I’ve been thinking about Maili’s recent post on ebooks and why they don’t get as much word-of-mouth. Lots of good stuff in the comments. I’m relatively new to the ebook world and haven’t thought about it a great deal. But because I find it so interesting, I’m trying to order my thoughts. Anyway, reasons for less buzz:
- most ebooks are erotic romance and people are shy about discussing that subgenre
- most authors of ebooks do a lot of promo (it’s considered more than necessary) and this drowns out buzz, or at least it’s difficult to tell the difference between promo and buzz
- most authors of ebooks have a strong presence on the web, so people are hesitant to be blunt about ebooks (either fear of rabid fangirls—I haven’t had such experience but I know others have—or fear of hurt feelings—yes, some people believe authors should just suck it up, but not everyone thinks that)
- tech
Now, I have further thoughts. On some of the above, I do think the same thing happens, to a lesser extent, with print books. People are shy about discussing fave print erotic romances—with the important exception of Emma Holly.
Some authors of print books also do a lot of promo. But when buzz circles around a book where the author hasn’t been particularly present on the web (say, Lisa Valdez when Passion buzz took off—you can correct me if I’m wrong about her web presence), readers pay attention. Whereas if the buzz centres around a book by a prominent blogger and poster, I think people approach that buzz with more care. (Maybe I’m wrong.)
It does seem as if the combination of big promo and big presence results in fewer strong opinions when it comes to ebooks. Returning to Valdez’s Passion. People had very strong reactions to it: they loved or hated it. (I was something of an exception. I quite enjoyed it. Period.) I wonder if that kind of conversation, which I suspect would boost book sales, is less likely to happen with ebooks. There are some opinionated reviewers of ebooks coming out of the woodwork, namely the two Ja(y)nes of Dear Author and Ha of AAR. Perhaps Paperback Reader will review more ebooks, too. This would be good because as Jane points out over at Maili’s, it is hard to put down that kind of money for a book you really don’t know much about. And given that I am a (relatively) soon-to-be ebook author, I like the idea of conversations and sales.
All that said, I’m just thinking aloud. I have yet to know what it is like to be reviewed, and we’ll see how that experience changes me, or not. I am also new to ebook reading. I enjoy sitting in bed with my laptop reading, but I don’t like it during the rest of the day. I suppose I will, at some point, have to look into ebook readers.
