Support an Indie Author this March!
What is ‘Read an eBook Week’? An annual international celebration of eBooks, which only takes place in Cyberspace. For one week only, publishers and authors offer thousands of original eBooks free or at deep discounts to encourage book lovers around the globe to give eBooks a try. The event was originally and created and organized by Rita Toews in 2004. Since then it has grown and changed, and existed in many different iterations. But its original goal has not changed…to introduce electronic books to people who have been skeptical about them in the past. And so, as an indie author and avid reader who just adores eBooks I advocate giving them a try for ten simple reasons…
#1 eBooks Travel Well. Avoid the heavy purse and strap-shaped bruise on your shoulder. eBooks exist in cyberspace on your mobile phone, tablet, e-reader, or computer. So when you travel, there’s no extra baggage to lug around.
#2 Read on the D-Low. Avoid nosy onlookers in the waiting room, post office, or airport whilst you’re reading that erotic bodice-ripper. eBooks allow you to retain your privacy and read in peace, because no one can see what’s on the screen but you.
#3 Breeze Through an Unexpected Wait at the supermarket, bank, or doctor’s office by whipping out your lightweight smartphone or eReader and punching up your current read in all its digital glory.
#4 Save a Mint When Feeding Your Reading Habit. eBooks can be had on-the-cheap! Some are as low as $1.99 or even 0.99˘.
#5 Conserve Space on Your Bookcase. eBooks will not clutter your home, office, or car. They all fit on your smartphone, tablet, eReader or laptop. They require no space to store and no dusting or special covers to preserve them.
#6 No Extra Fees/Free Shipping & Handling. Yes, that’s right folks. There’s no delivery fees! No shipping. No handling (WTH is that anyway? It’s impossible to ship something without touching it so why is ‘handling’ considered different. And if it’s different, why is there no option to ship it without the handling? Just saying.)
#7 Immediate Gratification. No Delay. Order online and received immediately in your inbox or download folder, or desktop. So literally, you can order online at the touch of a button and be reading your eBook a moment later. Talk about fast delivery!
#8 Infinitely Adjustable. Pick your favorite format…two-page display, scrolling document, page-flip. The dog ate your reading glasses? No problem…just adjust the font size, words-per-line count or brightness to whatever magnification that you need!
#9 Read in-Sync. At home enjoying an eBook on the laptop? But something comes up and you have to go? Just bookmark it, and you can pick up at the same spot on your smartphone or tablet. I have my eBooks synced on all my devices so I can read anywhere, anytime without losing my place.
#10 eReader not Included? No Worries, Free eReader Apps are Available Online. Been wanting to try an eBook, but your budget doesn’t include a tablet, iPad or eReader device? Not to worry, if you have a smartphone, desktop or laptop computer, you’re already set! Kindle, iBooks, and Abobe Digital Additions are all eReader Apps that are available as free downloads. They allow you to open and read eBooks on your smartphone or laptop/desktop computer absolutely free. Yes, you must be online for the initial download, but from then on, you can read offline at your leisure.
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I first saw the advantage of online reading when I entered some of my doctoral work into ERIC, the Educational Resources Information Center, in 1975, making these documents widely available to the scientific and educational community via computer access.
By 1987, I had shifted all of my work (and writing) from typewriter to personal computer and installed one of the first email clients into our departmental network of 35 personal computers. At that time I recommended that we go paperless as much as possible because our files were overburdened with documents and duplicates of documents that nobody ever read.
My first novel, written in 1999, was an ebook. At that time, it seemed like only geeks were interested in ebooks--a fad, so when POD paperback books came along in 2001, I turned to those.
Your 10 points are very apropos to those holdouts who still think they need a book in their hands like my mother. But, writing to me that I should embrace ebooks is like preaching to the choir. I love the versatility, editing and formatting ability, as well as the ability to make bookmarks without cluttering up the house with more physical books than my full book shelf can handle. Viva ebooks! I say.
Ron