One small benefit of ebook stores you didn't mention is a trail / demo couple of chapters. I find this is pretty useful. I'm not *so* bothered about spending £10 on a book I ultimately dislike, I'm more concerned about knowing when to give up on a book that I should. When I'm forced to actually buy the book to continue that's a great place to possibly quit on the book, that I'd likely not take if I'd bought the physical copy of the book. I'm generally bad for finishing books I should give up on.
Personally I'm usually surprised by how little of the book is a trial. If I were an author I would want at least half of the book available for free. If I haven't convinced the reader to pay for the rest of the book within the first half, then it's probably correct that they don't have to pay for the first half. Also, the more you've read, I suspect, the more likely you are to pay to finish it, sunk cost and all that.
Obviously, I am not your target audience for this particular essay, but I really did enjoy it; as a non-reader of ‘e’ or anything else I have no opinion of the best way to read and I’m so jealous that you are such an avid reader. I’d like to think I had something to do with that, but I don’t think reading Mr. Men books to you when you were 3 had a bearing on it!!
Love this breakdown! The one-handed eReader thing is so underrated, especially that detail about loop attachments. I never thought about how holding a book open flat for like an hour straight actually messes with wrist posture, but now that you mentioned it that makes alot of sense for long reading sesions.
Yeah, that's why it's taken me so long to put this article together - these little things only surface after years. It's easy to get swayed by the headline pros and cons, particularly the nostalgic feeling around paper books, but these practical points really do matter!
One small benefit of ebook stores you didn't mention is a trail / demo couple of chapters. I find this is pretty useful. I'm not *so* bothered about spending £10 on a book I ultimately dislike, I'm more concerned about knowing when to give up on a book that I should. When I'm forced to actually buy the book to continue that's a great place to possibly quit on the book, that I'd likely not take if I'd bought the physical copy of the book. I'm generally bad for finishing books I should give up on.
Personally I'm usually surprised by how little of the book is a trial. If I were an author I would want at least half of the book available for free. If I haven't convinced the reader to pay for the rest of the book within the first half, then it's probably correct that they don't have to pay for the first half. Also, the more you've read, I suspect, the more likely you are to pay to finish it, sunk cost and all that.
Obviously, I am not your target audience for this particular essay, but I really did enjoy it; as a non-reader of ‘e’ or anything else I have no opinion of the best way to read and I’m so jealous that you are such an avid reader. I’d like to think I had something to do with that, but I don’t think reading Mr. Men books to you when you were 3 had a bearing on it!!
Don't be so sure ma!
Love this breakdown! The one-handed eReader thing is so underrated, especially that detail about loop attachments. I never thought about how holding a book open flat for like an hour straight actually messes with wrist posture, but now that you mentioned it that makes alot of sense for long reading sesions.
Yeah, that's why it's taken me so long to put this article together - these little things only surface after years. It's easy to get swayed by the headline pros and cons, particularly the nostalgic feeling around paper books, but these practical points really do matter!