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I plan to attend a Writer’s Union of Canada publishing conference in a week. Industry experts will be talking about being a writer in the middle of publishing’s digital revolution. I’m really looking forward to attending, but I’m also prepared to take it all in with the cliched grain of salt.
At a previous publishing conference (different group, not Writer’s Union) I ran into publishers who were very resistant to e-books. Their opinions were so far off I have to wonder if they believed what they were saying. Some said the market shift to e-readers wouldn’t happen from five to ten years!
Meanwhile, I said e-readers would blow up on Christmas morning 2010 and soon got obnoxious and gloated about how right I was. E-reader sales did go crazy. E-book sales are climbing despite the industry’s growing pains.
This is bad news for bookstores. I bought my vast collection of books at bookstores, but no more. I use my library for some reading, but generally, I’m a buyer. I entered a brick and mortar bookstore for the first time since Christmas last week to buy reference books. The cost of paper books is such that I just can’t justify the cost of buying paper novels anymore. That’s what my e-reader is for.
Here’s the kicker: Sony obviously underestimated their own sales. They sold out of e-reader covers before Christmas and Sony won’t even receive new covers to ship until March.
The Writer’s Union conference is next weekend. Yes, I shall report what the experts have to say. I’m hoping this time it lines up with current reality.
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Filed under: Books, ebooks, self-publishing, Writing Conferences, Bookselling, bookstores, E-book, e-reader covers, publishing, Publishing and Printing, publishing industry knowledge, publishing predictions, Sony
