A Return To Paperbacks

As an author, I’m making a return to paperbacks. Not that I ever left.

Back in May of last year, I wrote a blog titled The Death of Ebooks. Sales of ebooks have dropped significantly as device owners change the usage of their tablets and smartphones from useful things like news, weather, online magazine articles and books to games, photos and so-called ‘social networking’. (Less than 10% of the top forty apps on both Android and Apple platforms are for anything else.)

I am the author of six books and working on three more, all in ebook format and three currently in paperback. I find myself returning to the more traditional paperback and audio formats. Well, I say return yet I never left. My first novel, a sci-fi thriller about the largest seismic event to ever strike the planet, Earth’s Blood, was immediately put into paperback format. Since then, my latest fictional novel based on the current world-wide potable water shortages, Water, has also been put into paperback form. My dry-witted, cracked humor look at life and the many choices it presents one with, titled Live Your Life in a Crap Free Zone is the third title in paperback.

I believe that the majority of truly devoted book readers have always and will always wish to hold a book in their hands while they read. They want to turn the page with a moistened finger to see what happens next. They want to stick a tasseled bookmark in between the pages and reluctantly put the book down until the next time they have a few spare yet delightful moments of precious ‘me’ time.

This is not to say that no one is reading digital books anymore. Certainly millions are still doing just that. The problem is there are many more millions of ebooks out there. The number of purchasers and readers of digital books is declining. It’s not difficult to see where the math is going. Combine that with the fact that the name of the devices has changed from ‘ebook readers’ to ‘tablets’ with a much more diverse usage in tow and anyone can see what is happening.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire advertising say’s “it’s great for watching movies, playing games and reading books”. (Note the original purpose of a Kindle is now third.)

That said, I am making a return to paperbacks, hardcovers, audio books and seeking traditional representation and publishing. My books will all be available in ebook format. It just won’t be the primary objective anymore. Ten years ago, no one, including me, knew the ebook industry would have an explosive yet relatively short life span of growth. To borrow a song title from Dylan, “The Times, They are a Changin’.” It’s a good reason to change with them and make a return to paperbacks.