Are e-Readers Wiping out Paper Books For Good?

Kindle. Nook. iPad. These are all examples of what is called an e-reader. An e-reader is a portable electronic device that people use primarily for the purpose of reading digital periodicals and books. I was actually thinking of purchasing one myself since it is one of the most booming technology buzzes around. One can even turn his or her iPod Touch into an e-reader just by acquiring e-reader applications. As I was contemplating that, I came across a YouTube video titled “What e-Reader Means for Books”, since I am also of thinking of self-publishing my own urban fiction novel in the future. That is a project in the making.

The video itself is a clip from CBSnews.com and is a matter-of-fact discussion with journalist and author of “What Would Google Do?” Jeff Jarvis. It starts off with the gentlemen talking about the soaring sales of the Kindle e-reader from Amazon and whether or not paper books are heading to extinction. I did not realize that back in Christmas of 2009 that Amazon actually sold more electronic books than real physical books. I agree with Jeff that everything that can become digital, will become digital. You can store so much on these e-readers and they are portable and convenient; info comes to you right at the speed of light practically.

The publishing business has to be able to keep up with the changes of authors not needing a middleman much longer because the format of the book is changing. An author can just put his or her book on Kindle on their own time in a quick second, and really may not need the publisher or retail chain to get their books out to the public. I agree with the author that the decline in popularity that has been happening with newspapers will happen with physical books as well. However, I am enjoying the idea that once a digital book is published, an author can still go back and edit and correct things and that that book becomes searchable online, unlike the traditional solid book. I am praying that printed books will still be around in the next decade because there will never be anything close to the joy that comes with the pleasure of opening up a physical book, holding it in your hands and turning the pages as you get more and more into the story. 

Reference: http://youtu.be/6JzjN7MvbRo

Cecil Murphey's Writer to Writer Blog

Hello all! I am excited to say that I have just begun the start of the second week of my new class called Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution. In our class, we have to participate in what is called a Collaboration Assignment where each student is required to add helpful links and comments on the board every week that they have researched and used or that they think someone else may use. It has proven to be very beneficial to the class already. One student posted a link to blogger Cecil Murphey and earlier this week I decided to click on it and check him out and I was happily surprised at the content I found on his blog, Writer to Writer. Here is a YouTube video with Mr. Murphey about the start of his blog:

As the video mentioned, Murphey originally was going to write a book for writers and it didn’t work out. He was also working as a mentor working with writers and that became too much for him to do everyday. His assistant finally insisted that he do a writer’s blog after the book idea was flat lined. Murphey decided he would then do a twice a week blog where he will write short blog entries that give bits of informative advice from a longtime writer to other writers searching for help.

Cecil has more than a few hundred followers on his blog and most are likely writers themselves. I really like how his blog gives real world advice and gets to the point. For this class, I was fascinated by his knowledge on how to approach possible agents and where to go to find them, like writing conferences. He gives writers a list of do’s and don’ts based on his own experience. He makes excellent points about how to make money writing and what to look for in a contract. These are all vital things a new writer needs to know. Murphey even has blog entries on the other roles a literary agent plays in a writer’s life other than negotiating contracts and I thought that was very savvy of him.

All of his followers’ comments have been positive because he has helped them in their quest to becoming better and more profitable writers. I have decided to follow his blog as well and have provided the link below to that and his website. On his blog, he has a few other links to other websites of his from his radio show to male survivors of sexual abuse. In his member profile on blogger.com he states, “The more I give, the more I receive. Or to put it another way, the more I teach others about writing, the better my own writing.” And that is true about everything in life.

http://themanbehindthewords.com/
http://cecmurpheyswritertowriter.blogspot.com/