The Future of eBooks

Let me start out by saying that the future of eBooks (e-Books) has never been brighter. But there are many more stages of growth as well as hurdles to overcome. It is, however, the early adopters that gain and profit the most from new technology. And we are still in the early stages of eBooks being accepted as a common form of reading. 

The past has been full of many problems mostly due to consumers not accepting “eBooks” as a viable means to read a book. This in turn is most likely due to the fact that trying to read a book from your computer screen has been very difficult. But with improvements in technology and the advancement of eBook readers from the “Big Tech Players” we are about to enter into the digital age for reading. 

Many purists never thought we would be downloading music or movies from the internet, communicating via social networks or doing our banking online. It is the new generation that brings with them the “open mindedness” to embrace “everything digital.” 

eBooks are nothing new as they have been around in various formats for many years. You may not have heard much about them or ever read an eBook, but at some point in the near future you will likely do so. 

The problem to date for eBooks is that the quality of eBooks produced have been short of substance and quality. I am not talking about hard cover books that have been converted to eBooks, but rather the informational products that have been produced and sold by so-called experts.  

I still see that the success of eBooks will mostly be derived from “informational” eBooks that provide the reader with informative and useful information about that specific topic. This may be about dog training, how to play better tennis, how to make money online to how to become a successful day trader. 

Many of these informational eBooks can be found via Clickbank which has dominated the sale of eBooks and has allowed the average person to write and publish their own eBook. 

Amazon saw the potential for eBooks many years ago and as a result developed an eBook reader called “Kindle.” This eBook reader can connect wirelessly to an e-book store on Amazon's Web site. The problem with Kindle is that it is a stand alone reader with limitations.

The price to buy this reader also prevents many people from taking that next step. Amazon will find out that the greatest money to be made will come from selling eBooks as is the case with traditional books. 

Another major player is Sony who have partnered with E Ink, a provider of electronic paper display technologies, to create the Sony Reader for eBooks. 

Now these big players would have completed extensive research before spending valuable time, money and resources in developing these readers. So, it is hard to believe that they would enter the eBook market if they didn’t think they could make money from it. 

But there are still problems with eBooks and their growth such as which format should writers use. There is a battle going on with many “big players” as was the case with video recorders back in the 1980’s. Beta tapes or VHS? And recently with Blu-ray and HD-DVD.  

Eventually we will have one platform for reading all eBooks that are produced and published. We just haven’t seen who has won that battle yet. Once resolved - watch out! 

We still have issues with piracy and copyright of eBooks. But this hasn’t stopped the success and growth of buying music online or videos. There will always be people who steal, but this doesn’t mean we don’t advance. In the last few years I have seen significant advances in preventing the “sharing and illegal downloading” of eBooks. 

Benefits of eBooks include:

eBooks in schools: Students of all ages and levels will likely be using e-Books in the future due to its many benefits. Students will no longer have to carry heavy bags full of books and they can also store hundreds of books on one digital eBook reader. eBooks can also allow for greater interaction and can be tailored to fit each course. Not to mention having more functionality than the regular book. 

eBooks are environmentally friendly as they can reduce your carbon footprint. We can reduce the amount of paper wastage as eBooks are digital and unlike traditional books don’t require paper. Ebooks also save publishers money when it comes to transportation costs and the pollution associated with shipping traditional books from production to the retail store. 

eBooks save space. No longer do you need a big shelf to store books, you can have them all stored on one device thus reducing the need for more storage space in your home of office. 

Instant information: eBooks can be downloaded instantly which means the user and consumer gets that information to them within minutes. I recently purchased a book from Amazon which will take 8-10 weeks for delivery. Now, I am still a fan of the traditional book but I need that information now, not in 10 weeks! 

Audio-visual content inside ebooks - e-books have audio and video capabilities which provide unlimited opportunities. 

Ebooks can be hyper-linked, for easier access to additional information which provides many more additional benefits. Already, entrepreneurs add affiliate links to eBooks and then distribute their eBooks for free because they know that they will make money from being an affiliate marketer. This is a plus for both the author and reader. The reader gets the information they want for free and the author will make money via affiliate links. 

These links with-in eBooks can also enrich the content available to the reader as these links can direct the reader to further resources on the internet. Can you start to envision the potential of this for marketing purposes? 

Greater margins for publishers: when you write an eBook, you receive greater profits as you don’t have to pay for paper, storage, delivery or other charges the “middle man” takes. 

Ebooks are portable and as a result can they be taken anywhere. You can literally carry hundreds of “books” with you at one time. 

No shipping limitations: if you have a computer connected to the internet then you have the opportunity to buy or read an eBook. Everyone with a computer is a potential customer!
Ebooks are faster to produce than traditional paper books which in turn allow readers to read about current issues and events as they occur. 

Cost: eBooks will be cheaper to buy than traditional books due to their lower cost in producing the product. Publishers should not be scared off by this, but embrace it, and see that there is potential to make even greater margins with eBooks while cutting costs. 

One major benefit of eBooks is that they are easily updateable. Therefore authors and publishers can correct errors and as well as adding updates to eBooks if warranted without further cost. The consumer can just download an updated version for no extra cost if required. 

The Big eBook Players 

One big player I am waiting for to really jump on board is Apple. If Apple were to designate the same resources and also apply the same principles to the digitalization of books as they did to music, then we would certainly see a very quick rise in the uptake of eBooks. There are already many rumours as to what Apple are developing with regards to an eBook reader. As they say; “watch this space!” 

Steve Jobs, the brains behind Apple, doesn’t say that Apple isn’t interested in eBooks, he’s just saying that Apple isn’t interested in making a stand-alone eBook reader such as Amazon’s Kindle. 

On a final note, it is best summed by stating that once eBook reader screens and more user friendly eBook readers are created then consumers will start to adopt this technology. It will occur, but when exactly is most likely to be determined by when we have one reader for all eBooks rather than stand alone eBook readers. 

E-books and electronic reading have already gone mainstream and we are just at the start of our next boom in digital media. 

The potential and opportbities with eBooks are unlimited. 

By David Horne

David has been involved in the eBook industry for many years and saw the potential for eBooks way back in the early stages. David owns many eBook stores and frequently speaks about eBooks and the future of eBooks in our society. As an eBook author and publisher, David has sold his eBooks throughout the world and experienced first hand the challenges faced when it comes to bringing eBooks into mainstream society.

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