiences. I have heard from readers – not writers – who swear by their e-book readers. Books are cheaper, they say; its more convenient to carry a Kindle than a bag of books on vacation, they claim; and my favorite: you can read a book while you eat since the reader lays flat or can be propped up against the gravy boat!

Okay, enough already. I’m going to take the plunge. I ordered a Kindle! Yup, just like that; I went to Amazon, ordered the Kindle 3G and just received the e-mail that it is on its way, and, for my reading enjoyment, it has already been registered to my Amazon account so I can order books immediately. In fact, I don’t even need to wait to get it; I can start ordering right now. It seems that Amazon has something called Amazon Whipernet that will auto-deliver anything I order now to my new Kindle.

Alright, it should come this week and as soon as I have a chance to check it out I report back on what I find. In the mean time, let me hear from you about you experiences with e-book readers and I’ll be back with another author interview next Monday.

By the way, if you are in the Central Iowa next week, I’ll be at the Ankeny Public Library 9:30 next Saturday (February 26) for a discussion on plot, outlining, and character development.