I’m going global! Just in time for my SE Asia book tour — 8 days and counting — I can now announce that A Clash of Innocents is indeed available as an ebook. Kindle, iPad, computer, whatever. If you have fingers to type, you can order it with great ease here. If you don’t actually have a Kindle itself, all you have to do is download the free software from here and then use it to go to the Kindle Store. Your spanking new ebook will be downloaded in minutes. I know — I did it myself on my iPad. So easy, and it looks great, thanks to the hard and painstaking work of Ward Wood Publishing.
There are many reasons why this is important, but it is particularly important now as I prepare to take my book to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Singapore. As it happens, stocking books in Asian bookstores is incredibly difficult. The cost of shipping hikes up the price. The shipping itself is not always reliable. The timing can be a nightmare. Ward Wood has even had the experience of negotiating a deal with a chain of Asian bookstores only to find that the order was never placed. Why? Who knows. So I have shipped some books myself, and the others I’m carrying over in an extra suitcase. Oh, gods of travel, please don’t let them get lost.
The new existence of the ebook version is not a substitution for the paper version. But it is an extra alternative, and one I believe many English-speaking Asian residents (not to mention African) will choose to take up. The ebook has just made their reading lives incredibly easier and more wide-ranging. But what about signed copies I hear you ask? Well, for those readers I meet in person, I am bringing a batch of beautiful postcards which I can sign so the reader has something a bit more tangible.
Through blogging, facebook and twitter, not to mention old friends and far-flung family, I am lucky enough to have a following all over the world. And now I don’t have to worry about them not being able to get copies of my book. No more waiting for months and wondering. Their purchase — once the new technology is embraced — will be instantaneous. Whether you are sitting on the subway going to work, travelling on a train to some conference or to visit friends, or just sitting in bed next to an already snoozing partner, you can be transported to the exotic smells and sights of the East or the poetic prose of one struggling writer in the West via your new ebook. I wonder how many countries my book will now reach. If/when you buy it in either format, please leave me a comment about where you are. I’m now keeping track. So far I know the paperbacks have flown to the UK and the US, Canada and France, Finland and Botswana, Thailand and Singapore. Now with the ebook, anything is possible. Come on — help me take this baby global!
You’re right. It’s a great advantage. I just hope it doesn’t get lost and pirated like they do it with movies already. Digital bears its risks.
Nahno ∗ McLein ™
I never thought I’d like e-books, but now I have my Kindle I can’t imagine not having them.
Congratulations on going global.
Technology’s an amazing thing, though personally I still prefer an ACTUAL book! Lots of luck with gping global :o)
“Why? Who knows.”
Oh Sue, I can tell you that you are going to get on so well in Bangkok. That’s just the attitude we like. ;-D
Nahno: pirating is always an issue, isn’t it. Remember napster? You’re right. There are lot’s of issues and it’s still early days.
Debs: It’s like microwaves. Remember when they first came out? Couldn’t see why we would ever need them, then couldn’t live without them.
Karen: I still prefer paper books too, to be sure. But I think we writers have to embrace anything that can help us reach readers. Hopefully, the one won’t cancel out the other.
Jenny: 🙂