Evolution. Evolve or perish. Still think e-books are a fad?

Maria Edwards's picture
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Stemming from the FB conversation regarding the following article: http://news.yahoo.com/newsweek-magazine-stop-printing-digital-2013-115928285--finance.html

 

This is a great conversation started by Buck Stienke.  Let's continue it here.
 
Ken FarmerAre you ready?
 
Cathryn J PrinceIpads and tablets have helped the magazine industry. As a print reporter myself I think this is just media in a new medium. It isn't the death of print that people make it out to be.
 
Buck StienkeHave you hugged your e-book today?
 
Joyce FaulknerAnd I think that Kindle has some running to do to catch up with iBooks...I give them about six months to introduce interactivity...:)smile
 
Ken FarmerJoyce, what's the difference between iPad and iBook?
 

Joyce FaulknerHi Ken, iBooks are created with a piece of free software called iAuthor and is interactive...they can only be sold through iTunes and are for iPads specifically. They fetch a higher selling price but the audiences do expect more than they do from a Kindle right now (you can read Kindles on iPads as well)...things like interactive maps, video, audio, interactive glossaries, slideshows, and html5 widgets...we are doing the first three of our books in that format to come out in November...and it's amazingly easy to do...the main production cost is labor...or if you need to buy other elements...They tell me that iPads are 70 percent of the current table market (I don't know that for sure, just repeating what I've heard)...and they are the first into schools and universities. I read yesterday that Kindle is making a play for that market which is why I think that the next generation of Kindle will have interactive programming...you can do it now if you are a programmer...which I was willing to tackle but then when we found iAuthor, it's like...why bother? LOL I am going to put Windshift out there as our first novel in that market (the other two is a biography (with lots of pictures and videos) and a children's book. So I'll be able to give you a better idea of how it works in a month. The folks at the conference saw a demo of the iAuthor software... and some of our early sample layouts. Most of the stuff out there is not fiction...so the market seems wide open...I think for mystery/thrillers and for  sci/fi some creative thinking would make for an exiting experience for this audience...and with your background, you could really make a splash.

 

 

 

 
Maria Edwards 
www.Navigator-Books.com