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Writers and Editors (RSS feed)

How to Choose an Online Bookstore Selling E-Books

Geoffrey A. Fowler's piece, The Chapter and Verse on E-Bookstores, in the Wall Street Journal (5-7-10), will confirm any suspicions you may have had that competitors fighting to capture the e-book (and e-book reader/gadget) market are making it tough for book lovers to decide what gadget to buy. Fowler outlines many of the problems: "Amazon buyers should know that they're likely stuck using the retailer's software forever" (because of its proprietary format, you must read a Kindle book in the Kindle "bookstore"). A book bought on iBook opened as blank pages on a Nook, so you can't switch books across e-book readers.
Do read the many comments, so you can learn which e-book readers show page numbers and which don't (and just show what percentage of a book you have read) and other details of interest to the cautious shopper.

I was struck by comments made about the e-book readers at the recent Bio International (first annual) conference: that a sizable proportion of readers on the Kindle belong to the population of older, voracious book readers.
What do you think of all of this?

There's a round-up of links to stories on e-book markets, rights, and audiences under
Publishing and e-publishing on Writers and Editors
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