"I saw you walking down the street the other day and it looked like you were reading on an e-reader," more than one customer has said to me, or, catching sight of it behind the counter, "Is that one of those e-book things?" Pause. Sometimes I think I see worry in their faces. Just what is going on in this crazy world when a bookstore manager reads e-books in public? Am I deserting the world of the book?
I won a Sony Reader 505 in a contest (thanks, Unbridled Books!) about a month ago, and the experience has been half eye-opening, half boring. You can read about it here, but in this column, I want to go into depth about the most eye-opening part of the experience for me: the many great conversations I've had with customers about it, about e-books, about books in general, and ultimately, about the future of books, reading, authors and bookstores.
We're surrounded by book news constantly, so it's easy to forget that 95% of the people who walk in your store know almost nothing about e-books. They might have seen an article in Newsweek (or, just as likely, on newsweek.com) or have a gadget-head friend who bought a Kindle. If they live in New York, they've probably seen ads for the Kindle on the subway. Most of what they're hearing is from technology writers (very positive, if a bit hesitant, towards e-readers) and advertising from the companies themselves (nothing but positive). Odds are that your bookstore is one of the first places a person might have a real conversation about e-reading. Here are a few tips based on the many conversations I've been having:
Basic: What is the difference between the e-readers?
For now, there are basically two e-readers, the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader. The most important difference is that while the Sony Reader can read a number of formats and you can buy e-books from a number of places to read on it, you can buy books for the Kindle only on Amazon. Some people I've talked to who own Kindles did not realize this when they bought them and say they might not have purchased them had they known. To me, the Kindle is comparable to iPod if Apple required you to listen only to music that you bought in the iTunes store--and you could listen to them only on your iPod.
There are more differences than that, of course. Here are a few articles--in the Christian Science Monitor, Speed Reader and Wired--that go into more detail. There are also a few other cheaper devices that have just made their debuts or are about to, and most smartphones (iPhone, G1, Palm Pre, etc.) have the capability to display books. But I've noticed that the Kindle and the Sony Reader are the focus of most of these conversations, which usually segues into:
Intermediate: How do I buy e-books? Should I buy an e-reader?
People are usually surprised to hear that if they buy a Sony Reader, they can continue to support independent bookstores by buying e-books online. If you have an e-commerce site run by the ABA, you sell e-books. (It's a sweet deal for you, too--no need to order or ship anything, the customer downloads the book and you get a cut.) I've found the majority of people have no idea that independent bookstores and e-reading are compatible. This is not only a great opportunity to change your customers' minds about you and e-books, it's also a good time to show off your website!
However, right now, I tell customers not to buy an e-reader--simply because the technology isn't as good as it should be to justify the price, even for the newer and cheaper brands. They're going to get much better and much cheaper in the next five years. Early adapters won't care, but I think most people would rather spend the $300 and more on something else in the meantime, maybe even a couple dozen trade paperbacks.
Advanced: DRM, pricing and the future of reading
E-book owners and those who know a lot about e-books often talk about DRM, or digital rights management, which is the mechanism most publishers use to keep their e-books from being pirated. People understand that publishers want to protect their books, but the way it's implemented irritates e-book readers. (DRM could be the focus of a separate article. If you agree, e-mail me.) The Wikipedia article about DRM is probably the best source online about it.
Another conversation I've had a few times is about how much e-books costs. It might seem cheap to us and to publishers, but it feels different on the other side of the counter. Even though $9.99 (the somewhat standard price Amazon has been setting) seems little compared to physical books' prices and even though I'm aware that most of the cost of a book is the creation of it rather than the printing, most e-books are ugly, and as we learned last week, you don't even necessary own them, and $9.99 feels steep. Most people don't think about how many people you have to pay to get one finished book. Why would they? So it's an interesting conversation to have.
And, of course, the future of reading. I've talked about it with my customers way more lately than I ever had before, and I've loved that my store has been the place where we've talked about it.
I doubt you'll always have this conversation: some people will bring up e-books to tell you that they can never picture reading them and about 80% mention the smell of books as a primary factor in their decision. Resist the urge to leap the counter and hug them (so far, I have just barely done so). Most other people are just curious. They just want to know a bit more. Make your store the best place for them to do so.
--Stephanie Anderson, who may be reached at Stephanie AT wordbrooklyn DOT com.