As a person who has read and collected many books for many years and who currently owns and enjoys a Kindle, I thought I would respond to this thread.
I think the best response was from one person who asked does it need to be an either/or situation. I have been reading mysteries/hardboiled material for almost 30 years and have spent literally tens of thousands of dollars in that time at chain bookstores, independent bookstores, and used bookstores. I have collected many first edition hardcovers as well as lots of PBOs of the Gold Medal era and I love them all. But, frankly, I am running out of space and find many of the books I buy not worth keeping. Hence, the Kindle purchase, also out of curiosity.
I have downloaded some of the old Chandlers and Hammetts and enjoyed them while waiting for a plane. I continue to frequent independent booksellers in my area as well as some of the chains. I would say my purchases go about 70% books/30% digital and I don't feel bad about either one. Barbara Peters, who owns the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scotssdale, AZ said that if a person bought one hardcover or two PBs from their independent bookseller each month, that could help stave off the demise of these booksellers. I have been doing that as well as enjoying other books, digital and oldfashioned print. In fact, I bought a limited edition hardcover of Otto Penzler's new book The Lineup, signed by each contributing author, from the Poisoned Pen; a pretty penny but a book well worth it.
I enjoy books, no doubt. But I also am seeing the advantage, both covnenience and space-wise, of having a Kindle. My hope is that other book lovers will continue to enjoy bookreading while doing what they can to support the old while not shunning the new. I also grew up with newspapers. I have subscribed to the LA Times for 22 years and watched it go from a half a phone book thick bundle for 25 cents to a magazine thick pad for 75 cents. I will try to support it as long as I can because I love to read a newspaper and not get my news from online. I have also watched travel agents disappear, replaced by the internet. And my sister had to retire from the US Postal Service this month because of decreasing revenue, due to the internet and online commerce and email. These are advances of the future as well. For books, we can try to support what we can for as long as we can. Thanks for listening.
Patrick Lee
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Debbi Mack <demack5@...> wrote:
>
> To the person who asked if Kindles and other e-readers are a "guy thing," the answer's no. I've corresponded with several women who own Kindles, and they've told me they love them, because 1) they don't have to lug around a lot of print books when they travel and 2) if they have arthritis or some other dexterity problem, hitting the buttons on a Kindle is easier than holding and flipping the pages of a book.
>
> This is what I've been told, anyway.
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> I actually ran into a young woman (in her 20s, maybe) at an airport who had a Kindle. She also raved about it. I told her about my book (since it's available for Kindle) and she downloaded it on the spot.
>
> On that subject, yes, I'm one of those terrible authors who has a previously out-of-print novel published as an e-book. The novel was first published by a small press in June 2005, but went out of print nine months later when the publisher went under. I've sold almost three times as many downloads since June 2 as print copies during the nine months it was first issued in print. So, I may be making small money, but it's still more money than I'd get just letting it sit on my hard drive. Plus, more people are reading my work than when my book was just in print--it's called exposure and that's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.
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> Finally, for authors with a track record, e-books can produce a pretty significant chunk of change (even priced low). If you don't believe me, check out Joe Konrath's blog on the subject at http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ .
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> Even Lee Goldberg is making his backlist available for Kindle. Check out his blog on this, too. He makes fun of the idea of becoming a Kindle millionaire, but I can't help noticing that he's been making more and more of his titles available as downloads.
>
> Best wishes,
> Debbi
>
> Debbi Mack
> IDENTITY CRISIS
> Published by Lulu http://www.lulu.com/content/3923913
> Available as an e-book on Amazon, Scribd and Smashwords
> http://www.debbimack.com
> http://midlistlife.wordpress.com/
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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