The Satisfaction of Print
Since I’m a big e-book guy who believes in sparing the trees and making electrons race instead, many will be surprised by the headline. Hey, so am I, but I had to do it. I had to go print.
I should have done this years ago, but life, three small kids, and my writing delayed the inevitable. To my fans who have been asking for print versions for ages, I apologize for taking so long, and I confess that I suddenly get it. I sit here with the print proofs of Sacrifice the Living and Generation Apocalypse on the table beside me and it’s awesome. I can touch them. I can flip through them, and for someone special, I can sign them.
I love my Kindle, but print is not dead and won’t be for a generation or two, so it makes good business sense to reach as many readers as possible. I also want to come out with audio books, video clips and any other media down the road that will let me share my stories with readers.
From now on I’ll launch ebook and print simultaneously, which will save me the enormous effort of tracking down the publishing files (who knew my old MAC was vintage and couldn’t be saved when the motherboard fried) and formatting ad nauseam.
Print also provides closure. I’m delighted with the covers thanks to Barry, and the manuscripts have been vetted to heck and back again for typos thanks to two editors and many helpful readers.
For those still patiently waiting for book three, fear not. I’ve been juggling several tasks, one of which is editing Heretics Fall. The cover is ready, the beta readers have produced great comments and I’m crushing for a November 14th launch at SFContario5.
I still believe ebooks are the future, but I’ll always keep a few books on my shelf. Just a few. I have a small house.