{"id":5965,"date":"2015-02-11T13:54:04","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T19:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=5965"},"modified":"2015-02-12T11:24:10","modified_gmt":"2015-02-12T17:24:10","slug":"e-books-boost-independent-publishing-but-arent-about-to-replace-print","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/e-books-boost-independent-publishing-but-arent-about-to-replace-print\/","title":{"rendered":"E-books boost independent publishing, but aren’t about to replace print"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Elizabeth Elving<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something about holding a book \u2013 cracking the spine, thumbing through the pages, feeling the weight of it in one\u2019s hands \u2013 that is essential to the act of reading itself.<\/p>\n

Or maybe there isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The sale of electronic books skyrocketed after Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007. E-books went from accounting for .05 percent of adult trade sales in the early 2000s to 27 percent last year. The struggling publishing world was rejuvenated, with independent publishers especially benefiting from what became a simple, low-cost way to expand their market reach.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw a significant sales opportunity as consumers started to embrace e-books,\u201d said Doug Seibold, president of Agate Publishing<\/a> in Evanston. \u201cAs a publisher you\u2019re always looking for opportunities to find readers for your books. That\u2019s what you\u2019re in business for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agate publishes between 20 and 24 print books every year, all of which are also available electronically. They also publish about 20 e-books every year through a separate digital imprint.<\/p>\n

According to Seibold, while major publishing houses strive to increase their profit margins, small presses are mainly concerned with growing their readership. E-books, which readers can discover and purchase in seconds without leaving their home, reach a wider audience than their ancestors did. In that way they have become what Seibold called \u201can almost unalloyed boon\u201d for Agate and other independents.<\/p>\n

\u201cE-books really are a no-brainer,\u201d said Emily Victorson, co-founder of the Chicago-based Allium Press<\/a>. She began the press as a print operation in 2009 and within about six months realized there was no reason not to offer all the titles in e-book form as well. All manuscripts begin as digital files, and programs like Adobe InDesign make it easy to convert them to an e-reader compatible format.<\/p>\n

An e-reader is especially suited for plot-driven genre fiction that readers devour and then discard. Victorson said that in her experience e-book buyers tend to favor mysteries and thrillers over the other types of literature offered by Allium.<\/p>\n

\"Agate<\/a>
Agate’s print titles are on display at the publisher’s Evanston office. (Elizabeth Elving\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

E-books are, in a word, convenient: both for small presses marketing on a budget, and for readers hungrily downloading the latest potboiler. So why hasn\u2019t this convenience made books (the kind on the shelves with the familiar musty scent) a thing of the past?<\/p>\n

For one thing, accessibility often comes at the expense of prestige. Mercedes Lucero is a poet and fiction writer whose work has been featured in the Chicago journal Curbside Splendor<\/a><\/em> and other independent publications, both in print and online. She is currently in search of a publisher for a collection of stories she completed as part of an MFA program. And while a digital platform would reach more people, Lucero said she would still rather see her work made into a book <\/em>book.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of like a rite of passage into the writing community. I think people who really love reading books love physical books. And there\u2019s something special about that that I don\u2019t think can be captured digitally,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That love of physical books has kept some of Chicago\u2019s independent bookstores thriving through years of e-commerce, e-reader evolution. Quimby\u2019s Bookstore<\/a> in Wicker Park has been stocking its crowded shelves with independently published books, comics and zines since 1991. Manager Liz Mason said the store depends on its loyal customers who stop by in search of print publications they can\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call it the museum effect,\u201d she said. \u201cI think people find the legacy of zines appealing, and punk rock, and arty in a way that is not necessarily attached to the digital realm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Liz<\/a>
Liz Mason at Quimby’s Bookstore in Wicker Park, in front of a wall of zines. (Elizabeth Elving\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fortunately for print-loving writers and readers, this antique method is not folding in the face of cutting-edge competition. The old and new formats have instead settled into coexistence, even as publishers continue to evolve.<\/p>\n

Agate Publishing introduced digital versions of their books in 2009, and later launched a stand-alone e-book imprint under the name Agate Digital. In spite of these innovations, Seibold does not believe the e-book will overtake its predecessor any time soon. He described digital publishing as \u201ca popular ancillary format,\u201d similar to the audiobooks that shook things up in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see a new format that is seeing explosive growth, that\u2019s where everybody\u2019s focus goes in business terms. But that growth has really plateaued,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

E-book sales increased by 3.8 percent between 2012 and 2013, a considerable drop from the triple digit growth that followed Kindle\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n

This plateau is not entirely surprising. Print offers an experience that cannot be reproduced on a screen, just as digital offers a service that cannot be matched by a book. Victorson, who was a librarian before beginning Allium Press, said that print readers and e-book readers make up two different, non-competitive markets. It\u2019s pretty clear which market she is in.”I like having bookcases full of books. You can lend them out and caress them,\u201d she said. “Print books have lasted for a long time in the same format for good reason. I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s going to go away.”<\/p>\n

The Barnes and Noble Nook e-reader is displayed in front of tables of print books. (Jessica Gable\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Elizabeth Elving There\u2019s something about holding a book \u2013 cracking the spine, thumbing through the pages, feeling the weight of it in one\u2019s hands \u2013 that is essential to the act of reading itself. Or maybe there isn\u2019t. The sale of electronic books skyrocketed after Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007. E-books went from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":5973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,243],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-5965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-winter-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nE-books boost independent publishing, but aren't about to replace print - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/e-books-boost-independent-publishing-but-arent-about-to-replace-print\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"E-books boost independent publishing, but aren't about to replace print - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Elizabeth Elving There\u2019s something about holding a book \u2013 cracking the spine, thumbing through the pages, feeling the weight of it in one\u2019s hands \u2013 that is essential to the act of reading itself. 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