TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Archive for the ‘Karen Holt’ Category

By Karen Holt

Could the Kindle and similar e-readers revive interest in the American short story? That’s the question raised in a  New York Times item, by A.O. Scott.

"The new, post-print literary media are certainly amenable to brevity, a genuine advantage for reading off a screen," Scott writes. "The blog post and the tweet may be ephemeral rather than lapidary, but the culture in which they thrive is fed by a craving for more narrative and a demand for pith. And just as the iPod has killed the album, so the Kindle might, in time, spur a revival of the short story. If you can buy a single song for a dollar, why wouldn’t you spend that much on a handy, compact package of character, incident and linguistic invention? Why wouldn’t you collect dozens, or hundreds, into a personal anthology, a playlist of humor, pathos, mystery and surprise?"

Personally, I doubt that Americans are on the verge of falling in love with the short story. But it’s encouraging to see someone with the stature of A.O. Scott speculating that e-books could actually spur interest in a great literary form, instead of destroying it.

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By David Rothman

So what’s Ingram Digital up to these days in the area of e-books?

Frank Daniels III, the company’s new chief commercial officer, talked to Karen Holt, former deputy editor of Publishers Weekly—in the Tools of Change press room last week. Click for the MP3.

Among the many topics covered:

–Frank’s most recent title. “If it has to do with customers, it has has to do with me.” Earlier he was chief operating officer of Ingram Digital.

–E-newspapers vs. e-books—how they differ. Frank worked for both the editorial and business sides of the Raleigh News & Observer, which his family owned for many decades.

–Ingram Digital’s VitalSource e-reading software, whose interactive capabilities are especially useful in education-related apps, such as dental training. Ingram bought VitalSource Technologies, of which Frank was president and CEO, in 2006.

–E-book prices, which he notes range widely. “E-books are going to be priced on convenience more than they’re going to be priced on format.”

–Kindle vs. iPhone. The device “that’s going to prevail has not been invented yet.” In fact, he’s doubts that the industry will standardize on a particular device the way the Apple iPod dominates music.

–DRM. Frank’s unabashedly pro. “We’ve not seen DRM to be any kind of barrier to a sale.” His DRM comments begin just short of nine minutes into the interview. Listen carefully, and please be civil in our comments section if you’d like to respond.

With this audio, Karen Holt joins the ranks of TeleBlog contributors. Here’s a little back story. She recorded the audio because she broke her right hand while off motorcycling in Thailand—you can’t accuse Karen of leading a dull life. No extensive typing for now, thanks.

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