Comments on: TSS: Leaning towards ebooks

By: Charlie

Charlie — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:27:21 +0000

Since stores started closing I’ve made a concious effort to buy on the high street more so than I did before. I haven’t bought any ebooks yet because of DRM, but have considered it for publishers that give you the file without restrictions, they’d have to be cheap though. I think the fact that it was several years before I finally got some bookshelves adds to my preference, too. Netgalley and self-pubs mean that my reading is balanced where review copies come in, otherwise it’s physical books all the way.

By: Ana @ things mean a lot

Ana @ things mean a lot — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:24:50 +0000

Relevant to this discussion: http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/11/16/what-can-publishers-learn-from-indie-rock/ Fingers crossed that it happens some day!

By: jessicabookworm

jessicabookworm — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:25:34 +0000

I hadn’t really thought about this till I read this post. Great discussion. Like you I buy physical books from an actual bookshop while I get my ebooks off Amazon. Also like you I tend to lean towards ebooks when I’m trying something new out, because I’m not sure if the book will be a keeper. If I end up loving the book I will consider buying a real copy of it. As you said an ebook is just not as satisfying as picking a real book off the bookshelf.

By: heidenkind

heidenkind — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 04:25:34 +0000

I tend to go through phases where all I want to do is read eBooks and all I want to do is read HIH copies of books. I think, though, it has more do with how fast I want/need the books to be read than anything else. I have a lot novellas on my Kindle (and free books), and when I feel the need to just start crushing through the TBR pile I tend to go to my Kindle. When I really want to curl up with a book and take my time I go to the physical books.

By: Amy @ My Friend Amy

Amy @ My Friend Amy — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:28:24 +0000

Unfortunately I’m still not accustomed to reading from ebooks and I think a lot of it has to do with the physical book guilt! Like reading an ebook makes me feel guilty because of all the unread physical books.

By: Meghan

Meghan — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:56:37 +0000

I love all of your different perspectives on this! I totally agree with Ana, Kim, and Priscilla that I’d love a book that also granted me the ability to read the ebook, and I would also pay a bit more for that. I do still buy plenty of physical books, as well; the shelves aren’t groaning any less. If I think I’ll love it, I will in fact just buy the real version (hardcover version of Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance newly added to the shelves is a case in point).

I also kind of agree with the not-seeing problem. I tend to go on streaks of reading several ebooks in a row, then several physical books. Whichever I’m seeing at the time, I’m more drawn to. But I also forget I own books in the second layer of the bookshelf, so at my volume of unread books, having a physical book doesn’t really help me with this problem!

By: SuziQoregon

SuziQoregon — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:28:09 +0000

If anything I buy more ebooks and about the same number of physical books since I started using an ereader. Due to storage space I have long had a habit of buying physical books that I think both The Hubster and I will read. If it’s something he wouldn’t be interested in, my first option was the library. I’m still a heavy library user but my ebook purchases have been more likely to be something I want to read that I don’t think he would.

There are times that the ebook is on sale and it’s one we will both read or want for vacation so I got him an ereader and we share an account so that it’s easy to share the ebooks he wants to read.

The other thing that I lean toward ebooks for is the chunksters. The big fat ones are just much easier to read in ebook format unless it’s a non-fiction with photos or diagrams (or one of those fat historical sagas with a family tree I need to keep looking at).

By: Priscilla

Priscilla — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:26:10 +0000

I go back and forth on the ebook thing. I really do love the fact that buying ebooks saves trees, eliminates carbon emissions from shipping, etc. Like others have already mentioned, though, when it comes to favorite authors, I generally buy a hard copy of the book. One of the other things that drives my decision re: physical vs. ebook, is, I admit, whether the ebook is on sale. I also own a Kindle, and Amazon does put some terrific books on sale, and if a book I want is less that $8.99 I’ll generally buy it. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, because where I once had a problem buying a lot of physical books and not reading them, now I find I am buying Kindle books and not reading them–but I also cannot see them.

Like Ana and Kim mentioned as well, I would love if the price of a book included both the ebook and a physical copy. I for one would even be willing to pay a bit more.

By: Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)

Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:02:15 +0000

I am still mostly a physical book girl myself. I like the idea of ebooks, but when it comes down too it if I read a book I love, I want to have a physical copy of it. So when I’m buying books I want to read that I think I will love… I usually just buy the physical book and am done with it. Plus, I forget about ebooks when I buy them, so they just sit around.

Also, I just in general find the idea that ebooks are not sharable or transferable really frustrating. Why am I going to pay, essentially, the price of a paperback when I’m not getting all of the “benefits” of a paperback book?

I actually tend to buy more short (like, novella length) pieces as ebooks — Kindle Singles, that sort of thing — that aren’t available physically. I agree with what Ana said — I’d love it in the future if you could get both a digital and physical copy of a book for a reasonable price. I can imagine doing that a lot.

By: bermudaonion(Kathy)

bermudaonion(Kathy) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:54:09 +0000

I’m like Candace – I have 2 eReaders and never use either one of them. I haven’t really enjoyed the eBook experience and find that I don’t remember eBooks as well. I buy my physical books from a book store for the same reason you do. The store I go to has started selling Kobos and if you buy one from them, they get credit for every book you buy. But, if everyone does that, there will be no reason for them to exist.