Monday, January 30, 2012

Mentor Monday--What's All This I Hear about Ebooks?

Ebooks are here, and if you're not aware of that fact, you'd better get your head out of the sand and start learning about them!

A good place to begin is at ereadable: ebooks made simple.

What does it all mean to you as a writer? Lots! Where before all you had to worry about was whether or not your audience could read, now you have to worry about what kind of devices your audience USES to read and how to manipulate your text and/or images to fit those devices. And then you have to figure out how to sell your ebook. Not even the big publishing houses have it all worked out, so you can't depend on them anymore! You may be on your own if you expect to make any money at all from your writing.

To get an idea of how complicated things are getting, check out this article by Anne Hill. Or visit eisforbook.com, a children's writers/illustrators' blog devoted to the topic of producing ebooks for kids.

If you're not already a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, it's probably time you joined. It's a whole new world out there and you're going to need help in navigating it! Check out this article on a recent announcement by Apple and you'll quickly realize you're going to need all the help you can get.

Finally, if you have zero experience with ebooks, I'd suggest visiting your local public library. I'd be very surprised if your local library didn't offer ebooks, either through a service such as Overdrive or 3M, or if they didn't have some preloaded ereaders available to check out, so that you can try out one before buying. It's probably time to visit your local library if you haven't been there in a while!

--Diane

One thing more: Here's a trailer for a newly released nonfiction ebook app: http://www.batsfurryfliers.com/bats/. I can definitely see the appeal! I just wonder how many families can afford an iPad for each kid?

5 comments:

Mur said...

Very timely post, Diane, and thanks for the additional links. You're absolutely right, e-books are here to stay. I've been reading the YA "Divergent" -- on my droid phone! Lots easier to carry around in my purse while I'm waiting for the mechanic to do an oil change on my car than a hard copy or even paperback would be.

I'm Jet . . . said...

Excellent choice -- for me and my current project.

Interesting links, except the 'Apple' link, which doesn't seem to be working.

Good info, D!

J

Diane Mayr said...

I just tried the link and it worked. Here it is, if you want to try putting it in manually: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/ibooks-author-contract-ibookstore_n_1220123.html

I'm Jet . . . said...

Wow wow wow. I love the look of the bat book.

That is really cool!

J

AH said...

Hey, thanks so much for linking to my article about ebooks! Very nice site you've got here!

Best,
Anne