Hi Kevin. _The Art of Collecting Meteorites_ was literally the second book I owned about meteorite collecting and the first one I purchased when I started collecting seriously.
All things being equal, I personally would rather have a hard copy book in my hands. Real books are "instant on", "random access", are not subject to changes in technology or format. 4000 year old books are still readable and always will be. They require no power source. They also have other ephemeral benefits to the reader, readers like me who prefer bound books; The feel and sound of turning the page, the smell of the ink, paper and binding, the heft and size of the volume, etc. Bound books will be with us forever, but I can also see that the future will not be kind to the majority of books. This past July sales of ebooks has surpassed sales of bound books for the first time in history. Just as the amount of first class mail has diminished and newspapers become unprofitable and close their doors due to dropping readership, bound books will continue to hold a smaller and smaller market share. eBooks haave plenty of benefits, but in my opinion eBooks have more than their fair share of negatives and I have no intention to start buying eBooks in any quantity any time soon. I think I've purchased exactly one eBook, but only because the author chose not to do a bound run. The real question you have to ask yourself is where is your future market? Is it with older collectors who have been using the ancient technology of bound books for decades, and in many cases already HAVE your book, or is it with new collectors, who may be younger and are transitioning to to eBooks rapidly? Its becoming clear that the future of books is in a digital format, no matter how little I (and other respondents) like them that way. For economic reasons alone, you should probably complete your final run of bound books to satisfy your immediate orders, but go with a digital version as those stocks are finally depleted. -- Richard Kowalski Full Moon Photography IMCA #1081 --- On Tue, 9/28/10, Kevin Kichinka <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Kevin Kichinka <[email protected]> > Subject: [meteorite-list] Meteorite eBook Opinions Sought > To: [email protected] > Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 2:31 PM > Many of you on the list have > purchased, and hopefully enjoyed, my book > "The Art of Collecting Meteorites". It was self-published > in 2005. > When it was still just a dream no publisher found my > proffered > synopsis worthy of consideration. After I had sold hundreds > of copies > I re-submitted the actual book to a dozen publishers. Most > rejected > it, and the couple that were interested wanted to change > the title, > change the cover, delete many photos, eliminate "color" > illustrations > and diminish the quality of the paper it was written on. > For this, I > would net about $1 per sold copy. Unpalatable. > > I'm down to about twenty copies (Blaine Reed also has a few > left for > sale) and have considered having the printer, Bookmasters, > run off a > hundred more so I can continue to fill orders. Otherwise > "we will turn > the final page" (pun intended) and it will go "out of > print" soon. The > cost of this small run is so high that I would need to > charge $26.95 > for a book that has sold since 2005 for $21.95 to earn the > same slim > profit margin. > > I am looking for learned opinions from the people who have > or could be > the end users, the fine people who are avid meteorite > aficionados on > this meteorite bulletin board. > > 1. Are there any buyers in these difficult times for a 232 > page > all-color, high-quality paperback book priced at $26.95? > > 2. Would anyone purchase the same book for $13 (half-price) > to be read > on their computer in a pdf (Adobe) format? > > 3. Would anyone purchase this to be read as an eBook > (Apple) or from > Amazon (Kindle)? How much is "The Art of Collecting > Meteorites" worth > to you in these formats? > > Your opinions will play a great part in my decision. > > Regards from Nine Degrees North.... > > Kevin Kichinka ([email protected]) > ______________________________________________ > Visit the Archives at > http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
