An interesting article, though not at all what I expected. I thought it would contain some deep thoughts on the design of ebooks.
Well, it's early days, but it seems to me that those who design ebooks for the big-time publishers just haven't got it yet.
The essence is SPEED. Someone emails you about a book, you find a link to it, you click on sample (if you're smart), and within 30-60 seconds it's arrived.
And then what? Well, if it's a HarperC or Random or some such, you get lots of prelim pages, as if this was a goddam printed book. It isn't. So shove all that copyright and thanks to my wunnerful wife and agent and all that crap to the back, where it can be ignored as it normally is.
Cut to the STORY, for goodness sake. Title, author (to prove you've got the right book), and then chapter 1, line 1.
Like so much else that the big-time publishers do at present (notably pricing), they're getting it all wrong.
An interesting article, though not at all what I expected. I thought it would contain some deep thoughts on the design of ebooks.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's early days, but it seems to me that those who design ebooks for the big-time publishers just haven't got it yet.
The essence is SPEED. Someone emails you about a book, you find a link to it, you click on sample (if you're smart), and within 30-60 seconds it's arrived.
And then what? Well, if it's a HarperC or Random or some such, you get lots of prelim pages, as if this was a goddam printed book. It isn't. So shove all that copyright and thanks to my wunnerful wife and agent and all that crap to the back, where it can be ignored as it normally is.
Cut to the STORY, for goodness sake. Title, author (to prove you've got the right book), and then chapter 1, line 1.
Like so much else that the big-time publishers do at present (notably pricing), they're getting it all wrong.