Kindle

[Dorien Grey]

A lot of buzz going on about Amazon's new Kindle book-reading device. Although the cost is prohibitive for most of us right now (okay, at least for me), I think it has a tremendous potential for the future. Everyone seems to like everytihing about it except the price.

I have two publishers...ten books with one, two books with the other. I'm not sure exactly what is involved in how Amazon selects the books it makes available through Kindle, but I think it behooves every writer to contact their publisher and find out. Both titles under my second publisher are there, but not those from the publisher of the first 10. I've written to ask why.

And once a writer sees his/her books offered by Kindle, it is in his or her self interest and possible great advantage to urge people to take a look at KIndle as a viable alternative to paper books. (I note Kindle makes much of the its "like paper" qualities. Not sure what that means, but definitely shows they are aware of a major reason people haven't been buying hand-held e-book readers.

The cost of books through Kindle is also considerably less than paper bound: my two books are listed at $6.99 and I"ve seen others from better known authors at $9.99.

It's a matter of back scratching: we scratch Kindle's back, they indireclty will scratch ours.

[John Dishon]

The quality of POD is not quite as good as offset presses, not yet. POD uses a toner process instead of ink, so illustrations and photographs are still not as good as offset presses. And POD doesn't do color as well either.

This is still true for desktop printers. Laserjets, which use toner, don't have as good image quality as inkkets, which use ink. Even the new color laserjets aren't as a good as inkjets for photographs and illustrations.

But for monochrome text, yeah, POD is right there with offset presses.

[Sue Dawson]

Having worked many years in libraries, I was a member of the desk circulation
staff that often cleared the bookdrop in the morning before opening. "Old volumes," those with tied pages (My terminiology might be incorrect.), held together well on descent while the modern glued bindings were often damaged in the short fall to the floor. The Beaverton Library where I worked for many years often had three feet of items, i. e., boooks, cassettes, videos, magazines (in short ,the whole gamut--and sometimes "gifts" from nasty patrons). Many library patrons have little idea of the work that goes on behind library doors before and after closing. The job is much more than just checking books out and in.

Nothing pleases me more than to wander through a musty (well, not too musty)
bookstore. I can spend hours at no cost just looking at the shelves. When an old classic is found, I cannot resist perusing its pages and on occasion buying a volume or two.

I favor quality in all areas whether it be furniture making, book printing.
or my favorite world of education.

[Pepper Smith]

"Bookster" exists already, though not under than name and in myriad forms. Ebooks haven't hit the mainstream yet, but it doesn't mean there's not already a thriving community of pirates and those who share ebooks out there. Just browse through Yahoo Groups some day. You'd be surprised.