People Still Like to Read a Good (Printed) Book

Given the news coverage, you’d think the conversion at last of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” into lines of ones and zeroes was some kind of nail in the coffin for the printed word. One of the last holdouts finally turned.

Not quite. Of the people in the U.S. who use the Internet, 46% say they still only read books that are printed, according to data from Harris Interactive that was charted by Statista. Another 16% say they read more printed books than e-books.

That’s still a healthy vote of confidence for dusty tomes, considering e-reading devices have been around for about seven years in some form. Amazon’s Kindle, a popular e-reader, has been around since 2007. The iPad was released in 2010, and there have been many iterations of the two and competition from others since.

There’s little doubt which way the arrow is pointing — over time most people will be converted to purely digital readers, particularly as visual tech gets better — but for now only 21% of those surveyed said they preferred e-books. (These are people who use the Internet, mind you, not a survey of Luddites.)

–Brian R. Fitzgerald

Reposted from The Wall Street Journal

 

Join Ken Atchity at the SoCal Writers Association, February 15 2014

“Pros & Cons of Direct vs, Legacy Publishing”
With more than forty years experience in the publishing world, and twenty years in entertainment, Dr. Ken Atchity is a self-defined “story merchant” – writer, producer, career coach, teacher, and literary manager, responsible for launching dozens of books and films. His life’s passion is finding great storytellers and turning them into bestselling authors and screenwriters.

Cost for the speaker and lunch:

• $25 for SCWA Members who’ve paid their $30 annual dues and rsvp by February 12th.
• $30 for SCWA Members who’ve paid their $30 annual dues and don’t rsvp by February 12th, or for non-members who rsvp by February 12th.
• $35 for non-members who don’t rsvp by February 12th.

For more information and registration information, go to the SCWA website.

Join Me on February 15, 2014 at Southern California Writers Association Lecture on the "Pros & Cons of Direct vs, Legacy Publishing"

 
SCWA - Future Speakers - February 15, 2014

Opportunities in a Dynamic Environment

Dr. Ken Atchity

Story Merchant Dr. Ken Atchity believes in the power of stories to change the world. A storyteller himself (his recent thriller, The Messiah Matrix , can be visited on www.messiahmatrix.com) Ken has been privileged to spend a lifetime helping stories reach their ideal audiences in both publishing and entertainment. As a literary manager he has sold over 200 books (fiction and nonfiction), and overseen over twenty New York Times bestsellers, including Mrs. Kennedy and Me, The Kennedy Detail, Dracula: The Un-Dead, and The Last Valentine. As a producer working with both major studios and indie financiers, he’s produced thirty-something films, most recently Hysteria, Erased, The Lost Valentine, and the Emmy-nominated The Kennedy Detail.

His own books include several for storytellers, including How to Publish Your Novel, Writing Treatments To Sell, and A Writer’s Time: A Guide to the Creative Process from Vision through Revision.

Former professor of comparative literature at Occidental College and Distinguished Instructor at UCLA Writers Program, Ken has also served as Fulbright Professor to the University of Bologna and as regular book review for The Los Angeles Times Book Review for twenty years.

With what he calls “the new Gutenberg Revolution” in full sway with the technologies of communication, Ken says, “I’ve not been this excited about helping storytellers for years. Today there is truly a level playing field, where the old gatekeepers are giving way to new methods of reaching the audience.” At the recent Thrillerfest in New York, his talk on “Direct vs Legacy Publishing” was the most highly-attended workshop in Craftfest. His analysis of the situation can be found on his website www.storymerchant.com.

For all his background as manager, producer, writing coach, and author, Ken is proudest of being known for “thinking outside the box.” “If I find someone stuck in old ways of thinking,” he says, “I’m not sure I can help him. We’re living in a world of accelerating change, and your mind must be open to seizing the opportunities such a dynamic environment presents. Storytellers haven’t been this fortunate in over a hundred years.” That’s what Ken will talk to us about when he speaks in February.

He can be reached at Atchity@storymerchant.com.




Banquet Room at The Claim Jumper
18050 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley
10:00 am - 11:30 am
Break for Lunch then reconvene with an hour Q and A

SCWA September Newsletter