The Humour Club discussion

love how you can have complete control over your work. From the written word to the cover artwork and beyond. OK, so you have to fork out a little cash. But it's all about reaching your public what makes it satisfying. The only downside is that the whole marketing aspect can be a little daunting. Still, stay indie.

Very true. There's another bonus. If you find yourself talking to someone about the fact that you've written a book, there will come a time when they will ask "what book?"

At which point you can whip out your smartphone or tablet, do a quick google and then point to the screen saying ...

"That book."

And then, weeks or days later, they tell you that they bought it, read it and enjoyed it. Are you planning a sequel?

When that happens the glow of pride that you emit can probably be seen from space.

Another great thing about ebooks is that if a reader contacts you about a misspelled word (or worse) you can remedy it in less than 12 hours.

Not, I hasten to say, that I would ever have a misspelled word in something I've written.

One more item in the ebook goody bag: you can link to your other books, website, etc. in the text.

"What is the best realistic book you have read, (Must Have Realistic things/adventures in it ". Give us tiles, author and a link, to Amazon or GoodReads)"
Let's make a list!

Richard, I get the same control on my ebooks and print. I love having both. But the ease of fixing minor errors on my ebooks is a bonus, and for my own reading, I embrace both--ebooks for convenienc, and paper for nostalgia and because it's there.

I wonder - who prefers reading ebooks over print?

Perhaps it's my blondness coming through, but, I keep forgetting I have ebooks available to be read--even when I'm in the middle of a book. Once I put that damn ereader down, my brain empties of all memory of the books on it. Though on the plus side, it's like Christmas everytime I happen to pick it up again. "Oh look! the eFairy brought me words to read!"

I like both. Which I prefer really depends on circumstances.

I'm not going to read an ebook in the bathtub.

Lisa wrote: "Perhaps it's my blondness coming through, but, I keep forgetting I have ebooks available to be read--even when I'm in the middle of a book. Once I put that damn ereader down, my brain empties of al..."

Technically, I was born a blonde and might be one again before I die, but, yeah, I tend to forget about ebooks, too. I have over a thousand of 'em in a cloud somewhere, but there's nothing like a stack of REAL books beside the bed to remind you of all you have waiting to be read.

I get odd opportunities to read. Having e-book's on my phone is the only way I can get the chance, Much easier to lug around, and I can easily change from black on white, to white on black when the light level changes. So yes, I prefer it.

Joel wrote: "I wonder - who prefers reading ebooks over print?"

Me. Scaleable, portable, back-lit, portait or landscape and exactly the same weight whether I am reading poetry or War and Peace.

We might as well ask who prefers writing with a quill pen or hammer and chisel over a biro or a word processor?

Will wrote: "We might as well ask who prefers writing with a quill pen or hammer and chisel over a biro or a word processor?"

Now that seems a bit unfair. I think it's more like asking who likes to write with a pen and paper and who likes a keyboard. People have their own preferences, and I know that my experience of writing is different depending on which I use (so I use both, depending on mood and subject). I don't think the print book is dead, and far from it.

No, the print book isn't dead. But equally the ebook isn't an inferior choice as in "who prefers reading ebooks over print?"

Right. I think many of us like both. It's not an either/or, and which I prefer often depends on circs. I take an ereader backpacking (and now we know to be a bit more careful of them than the spouse was, as he put his knee through one). (And before the print people say "aha! too fragile!" I will note that a few years ago he had a water bag burst and soaked a hardback from the library. Which was almost as expensive and a lot heavier, especially when wet.)

Indeed. I've managed to drop and kill a kindle, when a book would have survived. But then I also ruined a paper book by exploding a bottle of red wine over it. Don't know if a kindle would have lived through that!

One interesting thing that is happening is that my 14 year old son now thinks that CDs, DVDs and paper books are incredibly old fashioned. For him, everything is online. His ideal home would probably have far fewer shelves but more power sockets.

Will wrote: "... But then I also ruined a paper book by exploding a bottle of red wine over it. ....One interesting thing that is happening is that my 14 year old son now thinks that CDs, DVDs and paper books are incredibly old fashioned..."

First, you should be ashamed for wasting wine like that, Will.

And second, does your 14-year-old like vinyl? My 15-year-old son has a huge collection of vinyl (what his generation calls LPs from our times) that he regularly plays on a turntable while face-timing and playing video games. He loves the sound quality of them and says it's more musical than the sterile quality of CDs or MP3s.

The book and the wine were in the same piece of hand luggage which I was about to take onto a plane. The ape manning the x-ray dropped the bag a little too hard onto the floor and the bottle disintegrated inside the bag, turning everything into a peculiar shade of purple. And the book I was going to read on the plane started out as a sodden mess and dried out to become a crinkly-paged freak.

My son thinks that vinyl is very funny and quaint, like playing music on wax cylinders. I don't think he recognises that there can be anything analogue in music, including musicians playing non-electronic equipment or singers singing with their own voices. He may have a point.

On message1: So far I have published only one ebook. My partner is http://www.streetlib.com & I consider it a good start for small money. If you do all the work yourself, you don't need to pay anything up-front.

Working... I found that notebooks and laptops, netbooks, and thinkpads are my favorite compromise between screen-size and mobility. This has to do with going online for research or distraction, too. And with me actually enjoying a real keyboard, not a virtual keyboard, like in example on many Tablet PC's.

I prefer paper books, hands down. They're just better.

I agree they are better, just harder to drag around. I never know when I get a chance to read.

I think they're fairly easy to drag around.

Melissa wrote: "I think they're fairly easy to drag around."

Until you need a half a dozen of them :)

I read a fairly even mix of both, until I go on vacation, at which point I go all electronic.

I see pros and cons in both, but I've started to prefer eBooks. I like the ease of searching for past content. I also like that I can have an entire library of options in a device that is easier to carry than a single, thick paperback book. Still, if I lose my paperback or drop it in a pool, I'm not going to be out a few hundred bucks.

I prefer reading a physical book to an e-book. Collectively, however, e-books have substantial advantages (immediate delivery, cheaper, zero storage space beyond the e-reader). I tend to buy e-books for fiction and physical copies for history (better for maps and photos etc and easier to refer to quickly).

Prefer real books, but ebooks are also great.
I don't think its an either/or

I'm more likely to pick up a print book. Of course, I don't own an e-reader, which is probably at least partly why.

Nothing beats a real book, but few people, including me, have unlimited bookshelf space.

Guy wrote: "Nothing beats a real book, but few people, including me, have unlimited bookshelf space."

Of course, that doesn't stop some of us.

Joel wrote: "Guy wrote: "Nothing beats a real book, but few people, including me, have unlimited bookshelf space."

Of course, that doesn't stop some of us."

I'm one of them Joel.