More on e-publishing--how many of you own a reading device?

[Scott Prussing]

I wrote about some of the positives about e-publishing yesterday. Here are some of the negatives. To start, there is the small percentage of people who actually own a reading device. The number is growing rapidly, but it's still small. 5 or 10 years from now this will be much less of an issue. Reaching those people can be difficult, particularly for fiction. Sites like this one can help, because at least you have a target audience. But how many of you own reading devices?

The ease of publishing an e-book is a plus, but it's also a negative. Because it's so easy, and free in many cases, everyone and his brother who thinks they are a writer can put something out there. So truly good books (or even half-way decent ones) can get lost in the electronic "piles" of drek. So marketing becomes even more important, but it's difficult. Where and how do you market a mystery/crime/detective e-book efficiently and effectively? Sorry, but I don't have an answer to that yet. But I'd love to hear some suggestions.

If you want to check out an e-publishing site, Smashwords is a good place to start. I'll give you a link to the free 50 pages of my book Tangled Webs (shameless plug) to get you there. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/13511 After you check out Tangled Webs, feel free to explore the site. :)

I'd love feedback on my book from any of you.

I apologize for the size of the image... I don't know how to shrink it.

[Jon Loomis]

I love my iPad--it's a terrific ereader, and is also great for email, internet, music, movies, games, etc., etc. The iBooks app is much better than the Kindle app, IMO.

[O'Neil De Noux]

I have a Kindle, so do five of my close relatives. You don't have to have a portable reading device. Amazon Kindle is also available for your computers (Mac and PC) as well as iPhones and iPads.

[John McFetridge]

I don't have a dedicated e-reader but lately I've been reading books on my iPod Touch. The iPad comes out in Canada next week and I'm thinking of getting one.

I have no idea how to market a book. These days I don't think that makes me any different from a publisher. I've had three novels published by two big publishers but no sales to speak of. These days everything seem so new no one seems to have figured it out (well apart from Joe Konrath).

Actually, it might be worth checking out Joe's blog:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/