Ebooks open up new chapter for readers

It’s time to turn another page in publishing and pay attention to ebooks, says Barry Jones, chairman of the Book Industry Strategy Group.

In an article for the Sydney Morning Herald, Barry Jones, chairman of the Book Industry Strategy Group, outlined the numerous possibilities which ebooks can have on the publishing industry. They are a product which he believes will allow for greater diversity.

“Will the "deregulation" of the publishing industry, where anyone can self-publish, result in more stories of highly variable quality? Of course it will – just as the printing press did. But it may lead to some new and innovative ways of storytelling, ways that engage the reader in different or deeper ways,” he wrote.

Price is one of the factors which account for their popularity, according to Jones.

“Books in electronic form, or ebooks, are becoming popular at the expense of printed books, or pbooks. Why? It's not just about price. Anyone who spends several hundred dollars on an electronic book reader, an eReader, is not doing it to save money in the first instance. It's true that ebook titles costing about $10 are more attractive to the price conscious than the same pbook at about $30. But there's more to the story,” he wrote.

“Where Amazon and Apple have got it right is the immediacy of purchasing an ebook. Both the Kindle and the iPad come with wireless connectivity to the Amazon and Apple stores, respectively. If you have an Amazon account, the Kindle comes preconfigured with your details so you can buy a book at 3am if you so desire. Bilton calls this ''Me Economics'', which is really just instant gratification in book buying. But it beats late-night television.”

To read the entire article at the Sydney Morning Herald, click here.