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the book is a “practice” — a collection of social and economic and
artistic activities — and not an “object.” Viewing the book as a
“practice” instead of an object is a pretty radical notion, and it begs
the question: Just what the hell is a book? Good question. I write
all of my books in a text-editor [TEXT EDITOR SCREENGRAB]
(BBEdit, from Barebones Software — as fine a text-editor as I
could hope for). From there, I can convert them into a formatted
two-column PDF [TWO-UP SCREENGRAB]. I can turn them
into an HTML file [BROWSER SCREENGRAB]. I can turn them
over to my publisher, who can turn them into galleys, advanced
review copies, hardcovers, and paperbacks. I can turn them over
to my readers, who can convert them to a bewildering array of
formats [DOWNLOAD PAGE SCREENGRAB]. Brewster Kahle’s
Internet Bookmobile can convert a digital book into a four-color,
full-bleed, perfect-bound, laminated-cover, printed-spine paper
book in ten minutes, for about a dollar. Try converting a paper
book to a PDF or an html file or a text file or a Rocketbook or
a printout for a buck in ten minutes! It’s ironic, because one of
the frequently cited reasons for preferring paper to ebooks is
that paper books confer a sense of ownership of a physical object.
Before the dust settles on this ebook thing, owning a paper book
is going to feel less like ownership than having an open digital
edition of the text.
4. Ebooks are a better deal for writers. [Ebooks are a better deal
for writers] The compensation for writers is pretty thin on the
ground.
Amazing
Stories,
Hugo
Gernsback’s
original
science
fiction magazine, paid a couple cents a word. Today, science
fiction magazines pay…a couple cents a word. The sums involved
are so minuscule, they’re not even insulting: they’re
quaint
and
historical,
like the WHISKEY 5 CENTS sign over the bar at a
pioneer village. Some writers do make it big, but they’re
rounding
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