I never owned a security blanket as a child, but a book serves the same purpose for me as an adult. I love the feel, smell, and potential of a book in my hands. Would holding an ebook give me that same sense of comfort and safety? Maybe. It’s possible I’ll never know, though, because I am an o-reader: old-fashioned. I no longer use paper to pay my bills, do most of my clothes shopping over a computer, and as a college professor, I teach 80% of my classes online. However, I prefer my eating, sleeping, and my reading to be tangible.
But as an author, I’m not blind to the future. On May 19, Amazon.com announced that their ebooks are now outselling print. According to this article, ebooks may not be ecologically sound, but they are convenient and appeal to the tool-loving monkey in most of us. Soon, photos with and personal messages from your favorite author will become part and parcel with your e-version of their book—consider it Author Signature 2.0. This writer even sees a future for professional editors to make the jump to ebook publishing with little or no start-up costs. Writing organizations are paying attention as well. On June 1, the Mystery Writers of America approved ebooks as valid for active status membership and is now examining the possibility of incorporating ebooks into the prestigious Edgar awards.
Anyone who tells you what the future of books looks like is guessing 
*UPDATE: The Kindle version of June Bug should be available free within the next few hours; there seems to be a glitch in processing the update. The free Nook download of June Bug has jumped in sales rank from 360,801 to 1,571 in the last 24 hours! Turns out you can give this stuff away. :)
22 comments:
This is great news. You're a new-to-me author and getting the first book for free entices me to buy the other books in the series.
Great news about June Bug, Jess. As you know, I've gone whole hog and just published my Drop By Drop as an ebook original. So far so good. Fingers crossed for us both. Keith
Thank you, Dru! I hope you enjoy June Bug. It's one of my favorite in the series. Thanks for posting, as well. It's nice to know this gamble might pay off.
Keith, Drop by Drop is well-reviewed ("'Drop by Drop' is a sizzler for anyone who likes a political, thrilling and intellectual story"), selling well (19,589 sales rank!!!), has a great cover, and is written by an amazing marketer and writer. You don't need luck, my friend, but I applaud your successful foray into ebooks.
Great post, Jess. A good commentary on recent news in the ebook business. Here's hoping that the giveaway of June Bug gains you many new series readers like Dru, who is definitely a mega mystery fan with clout. :)
Thanks, Beth! Except now I'm a little intimidated by Dru. Super-Dru. :0
Congrats on this, Jess. I don't have a Nook, but I downloaded BN's free desktop reader and ordered June Bug. Looking forward to reading it!
Thank you, Robin! I hope it makes you smile.
Great post on a really hot topic. It's gonna be interesting to see how it all shakes out. I too appreciate Midnight Inks willingness to take a chance and see what happens. Rock on!
Thanks, Jessie 2! Congrats on the great reader reviews you keep getting on Bingo Barge Murder, also. It's a great book and I hope a lot of people find out about it through word of mouth.
Great post -- and congrats on the sales rankings! A free ebook is a great way to let more people know about your terrific series.
I'm not going to download June Bug, though. It's already sitting on my shelf.
The kindle version is now available!
Jess, thanks for your confidence, but it's always great to be blessed with good fortune and -- as Ringo Starr sang -- "a little help from my friends."
BTW, interesting alternate cover you came up with for June Bug. :-) http://tinyurl.com/3pwfrrd
Very nice, Jess! May June be the buggest month yet for your books! (sorry)
Even though I ended up paying for Keith's Drop By Drop, I easily downloaded your Kindle version for FREE! Looking forward to this. I need to read faster...
Oh, Shannon, I feel such guilt. (Not!) Thanks very much.
Jess, I was hoping to hear a comment from you on that alternate cover.
Jess, I've read several of your books but hadn't read June Bug. Just downloaded it and look forward to reading it.
Thanks Beth. No need to worry Jess, I just love to read.
I heart you, Cricket.
Terri, phew. Thanks for passing on the good news.
Shannon, thanks for downloading June Bug! And paying for Drop br Drop. :)
Dru, my fears are eased. Gracias.
Lois, I hope June Bug makes you smile as much as Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun Did Me.
Keith, today was consumed by driving to and taking part in a book signing. I'm now going to look up the alternate JB cover. Why am I sure I'm going to regret it?
Bwaaa! Thanks to Keith's astute research, I'm going to have to encourage people to choose the June Bug Kindle download written by Jess Lourey, unless smutty lobster diving (not a euphemism) is their cup of tea. Then, download that other book AND my June Bug. That is all.
Except Alan, I forgot to respond to you earlier: may the force be with you.
Oh, Jess, I looked more closely. I guess you're not offering an alternate cover for your June Bug after all.
Jess- I've been an eBook holdout, but of late I find myself thinking what it might be like to own a color Nook. (The tool monkey in me, I guess.) "The times they are a changin'"
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