Charles Dickens wrote many of his novels in serial form and Arthur Connon Doyle did the same with the Sherlock Holmes stories. They weren’t the only ones. Serialised fiction was big when books were expensive, so the stories were published in a more affordable magazine format in easily digestible chunks that suited the newly literate working class with little time for such indulgences. It was much easier for an author to have his or her work published this way than in a full book form. Although this form of fiction grew out of the economic constraints of the publishing industry at the time, rather than for any literary or artistic reason, it created fiction that didn’t take the readers commitment to the story for granted, hence there was plenty of dramatic tension to keep you reading. One segment always ended with a hook to lead you into the next one, something to keep you wondering. The tradition faded when books became more affordable, but it re-emerged first in radio and then in … [Read more...]
The resurgence of shortstories – guest post & ebook give away
Today I have a guest post over at Supernatural Snark on The resurgence of shortstories If you leave a comment you'll be in the running for a free copy of A Matter of Perception. The giveaway runs untill Dec 31. … [Read more...]
To eread or not to eread, when, not if, is the question
There’s been a lot of speculation around about the future of paper books. Some say they will disappear, but some people still swear that they will never get an ereader. Realistically I think it’s pretty safe to say that print books will never disappear entirely, just as live music and theatre haven’t disappeared with the advent of electronic performances. Children will still learn to read on paper books and picture books and non-fiction will always be around in print – books on gardening, cooking and art for example. Paper books may even become a luxury item for those with the space to house them & money to afford them. Old books will become more valuable as their kind becomes rarer. However, if you’re reading fiction, it’s not a question on whether you’ll get an ereader but when. The trends that create the future are already here and the results will only be exacerbated as time goes on. Here’s why you’ll end up getting an ereader even if you think you won’t You choice of … [Read more...]
Why you need an ereader.
I’m going to tell it to you straight and you might not want to hear it, but here it is… you need an ebook reader. ‘Nah,’ you say. ‘I like real books. I like the way they smell and feel.’ You still need an ereader. “Nah,’ you say. ‘I don’t like looking at computer screens for long periods of time.’ Neither do I, but good ereaders don’t have back-lit computer screens; they have something called ‘e-ink’ that approximates normal print on paper. No backlit pixels to make your eyes sore. So, you still need an ereader. ‘Why?’ you say. ‘I’m perfectly happy with my print books’ Here’s why you need an ereader. The books are cheaper, and there’s masses that you can get free. Ones that are out of copyright & their authors dead ,and ones that authors are giving away to get a greater readership. Don’t even think about the pirated ones – that’s morally and legally wrong. An ereader gives you, via the internet, access to books that you would never have found before. You can support … [Read more...]
Review – Mercy by Joshua Grover-David Patterson
Wow, wow, wow. This book blew me away. When Joshua contacted me and asked for a review, I said that Zombie novels weren’t really my kind of thing, but I said I’d look at it, anyway. One of the reviews he showed me said the novel had heart and that appealed to me. But this book doesn’t just have heart, it has soul, it has meaning, it’s thought provoking and it’s deeply moving. The blurb says.. When Georgina Fulci’s plane crashes into the Atlantic, her troubles have just begun. Desperate to get home to her family, Georgina and a handful of survivors must find a way to escape an uncharted island… while fighting off hordes of the living dead. Mercy isn’t just another horror story with Zombies. It’s real people, fighting a real life problem (that just happens to be zombies) and dealing with the very real kind of issues that would come up for this particular group of characters that band together from chance, or is it, as Leroy would suggest, design. The story is written as journal … [Read more...]
Choosing an ebook reader.
This is the second post in a series on ebooks and ereaders. The first of this series was on the pros and cons of ebooks. Now let’s assume that you’ve decided to buy an ebook reader. The first thing you notice is that there’s a lot of different ones, they do different things, take different files and are different sizes. So how do you choose? First you need to know some basics. E-ink is the format you want for the screen, because anything backlit is the same as reading on a computer, ie hard on your eyes. Most of them are e-ink, but some cheaper ones aren’t. Not all ebook files are useable on all ereaders. The main ones are mobi files (can only be read on a Kindle unless you know a secret -see more below) and epub (can’t be read on a kindle). PDF’s are accepted by most readers but they do strange things format wise in many of them, so epub is becoming the industry standard for non Kindle readers. But if PDFs aren’t security protected, they can be changed into epub using a free … [Read more...]
The Pros and cons of ebooks
When I first heard about ebooks, I thought, ‘no, I’ll stick with paper and ink’. Like many readers, I couldn’t imagine snuggling up on the couch or in bed with a piece of electronic equipment. But now, I have an ebook reader and I do snuggle up with it. I also carry it in my handbag where the print sized copy just wouldn’t fit. Not only that, but I also buy a lot more books than I did before. What are the things we love about printed books? Books feel good to hold. Each one is a unique and tangible entity with a different weight, size, smell and texture. You can have them signed by the authors and look at their lovely covers. You can easily write notes on them ( in pencil of course) They show how much you love them by their dog ears and tatty covers. What’s the down side of print books? They cost quite a lot, fall apart, take up space ( do you ever have enough shelf space for your ever growing collection?), are heavy, ( have you tried traveling with a book or shifting house with … [Read more...]
