The Orion Team. discussion

Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Google Play Books.
These are just some of the apps which we use for e reading. For all the talk about paper feeling better in the hand and electronic devices dying of power, the fact of the matter is, one does not need to lug a suitcase of books on holiday when packing a smartphone equipped with an e reader app.

Recently I purchased a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact and decided to experiment with the Google Play Books app. The app I found was very impressive, well built and packed with an astounding number of features that even Kindle has missed. However, the books selection is a bit.....lacking. I count only 4 indie published authors whom I know about who have their books on Google Play.

So, a few questions.

1) For the readers and reviewers. What would make you gravitate to a particular ebook app? Selection? Ease of use? Another reason?

2) For the authors. What is the process of getting your books onto an ebook store app? Is the process complicated or is it taken care of by an agent if you happen to be part of a mainstream publishing house?

3) Another one for the authors. Is there a difference of profit margin between the ebook apps and are there any hidden costs which might keep you away from trying to get your books on a particular app?

Love to hear your thoughts as always. The reason why I've brought up this matter is because while still impressive, the Google Play Books ebook store is sorely lacking in titles that would be found easily enough on amazon.

As an avid reader of ebooks, selection and price are the determining factors for me.

Kathryn wrote: "As an avid reader of ebooks, selection and price are the determining factors for me."

I see...and thank you very much for giving me another question for the thread!

4) Between all the ebook store/reader apps, are there any price differences?

I do most of my reading on a laptop with a 15" screen, perfect for viewing the double-page view. Can set it on my lap or elevated desk and only have to use one-finger taps(no swipes) to advance pages. 2 keystrokes to advance to the end, or 2 others to go to the beginning, with a slide to advance to particular pages. For me, the laptop is easier, because simply holding the Kindle causes pain(old EMT injury), and I'm constantly having to adjust the angle if it's in a stand(same reason). Much simpler with the laptop, plus I don't have to buy an expensive device.

I use the free Adobe Digital Editions... It will open the DRM encoded "free" books from, say, NetGalley(downside, when the allowed time has elapsed, the books will no longer open. On a Kindle - or other - they will still be available.)

But... and a bit, but for me... with all of the Kindle books(freebies or otherwise), they're almost impossible to locate on the device to transfer to my laptop(I've yet to find any of them), but I can easily find the files on my laptop, transfer them anywhere; including converting to Kindle format and copying it there where I can find it and delete it, if I choose, with out "fogging" up the cloud as when you delete "Kindle downloaded" books. I'll figure that out eventually, then convert and transfer to the laptop.

There are plenty of freebies available in e-pub format but more and more even the freebies are being offered only through Amazon(or one of the other sites that offer their own "non-free" reading device.) But, for now, since I don't have the transfer options, that option is not available.

So, I'll stick with my laptop, Adobe Digital Editions, eventually figure out the Kindle "connection", and all will be well with the world!!!

Russty

Russty wrote: "I do most of my reading on a laptop with a 15" screen, perfect for viewing the double-page view. Can set it on my lap or elevated desk and only have to use one-finger taps(no swipes) to advance pag..."

Ah, I see, an out of the box option. Interesting perspective about weaknesses in the e - reading format which haven't been considered.

Good questions. Personally, I have a kindle. I love dead tree books but I have X amount of bookcase for Y amount of books. So, unless it is a heirloom type copy, I'm a Kindle reader. As for my published books? I'm an Amazon sycophant. All my books are on Amazon Select and available on Kindle. Royalties on Kindle are 70-30, 70% for me. Dead tree copies are handled by my publisher, Createspace, I make between 2.50-3.50 based on page count. I am currently satisfied. I've sold thousands of copies, I have fans and everything. So, that's that.

Jack wrote: "Good questions. Personally, I have a kindle. I love dead tree books but I have X amount of bookcase for Y amount of books. So, unless it is a heirloom type copy, I'm a Kindle reader. As for my publ..."

Thanks for commenting Jack. Most insightful, especially regarding the business figures.

A slightly different question about ebooks.

Short stories and novellas died as an art form after the glory days in the 1960's and 70's where writers such as Forsyth and Fleming were willing to do them.

However, they've come back with a vengeance in the age of the ebook. Cost effective, and one can fit millions onto a smart device.

