Sunday, September 13, 2009

Ebooks—likey or no likey?

Camy here, with a few questions for you guys, especially if you are under the age of 18.

Now, I live in a small house. Considering it’s just me, Captain Caffeine, and my dog, Snickers, it’s a fine size for our family, but it’s a far cry from my GRAND dreams of a humongous personal library with window seats and a fireplace and a massive teakwood desk where I can write to my heart’s content.

Since I have limited space for books (and in recent years, my knitting yarn stash which has grown like a pack of Tribbles), I LOVE EBOOKS. Hard disk space takes up less square footage than bookshelves.

I get each month’s Love Inspired Suspense books on ebook at Fictionwise.com, where I get a nice discount b/c I’m a Buywise member. I also can indulge my historical romance obsession since almost all of my favorite authors—and new authors, too—have books available as ebooks.

Since the ebooks end up being cheaper than print books (even better than the prices on Amazon), I can try new authors without wincing at how much it hits my wallet. This has been really cool because often I wouldn’t want to try a new author because I didn’t want to spend the money. But now that the ebook is cheaper, I can indulge myself a bit more often.

I am also all for instant gratification, so I love how I can buy the latest Love Inspired Suspense novel and start reading it within a few minutes. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

I have a Sony eReader, which I’m really happy with, but I still read most of my books on my computer because it’s just easier—the screen is big, I can sit and eat or knit or whatever while I read.

I am also a bit ashamed to admit that I have increased the font on my ebooks in the past year or so. :P Ahhh old age, combined with a genetic propensity for near sightedness so bad I’m almost blind. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

And since I love ebooks so much, OF COURSE I made sure my books would be available as ebooks. :) Which is really good, too, because Deadly Intent isn’t in Walmart or many of the major bookstores anymore (although you can still order print copies from Amazon).

Click the covers below to buy my ebooks! For my Sushi series, the link is for the paperback, but under “Format,” you can click on the ebook platform of your choice. The only exception is Only Uni--I’m not sure why it’s not available as an ebook yet. But you can also buy the audiobook if you’re so inclined.












(If you prefer Secure eReader format for Deadly Intent, click here to find it on Fictionwise.com.)






So here are my questions for you guys:

1) Do you like ebooks?

2) How often do you buy ebooks or borrow them from the library (if your library has that function)?

3) What do you read ebooks on, your computer? PDA? iPod Touch? Kindle or Sony eReader or something else?

And if you’re a teen, please let me know. I’m kind of curious to see if any of you teenagers read ebooks.


Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her humorous contemporary romance novel, Single Sashimi, and her romantic suspense, Deadly Intent. She also runs the Story Sensei critique service. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels and ponders frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for monthly giveways!

8 comments:

Beth Dunn said...

I personally like a book but I know tons of people who live for Kindle xoxo

Steph said...

Hi Camy! I'm 19 so I'm on the edge of teenagedom but I read a lot and try to do as little of it as possible from a computer screen. Especially when reading for college, I like to be able to write on articles and papers and take books into the hot sun where i wouldn't be able to see the computer screen. Just my two cents.

Amy said...

Well, I'm not a teen and haven't been for, oh, fourteen years now, but I thought I'd weigh in anyway. :)

The only thing I really like about e-books is the instant gratification. Oh, and it is convenient when I "borrow" them from the library, they just automatically disappear so I don't have to worry about returning them.

Otherwise, though, I just really prefer paper. I like to curl up with a good book and I can't really do that with a laptop or a humming electronic device. It's just not the same.

Plus, if you're somebody who reads in the bathtub, e-books just don't work there.

So, overall, I think they are a nice option to have for people who like them better, or for me when I really want something NOW and the library's closed, but I don't think they'll be replacing paper books anytime soon. At least I hope not!

Mark said...

I'm well over 18, but I intensely dislike e-books - there is something about holding the actual book in your hands, savoring the feel & look of it, putting it on your book shelf along with other books - never will I go the route of ebooks!

I got one to review recently in ebook form, and found it a pain in the neck to read!

sue bee said...

1) Do you like ebooks?

Not really. I don't like reading off the screen. Of course, this has changed a lot since I got hooked on audio books about a year and a half ago. I don't like anything that takes my hands away from whatever project I am working on at the time.
For years, I actually "listened" to TV and rarely actually watched it. So audiobooks are a natural choice for me.


2) How often do you buy ebooks or borrow them from the library (if your library has that function)?

Our library does have an ebook option from the website but I've found that the choices are not "normal." LOL. Lots of unheard of stuff there. Not that that is a bad thing just takes a long time to find something I would enjoy.

3) What do you read ebooks on, your computer? PDA? iPod Touch? Kindle or Sony eReader or something else?

I've considered the Kindle because of it's ability to to read to me but haven't actually been able to test out this feature. My current version of Adobe Reader will read a document. Not quite a computer voice, and it can put in inflection to match punctuation but sometimes it really messes up word pronunciation.

I prefer real books, in the long run, over either digital version -- just for the sheer ability to make it available to future readers who may not find a title in an available form once it is no longer commercially viable to keep it available. Books not in hard copy and available in digital form can be changed, also, and such changes may not be trackable.

I love the ease of the digital versions but want to keep the "real things," too. :-)

Kristy said...

Hi Camy! It's Kristy. I won your book give away back in February for The Gatekeepers by Robert Liparulo. I had never heard of the Dreamhouse Kings series before, so I bought and read the first two books before starting The Gatekeepers. I absolutely love this series and have read the fourth book and am currently waiting for the fifth one. Also, I've gotten about 7 people I work with hooked on the series as well! They are all anxiously waiting for book number 5 as well. So thanks again and have a great day!!!

Camy Tang said...

Thanks for weighing in, guys! Sorry I was MIA, things got busy for me!

Kristy--that's totally awesome! You're welcome!

Camy

Anonymous said...

I know this was a while ago but I felt like replying :)the only ebook that I read is the bible (its free on amazon) but thats only because I don't have a real copy. I pefer real books because I can useually get a bargin with them in certain bookshops and also its just more fun to turn pages and smell the smell of books :)