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Do you use an e-reader?

I’ll have to say, I was reluctant about joining the e-reader stampede.  There’s nothing like the feel of a book in your hand, is there?  And how can you trade it or loan it to a friend?  And what about the thrill of buying a great used book for pennies on the dollar?

But last May, I took the plunge and bought a Kindle. My first purchase?  “This Time Together” by Carol Burnett.  Since then, I’ve added over thirty other books, magazine subscriptions and a game (Monopoly!).

Kindle did not remove print books from my life (ask my husband).  I still buy, borrow, trade and collect as many print books as before.  But taking a Kindle along on a trip is amazing!  Books and the latest Reader’s Digest are at my fingertips.  I play long games of Monopoly while I wait for my husband to get out of work.  Co-workers want to know what I have and do I like it?

Yes, I was converted.

I never knew how much I depended on it until last Friday (reader alert – traumatic details ahead).  I carry my Kindle in a cloth carrier, hand woven by nice ladies in Guatemala.  It has a velcro fastening and a long cord for its handle.  99.5% of the time, the cord is tangled around my purse handle.  They’re inseparable.   Except Friday.  Except for that terrible .5% and that black night of loss.

Let’s put it this way – Kindles do not make good doorstops.

There was a sickening crunch sound and the screen went dead.  DOA.  Kaput!  No more.  <sniff>

The warranty only applies if you don’t mash it between the car door and seat.

What did I do?  Well, this is a family oriented blog, so I’ll spare you the details, except there was some grovelling involved.  A new order was made (we’ll worry about payments later) and -

TA! DA!

Meet Sampson, my new Kindle.  Fitter, trimmer, easier to use.  Bullet proof (claims of unusual ballistics ability are disavowed by Amazon).  The best part of the bittersweet tale?  Amazon archives my purchases.  All I had to do was connect to the internet and SHAZAM! my books were back, including the one I’d been reading at the time of the tragedy – “The Girl Who Played With Fire.”

Thank you, Amazon.  You’re scary, but you’re good.

Do you have an e-reader tale?  Have you taken the plunge yet?  If so, why not?

iPad’s iBookstore has inked a deal with Smashwords and Lulu, two of the more popular self-publishing services.  Unpublished authors (and published seeking a larger percentage of the traditional cover price) are lining up to self-publish through their services in the iBookstore starting April 3rd, the launch date of Apple’s iPad.

In an email leaked to Smashwords’ clients, details emerged.  The price must end with .99 cents, the total price must be lower than any paper edition (if one exists), the cover must be at least 600 px and the book must have a unique ISBN (Smashwords is helping with this.)  Apple gets 30%, Smashwords gets 10% and the author receives the remaining 60%.  This is far more lucrative than the 35% for publishing on the Kindle and 4-8% for paper books.

iPad is also offering free downloads of public domain titles from Project Gutenberg.

The line has been drawn in the war to come.  The question is – who will be the winner?  I’m hoping it will be the reader and the author, but time will tell in this volatile industry.

For my friends in the Northeast, stay dry.

I’ll be back on Monday with tips to clean up your writing. Mary takes over until then.

Cheryl