Comments on: E-books and Martin Seymour-Smith: What to buy (and not to buy) at the Sony e-book store http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:01:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: David Mitchell http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-718360 David Mitchell Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:41:44 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-718360 MSS's Guide to World Literature is one of my favourite books. It has influenced me probably more than any other book because it has lead me to some works I would never have thought to read (like the great Japanese novelists). I own a copy and it IS well thumbed and falling apart. Thanks for publicising this great work by this great (and underrated) man (who's poetry is also fantastic) MSS’s Guide to World Literature is one of my favourite books. It has influenced me probably more than any other book because it has lead me to some works I would never have thought to read (like the great Japanese novelists). I own a copy and it IS well thumbed and falling apart.

Thanks for publicising this great work by this great (and underrated) man (who’s poetry is also fantastic)

]]> By: Robert Nagle http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-506696 Robert Nagle Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:15:18 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-506696 The sony connect titles I downloaded didn't seem particularly well formatted. I think the public domain titles on Mobileread's upload section were formatted much better. Then again, a year has gone by and community tools have improved significantly since then. The problem has always been tailoring content to devices--that adds to the price of the ebook. BookDesigner has helped on that regard. The sony connect titles I downloaded didn’t seem particularly well formatted. I think the public domain titles on Mobileread’s upload section were formatted much better. Then again, a year has gone by and community tools have improved significantly since then.

The problem has always been tailoring content to devices–that adds to the price of the ebook. BookDesigner has helped on that regard.

]]> By: Margaret http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-505492 Margaret Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:39:36 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-505492 epress-online was one of the very small publishers accepted by Sony but we came to a halt when we got to the $200 per title conversion fee. But, Fictionwise is now adding the .lrf to their multi-format books. Yay! Not sure how they are ordering the conversions but I notice at least some of our books have been done. How good the conversions are is another question. epress-online was one of the very small publishers accepted by Sony but we came to a halt when we got to the $200 per title conversion fee. But, Fictionwise is now adding the .lrf to their multi-format books. Yay! Not sure how they are ordering the conversions but I notice at least some of our books have been done.
How good the conversions are is another question.

]]> By: Dan http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-496976 Dan Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:57:54 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-496976 Great post! I really like your idea of an e-book version of Martin Seymour-Smith’s New Guide to Modern World Literature. I'm not familiar with that book, but I've often thought that I'd love to have an e-book of Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia. I looked at the Sony Reader, but I wouldn't seriously consider buying one. It lacks two of the features I find most useful about e-books: (1) the ability to instantly look up words in outstanding dictionaries that would be too heavy to carry around and (2) the ability to search the e-book text (who was this character again?). Mobipocket's features can't be beat, and the Palm eReader is great for its simplicity. I've got the Concise Oxford and a slew of Spanish and French dictionaries for Mobipocket, and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged for eReader. I can't imagine why Sony marketed a reader without similar features, unless they're planning to try to get today's customers to upgrade to a more advanced model next year . . . would Sony do something like that? :-) Great post! I really like your idea of an e-book version of Martin Seymour-Smith’s New Guide to Modern World Literature. I’m not familiar with that book, but I’ve often thought that I’d love to have an e-book of Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia.

I looked at the Sony Reader, but I wouldn’t seriously consider buying one. It lacks two of the features I find most useful about e-books: (1) the ability to instantly look up words in outstanding dictionaries that would be too heavy to carry around and (2) the ability to search the e-book text (who was this character again?).

Mobipocket’s features can’t be beat, and the Palm eReader is great for its simplicity. I’ve got the Concise Oxford and a slew of Spanish and French dictionaries for Mobipocket, and Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged for eReader. I can’t imagine why Sony marketed a reader without similar features, unless they’re planning to try to get today’s customers to upgrade to a more advanced model next year . . . would Sony do something like that? :-)

]]> By: Rob Preece http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-490067 Rob Preece Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:00:24 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-490067 <p>Thanks for the post, Robert.</p> <p>Just an information bit on Sony vs. Mobipocket. Sony did actively solicit small publishers. Unfortunately, they require that all books be converted to their format by a third party conversion company that imposes significant fees. Many small publishers (including BooksForABuck.com) decided that these fees were prohibitive. In contrast, Mobipocket offers free software to create Mobipocket eBooks. I do understand Sony's wish to be sure that their eBooks have a consistent high quality and truly don't believe their strategy had the intent of excluding small publishers. It may have, however, had this effect.</p> <p>Rob Preece<br /> Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com</p> Thanks for the post, Robert.

Just an information bit on Sony vs. Mobipocket. Sony did actively solicit small publishers. Unfortunately, they require that all books be converted to their format by a third party conversion company that imposes significant fees. Many small publishers (including BooksForABuck.com) decided that these fees were prohibitive. In contrast, Mobipocket offers free software to create Mobipocket eBooks. I do understand Sony’s wish to be sure that their eBooks have a consistent high quality and truly don’t believe their strategy had the intent of excluding small publishers. It may have, however, had this effect.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com

]]> By: Carol Jurd http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-488741 Carol Jurd Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:09:02 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-488741 The comments about costs sound remarkably similar to my usual whinges about music downloads - why pay the same for a download as a printed book or a CD? Especially if DRM'ed and not portable. Sony seems also to have completely missed the point of digital publishing - it is much easier to distribute those academic and more obscure volumes this way, therefore avoiding large print runs which may take years to sell. Naxos Music do this with their vast classical catalog, and do it very well! The all time best sellers are books that keep on going for years (Dickens, Agatha Christie?) not necessarily the quick sell fashionable ones. The comments about costs sound remarkably similar to my usual whinges about music downloads - why pay the same for a download as a printed book or a CD? Especially if DRM’ed and not portable. Sony seems also to have completely missed the point of digital publishing - it is much easier to distribute those academic and more obscure volumes this way, therefore avoiding large print runs which may take years to sell. Naxos Music do this with their vast classical catalog, and do it very well!
The all time best sellers are books that keep on going for years (Dickens, Agatha Christie?) not necessarily the quick sell fashionable ones.

]]> By: Alan Wallcraft http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-488504 Alan Wallcraft Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:43:54 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-488504 If rights do typically revert to an author's estate, then the estate of any significant author who is unlikely to be republished (certainly true of most non-fiction) should consider giving worldwide, non-exclusive, rights to Project Gutenberg or even putting the works in the public domain. If rights do typically revert to an author’s estate, then the estate of any significant author who is unlikely to be republished (certainly true of most non-fiction) should consider giving worldwide, non-exclusive, rights to Project Gutenberg or even putting the works in the public domain.

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.org/blog/2007/08/06/ebooks-and-martin-seymour-smith-what-to-buy-and-not-to-buy-at-the-sony-ebook-store/#comment-488401 David Rothman Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:52:51 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6922#comment-488401 Great post, Robert. I hope Sony takes in the right way. If not, that's Sony's problem, not yours. David (who loves content-related items of this type - we've certainly had our share of hardware posts, so this is a nice change of pace!) Great post, Robert. I hope Sony takes in the right way. If not, that’s Sony’s problem, not yours. David (who loves content-related items of this type - we’ve certainly had our share of hardware posts, so this is a nice change of pace!)

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