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Feature

Where Is Digital Going?

A Look at The Digital Revolution Today

by Jillian Bergsma Manning

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, it seemed like the print book would soon be making its last stand. E-books and apps were everywhere, and the Kindle had taken the reading world by storm. But now, as we near 2015, where is digital going? How will it continue to affect reading, bookselling, book buying, and book writing?

 

Reading

According to a Princeton study earlier this year, Americans still prefer reading print over digital, despite the fact that over half of adults own an e-reader or tablet. Most bibliophiles will say that the experience is different when you can’t physically turn pages, jot down notes with a pencil instead of typing them in, or even just get that great book smell.

That aesthetic appeal isn’t going anywhere fast. In an Independent Publisher article, publisher David Godine told me, “I still think [print books] exist independently as physical objects, and in some cases, highly attractive physical objects. They are, at root, articles of convenience; they have to work. But they can, in the right hands, also exist independently as works of art.”

To be fair, e-readers have greatly improved since their early days. Newer Kindle products such as the Paperwhite mimic the look a book page, making the experience much nicer than reading on a shiny, reflective screen (come on, Apple!). However, a European study found readers are less likely to absorb and remember details of a book when using an e-reader instead of a physical book. You can see this being especially true when you’re reading on a device such as a phone or tablet that has a million other distractors built right in. So while e-readers and tablets have given us a new way to consume media, they might not have the same effectiveness as real books do. For that, I give a point to print books.

 

Bookselling

It’s true that bookstores have experienced a great deal of upheaval in the last decade. From the closing of Borders, to B&N downsizing, to many beloved local indies going out of business, we’ve seen what a tough economy and the rise in digital can do to the bookselling world. But many indies are seeing revivals in their sales and in engagement (just check out our Indie Groundbreaking Bookseller column), when just a few years ago many in the publishing world were sure brick-and-mortar stores were on their last legs. Staying afloat is now a matter of survival of the fittest—he who adapts fastest and offers most wins. 

And people are doing just that. Dozens and dozens of indie bookstores across the country have worked to include e-books and e-readers into their physical stores and websites (check out IndieBound’s page dedicated to this initiative). They’ve increased their programming and made the bookstore the place to be.

However, there are still the folks who won’t venture out to stores when they could purchase an e-book online from the comfort of their couch. And that leads us to Amazon—the monster of e-book and often print book sales. It can be hard to compete with Amazon’s inexhaustible product assortment, their prices, and their superfast delivery speeds. But while Amazon has a lot going for it, they’ve also been put under the microscope of late, whether due to the controversy with Hachette, the M-word (monopoly), or even diversity in the company. Yes, Amazon has forever changed the way books are bought and sold, but they’ve also created a lot of tensions with publishers and booksellers—even readers. (Check out the articles in the sidebar to see what people are saying about the pitfalls of the retail giant.)

 

Book Buying

Linked of course with bookselling, book buying has made some changes of its own. When the digital publishing age hit its stride, the U.S. economy was on the decline. Thanks to this combination, plus the influence of sites like Amazon, many consumers have now been conditioned to expect discount prices or e-book prices of the $5 and under variety. And let’s top that whole cocktail off with the fact that people are becoming increasingly aware of what it takes to produce a book—the paper, the ink, and so forth—that may have a negative effect on our planet. All of these factors line up against the print book when it comes to making purchases.

In a world of cheap, our society struggles with the concept of spending a lot of money on media. Look at the music industry—they’ve moved from records to tapes to CDs to MP3 players, and now face pirating as an enormous issue. People want free, and they will do just about anything to get it. Piracy is a bit less prevalent in books than in music, but the desire for free or cheap products is still there. Just think of the success of authors like John Locke, who joined the Kindle million-sellers club pricing his books at 99 cents a pop. People respond well to those kinds of price points, but they can be really hard for publishers and especially booksellers to match.

Whether readers will decide to buy their books in terms of exclusivity (either online or in stores) remains to be seen. As mentioned before, many bookstores have done an incredible job of staying relevant in the face of all things “E”, not just in terms of product but because bookstores are a wonderful place for everything from buying books to attending events to finding a place with likeminded people.

 

And Finally, Book Writing

It isn’t hard to see what digitization has done for the book-writing world. More books are being published now than ever before, people are able to share their stories in ways we couldn’t have imagined in the year 2000. From the ease of publishing through folks like CreateSpace, Xlibris, and AuthorHouse, to vast online writing communities such as Wattpad, to incredible programs such as NaNoWriMo, book writing has become an accessible, exciting venture for millions.

Without our desktops and laptops and tablets and e-readers—not to mention the success stories we’ve seen from self-published authors—we wouldn’t have the vast array of content that is out there today. Of course, it isn’t all perfect, but while quality is important, quantity is what is incredible in this situation. Everyone does have a story in them somewhere, and there couldn’t be a better time than now to share it.

The digital revolution may have caused plenty of problems for the traditional book world, for retailers and publishers and our beloved print book itself, but we cannot deny the opportunity it has given to writers, especially novice writers, niche writers, and those who don’t fit the traditional mold. So whether you love or hate Amazon, whether or not you own an e-readers, and even if you have never downloaded an app in your life, know that at least one incredible thing has come out of our new electronic world: more books.

 

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