Don’t get me wrong. I myself have done it and will be doing it again, hopefully some time soon in the near future. So this question is only of an academic nature, simply a theoretical exercise. Now that the cryptic introduction/disclaimer is in place, let me get to the matter.
We write /publish books to be read and be appreciated, right? And we ARE read and appreciated on our blogs or online sites. So instead of increasing the base here itself, why are we so interested in getting our writing into print form? I know I have got this all wrong. There is the moolah involved of course, that will make you a rich writer. But suppose we take that away from the equation, what then? Would that tilt it in favor of online writing? Or will being read in print still have the upper hand over being read online? If so, why? How does it matter to you as a writer how you are read, as long as you are read and appreciated?
Let us also assume for the sake of this exercise that people are willing to read you online and that everyone has tablets/kindles/laptops/smart phones, et al. THEN, in such a scenario, will we be happy writing online and stop yearning to see our writing in print? Would we writers begin to be content with being ‘famous’ as just online writers? Or is the romance and lure of the printed book so strong that we will still want print books in our names? If so, why? Is it because we have always seen authors in print? Is it a matter of the charm of the familiar?
Yes I know I left another important factor out. The smell and feel of paper which is an important part of the reading experience for many. But then that is the readers’ side of the equation, not the writers’. We have moved from the orally transmitted words to those carved on stone walls, written on leaves, then cloth, paper and now to electronic medium. Did every stage face the resistance when it tried moving to the next? Is ours also nothing but a form of resistance, a valiant attempt to retain what’s familiar and ward off the unfamiliar?
I know that in spite of the disclaimer I have put up there I am still going to draw some flak, “Oh so now she thinks book publishing is passé, huh?” being one of them. Of course it is nothing of the sort. It is my habit to simply speculate on the most unlikeliest of things. Sigh. The life of someone who thinks things differently from those around her is not easy at all, especially when you see your thoughts being chewed and spat out in a totally distorted and unrecognizable form by brains running on run-of-the-mill technology, missing the point and emphasis by miles altogether. Ahh well, one takes risks and I sure have taken one here today. But then again, at least this is not a comment left on some blog page or other where it can be misinterpreted and cause offence. Thank God for small mercies. 😉
Shail's Nest 
My soul sister :)… I get “It is my habit to simply speculate on the most unlikeliest of things.” I have these long conversations with my invisible twin for the same reason. I like to write when the words are too many to stay within the confines of my head and I feel the need to spill it out yet not burden the listeners to my monologue. Before blogs it used to be notebooks that no one ever read but was proof of the fact that I did think those things. I think, I am more of a reader than a writer, or maybe I am more of a thinker. Hmm.. its a tossup between reader and thinker. 🙂 And yes, I like the smell of paper, I think that’s my love for the tree translated.
I don’t have an invisible twin, but I have those conversations anyway, Soul Sister. 😉
I love to write, and it doesn’t matter to me whether it is on line or on paper. Ebooks are fine!
http://pilatesandreiki.com/diastasis-recti-pilates/
Good to hear that. Thank you. 🙂
I’m glad I stopped by here today … Thanks for reminding me to remember why we start writing in the first place! (Come on by if you have time: http://wp.me/p2HRe7-1bw)
Welcome to Shail’s Nest. Will hop over, thank you.
To me, the only part about actually being printed and published on paper is the money part. At least in India, today, when the physical book rules the roost, and e books and e readers are yet to catch up, the only way a writer can make any money is by having a book published and on the shelves of the book stores.
Well, I have actually taken those factors away before asking the question 😉
Any writer would like his/her works to reach as many people as possible.
If revenue is not one of the motives, a writer may want to have both electronic and paper versions, but the cost of publishing may discourage him/her from having a paper version.
If revenue is one of the motives, it’s probably necessary to have a paper version.
Do you think the preference for paper is because of resistance to change, if all other things were equal?
At least in India, paper reading (newspapers, magazines, novels, etc.) is still dominant compared to e-reading. Hence, a writer who wants to reach more people has to go in for ‘paper writing’.
The reading habit has lost a lot of ground to television, youtube, etc..
