E-Books and Old Children's Books

Will e-books replace ink-and-paper books? Personally, I have enough gadgets. I hate having to change batteries. Furthermore, I like the tactile experience of holding a book and reading it, of being able to toss it into a bag, take it to the beach or to the park, without having to worry about it breaking or having to recharge the batteries. Having to deal with a cell phone is enough of a hassle. However, e-books are allowing authors more leverage in bargaining with publishers, which is good. Furthermore, Amazon is encouraging authors to self-publish with them and keep 70% of the royalties.

I must say that I have found publishing The Night's Dark Shade through Lulu.com to be one of the best decisions I ever made. The quality and service is excellent and the author has complete control of the creative process. Lulu authors keep 80% of the royalties of direct sales, and the profits made through retail sales (through sites like Amazon) are also better than with a traditional publisher. I will never go to a traditional publisher again, unless it were a major publisher who could make it worth my while. No more small Catholic publishers. Every author has to promote their own work anyway; why let the publisher keep the bulk of the royalties? The good thing about using a large traditional publisher is that they get your book into bookstores everywhere. But then, more and more people are buying online. It will be interesting to see where it all goes....

Meanwhile, there is a market for old copies of traditional children's books. (Via Hermes.) Share