I’m a big supporter of the somewhat shaky ebook revolution (as you might expect, given my books are primarily electronic, with the printed version available as an afterthought). However, up until now I did not own any ebook reader device.

One, they’re not widely available in Australia (we’re not getting the Kindle any time soon, that’s for sure; neither is Libya, where I currently live), and two, they’re phenomenally expensive for something that does just the one thing. I know this is something that has put off many people (the other major factor being the entirely understandable attachment to tactile books).

Apple to the rescue! Or more accurately, Lexcycle to the rescue, with their wonderful Stanza application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. One free download from the iTunes store to my partner’s ever-versatile Touch, and all of a sudden, we have an ebook reader that can handle pdfs and all the ebook ‘standards’ (when there’s five or six formats, you can’t really claim a standard).

Two caveats: one, you need wi-fi internet to transfer books over to the iPhone/Touch, and two, if you buy a lot of books through major ebook vendor Fictionwise, you may find you have protection issues – DRM problems – and will have to use their own ebook reader for iPhone or iPod Touch (find it in the iTunes store).

(Self-plug alert! My own book, After the Dragon is available in multi-format from Fictionwise and its associated sites (like ebookwise) and you won’t have any DRM issues.)

The other major factor slowing uptake of ebooks (aside from the love of the print version, expense of the reader, and the hassles with formats and DRM – I speak as an author here when I say, for the love of god, drop the protection, it just interferes with honest folks’ ease of use; pirates were never going to pay for the product in the first place)…where was I (damn these long-winded bracketed asides)? Oh yes, the other major barrier is the cost of ebooks themselves, which is usually the same or or not much less than the cost of the printed book.

The biggest cost of producing a book is in printing, distribution and delivery (you’d think paying the writer would be a major cost but no). For the price of a paperback book, at least half of that goes to the bookstore (real-life or online store); of the rest, a fair proportion is the cost of printing the book and storing it or getting it to the store’s warehouse so they can sell it to you. Ebooks take those costs away (‘distributing’ it – hosting it on a online bookstore’s website – still costs significantly).

Now, publishers point out the labour costs associated with producing an ebook in up to eight (eight! Tell me again there’s a ‘standard’) different formats. To which I say: that’s an upfront one-off cost for the title, same as preparing the print file (also, if your labour costs are that high when producing different versions of an electronic file, you need to look into automation procedures, my friend), whereas printing and distribution costs are per copy of a printed book, not per title.

Yes, ebooks aren’t free to produce, but once produced, they have minimal additional cost – except for the advertising and distribution, and maybe publishers need to be honest and admit that instead of crying pity on labour costs (after all, the most labour comes from the author, and yet they’re not seeing any additional royalties from ebooks; I’m talking about major publishers, I have a fair deal with my own small publisher).

And let’s not leave the distributors out of my sweeping condemnation: since online bookstores have reduced physical warehousing, leasing and stocking costs, they could probably re-think their pricing structure to give ebooks a fair chance.

It’s time ebook prices started reflecting the savings, especially if the fledgling industry is to follow the music industry into the bright shiny age of bits.

(Self-plug alert! After the Dragon is available for $4 or less from Fictionwise, Books for a Buck or Amazon Kindle – my money’s where my mouth is on this issue: ebooks should be substantially cheaper than printed books).

I don’t think ebooks are going to beat out print books: I think they should be an easy way of reading a book and then deciding if it’s worth getting the print version (there’s plenty of books I’ve read for free out of the library and then bought my own copy; the same process works with ebooks). They’re convenient, especially for travellers and holiday-makers; they’re good for the environment (iffy argument; the ereader is pretty damaging to produce in the first place – but then that’s why a multi-function device like the iPhone is great); they don’t take up physical space; they’re economical (or should be); they can be borrowed from public libraries (maybe not yet in Australia) or paid online libraries…

…and they can be read on your iPhone or iPod Touch with Stanza.

Added Nov 23 2008: Books on Board have now added instructions for buying their Stanza-compatible books directly in the iPhone or iPod Touch (but you’ll still need a wi-fi connection to be able to get to the website).

Added Sep 16 2009. This is a very popular entry. If you want to know the best way to read a book on Stanza, click here.

***shameless self-promotion***

My books are cheap, DRM-free, and not limited to any region. Check them out if you like character-driven fantasy fiction, or if you’re moving overseas and want some organisational help, or if you just want a cheap and easy way to try out Stanza or another ebook reader.


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