Digging in for Books
Confession: I didn't blink twice before signing the contract addendum, pride rushing headlong to the dotted line. A flourish and a licked stamp sent the one-sheeter speeding back to the publisher.
No sooner had it left my greedy fingers than I wondered if I'd crossed over to the dark side...had i joined that cadre of faceless folks conspiring to rid the planet of books? I mean real books, just like a scene from Fahrenheit 451 (is that the right number?).
I really, really love books and words and stories and plots and characters. And even though I'm adding to the mega-whatevers of pixels floating through space by writing this blog, I much prefer reading a nice fat book to reading a screen of any sort. Wonderful, musty books with thick pages and good margins for notes and doodles. Books that take you to that wonderful place, the Land of Imagination. Books that teach, excite, explain, challenge, inspire...
So, here's my moral dilemma...the contract was for an E-book. Or actually, for marketing one of my existing books as an e-book, quickly downloadable to one of several electronic devices. but wait a minute--this particular book is a whimsical, charmingly illustrated book intended for grannies to read to their little sweeties. a cozy chair with just the right light, a three-year-old climbing up on the lap, turning the pages together, laughing at the funny words and silly pictures. can this scene be duplicated by holding a piece of hardware the size of a remote?
Those folks who want to turn everything into cyberstuff...they got to me this time. And i can actually see a place for e-books and a rationale for saving more trees from the paper mill. But it's not for me. Instead, give me an old volume with time-worn words, a stuffed chair, a just right light, and contentment reigns.
And if there's a lap-sitting, story-hungry grandchild around, well, that's heaven on earth.
No sooner had it left my greedy fingers than I wondered if I'd crossed over to the dark side...had i joined that cadre of faceless folks conspiring to rid the planet of books? I mean real books, just like a scene from Fahrenheit 451 (is that the right number?).
I really, really love books and words and stories and plots and characters. And even though I'm adding to the mega-whatevers of pixels floating through space by writing this blog, I much prefer reading a nice fat book to reading a screen of any sort. Wonderful, musty books with thick pages and good margins for notes and doodles. Books that take you to that wonderful place, the Land of Imagination. Books that teach, excite, explain, challenge, inspire...
So, here's my moral dilemma...the contract was for an E-book. Or actually, for marketing one of my existing books as an e-book, quickly downloadable to one of several electronic devices. but wait a minute--this particular book is a whimsical, charmingly illustrated book intended for grannies to read to their little sweeties. a cozy chair with just the right light, a three-year-old climbing up on the lap, turning the pages together, laughing at the funny words and silly pictures. can this scene be duplicated by holding a piece of hardware the size of a remote?
Those folks who want to turn everything into cyberstuff...they got to me this time. And i can actually see a place for e-books and a rationale for saving more trees from the paper mill. But it's not for me. Instead, give me an old volume with time-worn words, a stuffed chair, a just right light, and contentment reigns.
And if there's a lap-sitting, story-hungry grandchild around, well, that's heaven on earth.
Karen, don't worry; I don't think you've crossed over to the dark side :) I share the same fear of real paper books slowly disappearing while being extremely grateful for Google books and online articles that I often use in my research... I'm not sure where the line, but I did see a a book vending machine at the airport the other day, so that gives me hope.
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