Questions:

1) Would you say the recent surge in short stories is mostly motivated by profit opportunity than any other potential cause?

2) Are short stories an effective marketing measure for writers to take? There's the potential for them to act as a lure for readers to dive into the full length works.


Reason why I've posted these two questions is because I've recently seen a 70 something writer recently begin releasing novella works with each of his full length novels. He's never done this before in his 3 decade career and I'm curious why authors like him are gradually jumping on the bandwagon.

Samuel wrote: "A slightly different question about ebooks.

Short stories and novellas died as an art form after the glory days in the 1960's and 70's where writers such as Forsyth and Fleming were willing to do..."

Yes, novellas seem to do the trick. I'm thinking about doing this to.

e-readers or reading apps:
The main reason I switched from paper books to mostly ebooks was the price and availability. In Germany book prices for German books are fixed - so if I want read the stuff I love (usually not available in any libraries - Christian books, indie books) I had to switch to books in English. The book price difference between ebooks and printed books was until about two years ago between 50 and 85 per cent. Within the last two years Amazon raised prices - also for ebooks very much and the difference is rarely more than 30 per cent :-(((((
Since some of the authors I love never offer deals on the German Amazon shop but almost all of the Amazon deals are also available on iTunes and because of the possibility to read all formats on one device I bought a few years ago an iPad. The first two or three years I was more than happy with it until the issues began and than en mass (unfortunatelly some of the issues can't even be solved with other devices):
- either due to age or (most likely) to the fact GR pages transport so much background stuff which cloggs the working power/processor (not sure how you call it in English - caused alredy problems on two desktop PC - one isn't working anymore) it's no more possible to switch between two apps if I want transfer notes or vocabulary deffinitions from one book to e.g. book set
- if you have more than 2,000 books in the Kindle-app the app is breaking down and needs more than 3 minutes to open (and is freezing withing the first 30 minutes after 3-5 actions), downloads of ebooks from the cloud takes ages - I need in the meantime around 3-4 hours for 15-books (I learned to bring a paper book or a second reader each time I go to my hot-spot and continue reading while I do my best to force the devide to 'unfreeze'). According to German Amazon I'm the only user with more than 500 ebook and they are not willing to deal with the issues becuase I'm not more in the target group!?! Similar issues have to be expected with all Kindle-Apps or devices and it's not possible to choose the books you want to download onto the App - they are all pulled to your App or device as soon as you buy a book or sent it to your Kindle-account.
- iTunes has two different ePub formats - the one you can open with every ePub-reader (I call it the genuine ePub) and a second one you can open only with Apple devices (I call it iTunes ePub). The only possibility to see which format the book is, is after you got it and downloaded to your desktop iTunes account (format: genuine ePub is marked as book or bought book the iTunes ePub as secured or protected book) or if you try to open it with a different device and it's not working you know it's iTunes ePub. Unfortunatelly most of the ebooks offered on sale are iTunes ePub. It happens also on a regular basis the genuine ePub books are changed into the iTunes format (as soon as the freebies are charged)
- most of my library books are DRM formats (like the netgalley books Russty mentioned) I tried several ereader but most of the German readers don't support it or there are severe issues with the handling.
- Adobe Digital Editions - is working on the desktop PC only and the handling is not that great but it's the most stable App so far.

Since I'm not willing to part from my many ebooks and even less willing to carry tons of paper with me, I'm still looking for THE ereader I'm happy with. As soon as I find one I'll let you know ;-)

novellas:
In my opinion novellas are one of the best ways to find out if you like the style of a new author or a new series as well to learn more about a less important (but often great) character in a series.
According to some scources I read in the last few month those are also used more and more to bridge the time between two novels. I can understand how frustrating it must be for an author who worked several month on a book and the day after the publication the most avid readers ask when they can expect the next book. That way we don't have to wait that long :-)

A second reason why I love novellas so much is (especially in time of severe depresive episodes) they are so short and I'm usually finished with those before I get trouble with concentration or loose the interest in the story. That happens a lot with the big, heavy books - even if they're very well written. Before I discovered those I read sometime up to 40 book at one time and didn't finish half of those. Now as soon as I see the risk I can loose interest in a book I usually switch to a novella and go back to my original book afterwards.

I'm thinking of writing a short prequel novella for The Benevolent Deception. This topic is making me think more and more it is a good idea to do.