On a certain list of which I am a member, there has been a discussion ongoing for the last few days. This evening, I sent this letter that has not yet made it past the list administrator. The message bears repeating for those of you not on that list who would never see it anyhow.
I said,
The trouble with “e-books” is that the term means something different to everyone. Some people equate them with books read on a Kindle or some other, small and expensive machine with a small screen, in black and white.
To me, e-book (electronic book) means a full-length book with many large, color photos, that has been well-researched, and prints out on regular 8 1/2″ x 11″ typing paper. The consumer can print one page, or 125 pages, or 355 pages, etc.
The pages have been converted to a pdf document and that is why the computer that is used to “read” it, must have Adobe Reader software. Most all PCs have that already installed today, but if you have an ancient model, then it is simple enough for even the most computer-illiterate person to download the latest version of Adobe software.
I love e-book publishing. If I put a comma in the wrong place, or if someone I have interviewed requests a change in a quote, I can just go to the original document, make the change, and generate a brand new pdf from which to burn future discs. If the typo was in a print book, it would last forever, in all 10,000 copies, or whatever the run was.
I make sure, to the best of my knowledge, that everything I present in writing is 100% correct. I like to be my own “vetting” committee, and I would not like major changes to a work that I have toiled so hard to round up all the facts to present the total picture.
Since the mid-1980s, I have been quilting. Moreover, I have collected every quilt book I have ever come across. I don’t need another pattern. In fact, when I think about re-creating anyone else’s work these days, I think again and then put on my thinking cap to create a unique design of my own.
When one is a beginner, one emulates others. When one is advanced, he/she has the skills and freedom to make a quilt of his/her own. So, for me, the addition of quilt patterns and nauseating how-to instructions for quilting, in quilt books I might buy today, are a waste of paper and a waste of my time. If there was a pattern I truly felt I wanted to re-create, I’d draft it myself.
To make this message a little longer, I just heard from another person who has my new quilt care book that is greatly expanded. She loves the e-book format and the left side bar that has thumbnail views of all the pages.
She loves being able to click on chapter headings to go directly to the chapter, and she loves the word search function. She had read the print version from 2005 and said that with all the additional photos, graphics and content in the 2009 e-book, Straight Talk About Quilt Care II, it is the difference of night and day, according to her.
Books, traditionally, were considered to be 100 pages or more. Many of the “books” published today are so thin, they disappear on my bookshelves, never to see the light of day again. Without a “perfect binding” that carries a title, they are simply lost.
There are lots of reasons to like traditional books, and many reasons why I will never publish anything but e-books again. I can include all the information I want without being worried about somebody’s bottom line, financially. I can be my own “print on demand” publisher, and I can have control over my own work. For an independent Yankee, like me, those features are a draw. In fact, now that I’ve seen Paradise, I’d never go back to the ghetto.
Patricia Cummings, author of three unique e-books
Quilter’s Muse Publications
