Thoughts on eBooks

Random eBook Idea #6: Author Pass

mentatjack — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:00:01 +0000

Suggested over at Dragon Page Cover to Cover in episode 348B, this idea takes a page out of the sports broadcasting playbook. I, just like many others, follow my favorite authors, and will at least try everything they write. The idea would be to sell a fan electronic reading writes for an author’s entire future catalog for a price that was a function of the author’s backlist. This would increase over time, giving early adopters a steep discount.

Random eBook Idea #5: Singles

mentatjack — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:48:43 +0000

Instead of buying an entire book, it would be nice to be able to just purchase a portion of the book. This could be used to preview a portion before buying the entire book. This could also allow publishers to push content at us in $.99 or even $.69 or lower chunks that make the full cost of a large eBook a bit more palatable.

Steven Johnson in an article in the Wall Street Journal mentions “paying per chapter.” That article also mentions “writing for google” and other interesting ideas related to books going digital.
I found the WSJ Article via the Deep Media Blog which also points out the Chapters Program over at Harvard Business Press.

Random eBook Idea #4: Collectable Lithographs

mentatjack — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:41:57 +0000

I love fantasy and science fiction and my single biggest attachment to physical books are the gorgeous covers. I would love to be able to purchase a lithograph of the cover art work in conjunction with an electronic copy of the novel. Here are a handful of artists I like to get you started, if you’ve never thought about this:

Random eBook Idea #3: Audio/Text Toggle

mentatjack — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:42:31 +0000

As a corollary to Random eBook Idea #2, I’d like to see audio books and eBooks bundled in such a way that switching back and forth between the audio book (while driving) and the eBook (when relaxing and practicing slow reading) was a single button press on a the device I use for both. I found myself approximating this naturally with Scott Sigler’s Contagious. I’m listening to the free podcast during my commute, but at home I much prefer to crack open the Hardcover.

Turns out I’m not the only one thinking about this particular idea. A caller on episode 348B of Dragon Page Cover to Cover outlines basically the same concept. The point is made that there’s both a technology hurdle and the possibility that different parties own the e-publishing and audio rights.

Random eBook Idea #2: Bundled Formats

mentatjack — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:51:29 +0000

Bob over at Harper Studio had this idea:

… So I’m interested in offering bundles that combine the hardcover with the e-book and audiobook downloads. For instance, if the hardcover were $20.00 and the e-book was $9.95 and the audiobook was $14.95, why not charge $22.95 or $24.95 for all three combined? Once we know that we’re covering our development costs on a book, then we can afford to throw in the digital formats for just a few dollars more…

That was from a comment to The Kindle and Questioning the Economics of eBook Publishing…the Conversation Continues

Random eBook Idea #1: Disposable eReaders

mentatjack — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:34:09 +0000

At the core of this idea is that I LOVE bookstores. I don’t want to see them first against the wall in the eBook revolution. Imagine walking into a bookstore, doing your browsing, and then at checkout getting your selection(s) on a device that could do nothing more than view those selections. I imagine that there would be a fee significantly less than $359, but that the device could be reused at that bookstore or chain.