Monday

14 September 2009

It's no secret I like my Kindle ebook reader. This sucker is awesome and because of it I've discovered tons of independent writers I never otherwise would have. And more people are taking a chance on my writing and are buying my books in electronic format (could be because they're dirt cheap) and Amazon has been a bit of a springboard for me.

I've never formatted my stuff for other ereaders because of the lack of a good market for them, but Smashwords is partnering with Barnes & Noble, to offer ebooks in the BN Online store, so I jumped at it. Today was spent formatting my five of my books, and over the next week I'll get Max's books in order.

They don't know when the ebooks will begin appearing at B&N, but just that they will be soonish is pretty freaking cool.

And if you already have an eReader--Kindle, Sony, just want to read on your computer--you can buy books directly from Smashwords.

Mine are HERE.

If you don't have an eReader...holy carp, you need one!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

You've got me saying holy carp now. Also, what the carp. I started noticing it a week or two ago :)

Katrina said...

thank you for including us sony folk :o) I got worried when you said earlier that you weren't sure about other reader formats.

I'm not a subscriber to the kult of the kindle... and BTW, you can get just as many "independent writers" on the Sony eReader as the Kindle. Anything you can get in text you can put on your reader... and if you can get the text for free, you can put it on your eReader for free (guttenberg library, straight up PDFs, etc.)

Angel, Kirby and Max said...

Barnes and Noble was offering a free one. I may have to check it out.

kenju said...

I don't know if I could ever get used to that. I like the feel of a book so much. Besides, I have trouble reading long blog posts; the lines seem to run together and I lose my place a lot.

Karen Jo said...

Good for you, Thumper. I don't know if I'll ever go the ebook route. I just don't read nearly as much as I used to.

Katrina said...

kenju - I too like the look/feel/smell even of real books... but, the ereader is a LOT more convenient.

I now read an average of 30 books a year (roughly one every 1 1/2 - 2 weeks). Before my ereader, If I read 10 in a year, that was a lot.

My eReader fits right into my purse. Its smaller than a magazine. And you would be astounded at the extra time you have in the day that you could spend reading. Waiting room at the Drs or Mechanics? Long line at the grocery store? Meeting someone for lunch or dinner and have to wait a bit for them?

I also read a little every night before bed. Sometimes its only a page or two, sometimes its several chapters. But without the shuffle/page turning, I don't disturb my husband sleeping next to me like a traditional book would.

As for ease of reading... you can choose a font size. I like "Large", its like the font you would find in a 4th/5th grade level book, nice and big, and there are no more than 2 or 3 paragraphs on a page, at most. Very easy to keep track.

Thumper said...

I have to agree with Katrina...I read more, and read faster with mine. I put a cover on my Kindle, and it feels just like reading a book, but I can make the font larger, and there's a lot less eye strain reading off it than off a computer.

eBooks are typically a lot cheaper, too. Just look at mine...$15.95 for the print version of the new book, $2.99 for the e-version.

The big bonus...curling up in bed to read. It's just more comfortable.

Sleepypete said...

Another bonus, they'll keep your spot if you fall asleep reading them ! Books have this nasty habit of having the bookmark fall out when they drop from snoozing fingers ...

I think I got my peek at E-Books a little early, through an iPaq. Don't think it'd be up to E-books now due to a battery that's drawing more pension than power. Found it a good way to read stuff, you're not thinking about being careful with the spine, which is another reason the E-book readers are easier to handle.