I will tell you at the outset… I am finding it really difficult to read books these days coz I am so addicted to the laptop. I used to read a lot but since Internet my reading books has gone down. However, I must confess that what I read online are mostly short articles and never long e books.
secondly I do think that reading on the computer is a little more taxing for my eyes than reading a book!
Regarding whether books will also wear out like the stone, leaf, cloth writings… I dunno really. I think those were not as good an option as the books/paper and now with the printing happening in huge numbers the chances of the text getting extinct are lesser too… plus u can have a digital back up!!
So if you ask me… there will be peaceful co-existence!
A lot of people, especially the new gen, read on smart phones/laptops/kindle without any problem. And kindle is really easy on the eye too.
And as for your point that the rock/cloth were not good options, I have a counter argument. Even paper book is not a good option when compared to e-books. One can carry huge book(s), thousands of them in fact, a whole library, in just one small electronic device. isn’t that an advantage? Don’t you see a future human saying the same thing about paper books, that you do now about leaves/cloth?
I don’t foresee it as much..
and I don’t mean carrying books together… oh certainly a whole library can be carried in a laptop surely… I just meant that as the cloth/rocks went obsolete… perhaps books might not!
however… we will have to live another 2000 years to actually see if that happens or not! 😛
I think most writers get a thrill of seeing their name printed o n paper which makes them write….e books are not so popular in India na? And like Mahabore says the money is in printed books
R’s Mom, why do they get that thrill is the question? You are forgetting the hypothetical situation I have outlined. 😉
As of now, we have kind of seen the both worlds, ebook and paperback. I love the touch of the books. I used to read pirated ebooks in college because I didnt have money to buy the books or managed to buy second hand books. Now as I work, I buy paper backs not ebooks. This is because, I do not yet own a gadget other than a pc in which I can read a book. So I haven’t explored the option of ebooks fully yet.
Having said that, I think it has to do with the fact that for most of the writers today it has been paper back first and then the new age ebook. It has been paper back for the most part of their lives. It is paper back which was the initial love. It is paper back through which they fell in love with various authors and in some corner of their heart nurtured a wish to see their names alongside. Thus in short plain emotional reasons and as you rightly put a ‘valiant attempt to retain what’s familiar and ward off the unfamiliar’, an effort to be with the familiar which they love as long as time doesn’t make it obsolete.
I am so glad someone understood what I was saying 😉
Yeah, I think that is the reason too. The next couple of generations might see a shift though. I myself find Kindle really good and have stopped buying paper books.
Holding a book gives one kicks
but if the e-(re)volution has its fix
books might fall like a ton of bricks
but with us they’ll always be as does our coccyx..
How long before the e-revolution makes it obsolete? 🙂
I think its that feeling of accomplishment…
And I don’t think books will ever become obsolete.
Is that because you love paper-books? I believe someone said some years back that computers will have no use and will never be popular and look where we are 😉
LOL! I don’t mean it like that..:P
But, yes.. I love actual books to ebooks.
But I do read and enjoy ebooks as well!! 😀
😀 😀
To get a truly objective view, sans the nostalgia of paper books that most of us fall prey to, I feel you should ask this question from a person who had been reading books on computers / smartphones / kindle right from the beginning.
You do make a valid point when comparing books to cloth books and palm leaves – I was a die hard book fan… till I got my first kindle a few months back. Now, I read all my books on the kindle. the migration has been, so to say, seamless.
However, there is one thing that the paper print provides to the author … an ego massage (come on – let us admit it… we all have it!) … 🙂 , seeing one’s name on a book on a bookshelf – either in a library or in a book shop is far more appealing than being aware that one has written a book 9as is the case for an online author). Just as the feeling of fame for a screen actor is far more than fame for a script writer.
Objective views come from minds that can view objectively, not by asking only a certain section. 🙂 By the way I have made the transition to Kindle seamlessly too.
Quoting you: “seeing one’s name on a book on a bookshelf – either in a library or in a book shop is far more appealing than being aware that one has written a book 9as is the case for an online”
That is exactly the foundation on which this post has been built 🙂 So let us move forward and try to answer the question, why people *consider* it ‘far more appealing’?
Do read Simple Girl’s comment above that answers this question.