Throw your Kindles and Kobos to the wind – and start building some more bookshelves.

Marigold.

Throw your Kindles and Kobos to the wind – and start building some more bookshelves.

For the age of the ebook is nearing its end.

That is according to the founder of Waterstones, Tim Waterstone,

who said last month that he had read and heard

‘more garbage about the strength of the ebook revolution than anything else I’ve known’.

He told an audience at the Oxford Literary Festival that the printed book

is ‘one of the most wonderful, really successful consumer products of all time’.

He said: ‘The product is so strong, the interest in reading is so deeply rooted in the culture

and human soul of this country that it is immovable. The traditional, physical book is hanging on.

I’m absolutely sure we will be here in 40 years’ time.’

Waterstone added: ‘The ebooks have developed a share of the market, of course they have,

but every indication – certainly from America – shows the share is already in decline.

The indications are that it will do exactly the same in the UK.’

He was referring to statistics released by the Association of American Publishers

which revealed that adult ebook sales were up by just 4.8 per cent in 12 months,

compared with an 11.5 per cent increase for hardcover reads.

Julie Burchill, author of Sugar Rush, has written more than a dozen books over the years.

But for her new title, Unchosen, she chose to shun the traditional publishers

in favour of crowdfunding website Unbound and said that, for a lot of writers,

any kind of publication is met with gratitude and relief.

Paraphrasing playwright Alan Bennett’s response to questions about his sexuality, 

she told Metro: ‘I’m a bit out of the loop these days. Asking me to comment on what format

I’d like to be published in is akin to asking a parched man in the desert if he’d prefer Evian or Perrier.’

Video was supposed to have killed the radio star. It didn’t.

So why do we assume the printed book will have to be obliterated by a newer technology?
Simon Mellins, who works on ebook production for a major publisher

and is the author of the One Zero One Books blog, isn’t surprised by Waterstone’s declaration, pointing out that Amazon and co ‘damaged the man’s life’s work ‘.

He said: ‘The initial meteoric rise in sales was clearly a result of people buying their first e-reader

or tablet and “stocking up”. We don’t judge other goods by this absurd standard,

where steady sales volumes equals imminent decline.

‘Meanwhile, the industry is transitioning to a new standard, which allows for rich content

inside ebooks, including audio and video, animation, games and more,

as well as vast improvements to accessibility. Many sight-impaired readers are massively empowered by ebooks, with variable font sizes and automated read-along features.’

Mellins continued: ‘Most ebook fans still buy physical books too. Just as vinyl sales are climbing

in this age of MP3 and streaming, ebook buyers still “fetishise” the printed form, perhaps more than ever now that our books are more ephemeral, and we buy our favourite books as treasured objects. But I really don’t need some potentially pulpy novel I want to read on the Tube to be in print.

‘Many people don’t even want some books on paper. They read books they’d otherwise

be too ashamed or embarrassed to read in public – just look at the rise in sales of erotica and, amusingly, religious texts in ebook form.’

Literary agent Jonny Geller, whose authors include John le Carré, Howard Jacobson and Monica Ali, said new approaches are being tried all the time, ranging from publishers trying out subscription models in the form of online book clubs to ‘bundling’ (selling printed and electronic books together).

‘Ebooks have, in some ways, saved the book business by introducing a whole new generation

of readers to new authors and have provided a huge profit margin for publishers,’ he said.

‘At the same time, the share the author receives has dwindled.

On the whole, authors do not seem to be either optimistic or pessimistic about ebooks –

as long as people still want to read. The rest is maths.’

Simon Maylott, chief executive of ‘collaborative’ ebook publisher Autharium, said:

‘To suggest that the ebook is merely a format fad is to ignore the impact the internet

and digital media consumption habits have had on nearly every other industry.’

And his message for the doom-mongers? ‘Everybody keep calm, the ebook is here to stay.

Overall, the trend is up year on year and has been consistently so for the past five years.

‘So unless book buyers decide that the benefit of the smell and feel of paper is more important

to them than the convenience of: being able to carry a library around in their pocket;

being able to easily discover or reference a section of a book; adjusting font sizes;

being able to link easily to and discover more related information; being able to find a book

that never goes out of print; having the benefit of purchasing and reading rather than

popping into town to find your latest read… then things are not going to go back to the old days.’

http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/07/the-reported-decline-of-the-ebook-has-been-greatly-exaggerated-4688830/ 7/4/14   The reported decline of the ebook has been greatly exaggerated

You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries that are spontaneously accessed.

I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.

Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 

How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

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Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:

 www.innermindworking.blogspot.com        gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life

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www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com        just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”