Can't ebook publishers and ebook readers just get along?

Can't ebook publishers and manufacturers (and resellers) of ebook readers just get along? As a reader (and not only as a book publicist), I want the dust to hurry up and settle so that we can all read (and, yes, promote) ebooks if we'd like. Until we figure out which ebook format will take hold, and which ebook reader or device will "win" the book wars, the ebook publishing revolution will move in slow motion. And I'm too excited about the opportunities for book promotion that revolve around ebooks to wait. So, for now, I'm using workarounds (such as ebook publishers who output content to various ebook formats) to create book promotion opportunities. But that's just a placeholder. Soon, I hope, we'll figure out the best format for ebooks and the best way to deliver them and the best way to read them -- and then this book publicity specialist is going to delight in the biggest development in the book publishing industry since the printing press. Great article about the ebook format wars on BNET.

Go, Google, go!

Go, Google, go! Work out deals with publishers to sell digital versions of their books, and make them compatible with as many devices as possible. We knew Amazon (or Sony, for that matter) wouldn't have the exclusive right to sell ebooks. The more companies that jump into this space, the better, from the consumer's perspective -- and I'm a consumer as much as a book publicist.

I'm lusting after an electronic device that will let me read as many digital books and periodicals as I want, as comfortably as I'd like. Yes, I know: the old-fashioned technology (the book, the magazine, and the newspaper) still works, and those tried-and-true gadgets never ran out of batteries or experienced crashes. But, then again, who has all the shelf space she wants to hold every coveted book and periodical? Who has the budget to purchase them all at retails (or even at Amazon) prices? Who feels like carrying them in briefcases or suitcases -- or even in a beach bag (sorry, but suntan lotion, my wallet, and my keys still have to come first).

So I'd very much like to add an ebook reader to my array of choices, but I've been reluctant to do so before "the dust settles." And, when the dust settles, I know it will settle because all of Amazon (and Sony's) competitors will have trotted out their offerings, and will either blow away the current devices or educated consumers about how it should have been done all along.

What all of this has to do with book promotion is anybody's guess. Someday, I imagine book publicist's will be emailing digital copies of books, rather than hard copies, to the media. But which format? For which devices? And when will this all come to pass?

I don't know, but I think Google's entry into the fray has brought the ebook revolution another step closer.

Bad timing.

Here's a serious case of bad timing. Just when Amazon is trying to sell its new eBook reader, Kindle, there's a thief -- or thiefs -- out there who have figured out how to add fraudulent charges for eBooks to credit card statements. Check your credit card statement -- and hope that you don't find a ten dollar charge from a company that sells eBooks (unless you've bought eBooks recently). Otherwise, you could be the victim of this particular scam. Read what little is known about it here.

This book publicist hasn't had the privilege of promoting eBooks yet. In fact, this book publicist is eager to promote eBooks -- when the time comes. (And I'm confident the time will come when "book promotion" includes the promotion of eBooks. It will.)

And I was hopeful about Kindle. All signs looked good; apart from the initial version 1.0 goofiness (and absurdly high price point) of the product, Kindle promised to turn all book lovers into eBook buyers -- eventually.

And now this: charges for eBooks that were never purchased turning up on credit card statements, and are causing aggravation from the very people we hoped would turn into eBook fans. This is a case, I think, of very, very bad timing.