Okay, I have slipped the bounds of morality and gone over to the dark side ...Well. Sort of.
What I did was, I went to Amazon.com and listed my martial arts musings, But What If I Did This!? as an e-book for Kindle. I dunno if it will do much -- same price, same format, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I'll make less per book there, but if I had to bet, I'd go with the notion that I'll probably sell more of 'em there than here ...
If my agent can't get a good deal on the how-to-write/memoir, No Man But a Blockhead, I might put that one into the Kindle realm, too. (Addendum: Since the publishing industry is still hunkered down and not leaping at the chance to pave my driveway with money for my books, I have decided to go ahead and put this one up, too. What the hell.)
Turns out they already have a few of my titles up as e-books, including The Musashi Flex.
It's a brave new e-world out there ...
Nice! Thank you, Steve. I have a Kindle (software) reader on my iPhone and so far have mostly free books on it, just in case I get stuck somewhere without reading material.
ReplyDeleteKindle, shmindle... How can I buy it on paper?
ReplyDeletePaper, is not going the way of the dodo just yet, but it is beginning to lose its hold on the literary world.
ReplyDeleteLook at the music industry: Records gave way to tapes, then tapes to CD's, and those have given way to MP3 and iPods. You can buy cuts or albums cheaper at iTunes than CDs, and if don't want to use an iPod, burn the cuts onto a CD you can get at Costco for less than a dollar in bulk.
The money for music is now in performing. The CD is a way to get people to come to your shows so they can see you live. People who used to do all their work in the studio and make really good livings at it, are struggling, and I don't see it getting better.
You don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows; e-books, while still a tiny part of the market, are the future. Print-on-demand, which everybody thought might be the next big thing? Not seeing it.
The publisher will fight it, just like the recording companies did, but it's like Darth against Obi-wan: They can't win.
This particular book, if you want it on paper? Download the file, feed it into your printer with a stack of paper. Punch holes in the edge, stick it into a binder. Or take a USB stick to Kinko's and they'll print and bind it for you. Still be cheaper than buying it in book form.
Steve, looks like we've got our first customer for the re-worked hand-bound printed version....
ReplyDeleteI've still got the file you sent and have almost worked off my (archery) bow-building obsession (need to make one more for my son, though Wii Sports Resort Archery has been a real time suck as well), so everyone hang on for Mr. Perry to get a nice sample presently.
William