The Raging Debate of Print Vs. Digital: Can They Co-Exist, Yes and Maybe.
Archive for September, 2012
The Raging Debate of Print Vs. Digital: Can They Co-Exist, Yes and Maybe
Posted: September 26, 2012 in E-Book Publishing, Print Vs. DigitalTags: digital, e-publihing, print
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Enter the World of The Méxican Rose: Rosa Ríos Suspense and Romance Crime Thriller
Posted: September 23, 2012 in Amazon.com Author Biography, Dystopian Societies, Mexican Cartel Crime Thriller, Rosa Rios Romance Crimethriller, The Mexican Rose: House Of Cartels TrilogyTags: Alex St. Clair, amazon.com, Caribbean, cartels, Cuernavaca, Mayan, Mexico, smugglers
Synopsis to The Méxican Rose (A Rosa Rios Romance Crime Thriller)
Posted: September 22, 2012 in UncategorizedTable Of Contents to The Méxican Rose, A Rosa Ríos Suspense and Romance Crime Thriller
Posted: September 14, 2012 in Uncategorized
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The Raging Debate of Print Vs. Digital: Can They Co-Exist, Yes and Maybe
Posted: September 12, 2012 in E-Book Publishing
Do you lay awake at night pondering whether the Age of Digital Enlightenment will swallow up the precious printed book, magazine and newspaper? Well while that question was answered somewhat years ago by sagging revenues and print readership, but the monolithic big print publishers in their over-reaching and over-arching zealousness were left in denial like a bride in waiting, thinking their groom could never, would never abandon them. Then a bridesmaid who didn´t show in order to save money made an appearance on an iPad and there you have it.
That imperfect picture moment spoke volumes and not just a thousand words as in the times of yore. I for one was a steadfast defender of vinyl records as they made the leap to CDs and then to laptops. Such is not the story of The Digital Revolution but rather the New Industrial Evolution.
Yes, there are two schools of thought but with the recent war of words and lawsuits between book publishers’ suits and the Justice Department, the debate has ratcheted up higher than the ongoing Presidential Election. The old versus the new. In that what many people fail to see or get is the billions of younger newbies that are part of the evolution coupled with the sense that we can´t keep cutting down trees faster than we can grow them and we can´t keep expanding the carbon footprint to do all that shipping of bulky books, thick monthly magazines and daily newspapers that go to the dump or kitty litter box. I for one LOVE the feel of a book in my hand but I also understand that we have evolved for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do we part.
I spend so much time on my DELL laptop that has seen thousands of miles of travel and cyber light years at this stage of my writing career, I feel like a dinosaur. I finally analyzed that reading my first printed books to the first cross-country trips I took as a young photographer and aspiring writer. In my brand new Ford F 250 Camper Special I drove from Texas to California throughout the beautiful Southwest and Rockies. That same truck took me to Guatemala for one of the most memorable trips ever in my career. But alas even that has changed and age and the times make flying or train the best travel mode.
And so it goes…I now download my books to my Kindle app and read away. I have published The Mexican Rose on Amazon to boot to prove that yes, I can be a published author even if I get rejected by the Big Five publishing Houses.
My point is that printed books will never die but will be like an occasional road trip. The younger jet set generation will opt to fly, to quench that instant gratification and simply rent a car at their destination like an Amazon Prime Member checking out a Free download from their OMG Library.
The saying used to be ´Change or Die´and the publishing houses are now luring those big name authors with lucrative contracts but you know what? The New York Times now has the E Books Best Seller Lists. And btw, is trying to stay afloat by charging for digital subscriptions like most newspapers but with the likes of the Huffington Post working with and at the same time competing with their allies. Salon.com came out a decade or more ago, barely survived but like the eco´friendly energy sources of wind and solar is managing to stay alive while we all know eventually our planetary citizens will say enough is enough and we must ´Change or Die´.
I don´t know if maintaining server farms will be more efficient but that is the keyword here: EFFICIENT. Less paper, more trees, less shipping, more space, more automation and yes, fewer jobs or new jobs in new fields. We MUST adapt. So the transition for this generation will be the challenges of placing people into this new Digital Evolution.
My next writing project will be delving into the Luddites of 1812, who opposed the automated weaving machines that pushed England into the Industrial Revolution and left so many people behind for a brief period. Somehow the world survived. It evolved. My question is: Will this be the moment of truth for the publishing world to finally embrace the Digital Evolution? I think we can all co-exist but the monolithic hold and greed that the publishing houses once had have finally met ‘The Writers’ Spring’.
Corazón E-Books 