There are tons of people out there who are still resistant to the ereader. A lot of people I talk to have written ereaders off as a passing fad. To them books you can hold in your hand and smell are the ONLY way to read. I have to admit a year ago I was one of those people. I bucked the idea of losing my book case and all of the beautiful books it contained, but last year I took the ereader plunge. I felt like I really didn't have a choice because more and more advanced copy books were coming out as ebooks. Sites like NETGALLEY and GALLY GRAB allow more bloggers/book reviews to get their hands on advanced copies, but the catch is you have to read them on the computer, tablet or ereader.
At first, I felt like the Kobo ereader I purchased was just another screen to stare at and I would HATE it, but then as I started to cart the little thing around I noticed it had some advantages.
1.) It's smaller which also means lighter.
I am a pediatric special needs nurse, which means the children I care for go to school. Now, I'm only there for their medical needs, but their educational needs are met by the teaching staff. So, while I'm sitting with them in ART, MUSIC, GYM ect. I need something to do. Sure I help out, but I want them to be independent, so I have to make myself busy. What's great about the ereader in this situation is that I can take it everywhere! I have like 300 books on mine right now. If I open one and start to read it and it's just not holding my attention, I have 299 more to pick from in one tiny little machine. No more of taking only one book with you and then you hate it. Cool right?
2.) Nobody knows what you are reading.
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| ARC I'm currently reading |
I kind of like that. If you've been to my site before you know I primarily read young adult books. Which I'm not embarrassed about at all, but sometimes it's hard to explain to snooty literary types that you're an adult reading a teen book. Some people think it's weird. *insert eye roll here* So to avoid literary arguments about what other people think I should read, I just don't tell them it's YA. I tell them the basic plot instead. Sneaky, I know.
3.) Advanced copies galore!
If you are a new book reviewer and you are wondering how I get so many ARCs (
check this post here), I want you to know that 60% of what I read is now ebooks. A few of publishers, authors and publicist still send me actual printed books, but a lot of them are starting to branch out into ebooks. I really like digital galleys--retty much because of reason number one. When you get books sent to you, some of them may not necessarily be what you would pick to read on your own. You may find 20-50 pages into a novel that it just isn't for you.
4.) Self Published Works
This is a really big one for me right now. There are a TON of undiscovered jewels out there in self-published land. Several of these books have been agented before, which means it's not that they aren't wonderful novels, just means publishers didn't feel the book would sell in the current market. Look at authors like Amanda Hockings. She has a huge following and I've always wanted to read her series. With an ereader I can totally do that. I bought
MY BLOOD APPROVES for only 99cents! Insane, right? You can't even buy a pack of gum for that price. I'm much more willing to gambleon an unhyped book for under 2 bucks! I think epublishing is going to change up the industry and allow more unknown authors to get discovered. Here are a few other kick ass ones I've found so far:
(If you don't have a kindle you can buy self published novels from
Smashwords with just about any ereader)
5.) Buying Digitally
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| Purchased Tuesday! |
With crazy high gas prices and my nearest bookstore being 20 miles away, buying digitally is a big sell. If I want a book all I have to do is go to a site that sells ebooks (
Borders,
Barnes&Noble,
Amazon and
Books on Board) and purchase it from there. After a few clicks it's magically in my digital library. And I didn't even leave the house. Pretty awesome!! Can't beat shopping in your pajamas!
I think I'm pretty much a digital reader lover now. With all the perks I can overlook the fact that much book shelf may eventually be a thing of the past.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Shout them out!
Happy Reading!
Annie
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