With many of the posts so far having been somewhat pessimistic in nature, this week I have decided to discuss one of the redeeming movements within the publishing industry; The growth of the e-book. Despite the falling sales in just about every area of publishing, e-books are for so many providing the necessary income needed for them to stay writing and for authorship, particularly when self-publishing, to remain commercially viable.

In the past few months, and to a lesser extent the past few years, sites like the Bookseller and Publishers Weekly have been awash with reports, testimonials and blog posts from self-published authors and other industry professionals alike, praising the alternative sources of income and appreciation that publishing in e-book can provide. One author in particular, Nicola May, in a recent blog post, detailed her highly promising experience with Digital Publishing, outselling many of those in the official Sunday Times Bestseller Lists.

Nicola May was and is far from the only author seeing success in this fashion. Recently Brian Freedman and Gregg Olsen – two equally experienced and successful authors – received praise and commendation, with the former garnering an Amazon Best Book of the Month award, the latter a 1st place position in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post bestseller list for their eBooks.

However, despite eBook success and despite digital authors outselling even the most popular of traditional print titles, there remains a prejudice against eBooks, for both readers and publishers alike, and one that I too am guilty of. It is this prejudice, this preconception which has left eBooks with a problematic disposition – Namely, that public opinion on non-print novels is in so many ways tied to physical value and thus, when receiving an immaterial copy, the lack of tangibility results in a level of disappointment and a sense that one has in some way been short-changed. This feeling often has nothing to do with the content but is simply based on the fact that myself, and I believe many others, experience a level of pleasure in tactility, in owning something in the most literal sense, as opposed to the immaterial data of an eBook. This, coupled with the enduring assumption that eBook authors have had to default to said format due to a lack of success through traditional publishing routes i.e. their work isn’t good enough to be picked up by publishing houses, has left this potential publishing saviour with an unavoidable deficit.

However, the fact that e-books require no raw material is ironically perhaps their most promising redeeming factor. Although there are many initiatives, publishers and authors pioneering environmentally conscious attitudes within publishing, U.S. book and newspaper production requires the harvesting of more than 100 million trees, generating tremendous amounts of wastewater and a considerable carbon footprint. It is true that the energy required to produce an e-reader is far higher than that required for a single book, but of course the total volume of each is vastly different, meaning that if someone were to use their e-reader for one year and read 40 to 50 books on it they would successfully cancel out the fossil fuel usage required for it to be made. Books although long-lasting and shareable, are often read once and placed back on the shelf, collecting dust as more and more are added. Given the recent surge in environmental awareness and increased frequency in global- warming-related incidents, there really is no time like the present for e-books. If publishers can find a way to shake the e-books mixed reputation and make digital reading a more exciting proposition for both book-lovers and bibliophobia alike, then they may have not only a hand in saving the publishing industry but the planet as well!

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