The place to bump boards with Tony Hawk, hear Stephen King sing "Louie Louie" in front of a full band, or watch David Sedaris talk about kinky sex in front of countless octogenarians through your hands, BookExpo America is always a good time, and from what I hear, this year was no exception. (Streisand spoke on opening night!). Among the questions raised by the numerous author/bookseller/publisher panels, however, one concern loomed high above the rest for all the book-ies: Electronic Books. We ask: What do you think about them? If you read them via an e-reader, ipad, or iphone, how does that kind of reading compare to the real thing? Will they change the way we read forever? What will they do to the publishing industry, do you think? How will they effect and authors and authorship? Is there a way for e-books and independent bookstores to coexist peacefully, or does the birth of one necessitate the death of the other, as with Jake's exchange of bodies at the end of Avatar?
Please, please, let us know what you think!
xoxo
Here are the thoughts of a few bookstore regulars:
ReplyDeleteE-reading won't change reading as we know it. It'll change it for some people, but the majority of us will keep using paper. As for bookstores, they may be left more effected. Sales will be hurt. And publishers will be hurt, too. As much as they will try and integrate the electronic systems into their current operations (with publishers selling books via e-readers, and booksellers renting e-readers out), they will not be able to compete with Amazon and the like. To survive, bookstores will have to become 'cooler;' think places that are destinations as much as they are sellers of this or that product. There will be peace. Right?