Uncreated Conscience

A bit of a heavy topic for a Friday, but I just wanted to foster a discussion and ask what other people think, really. As ereaders become more and more common, the question of “how much should ebooks cost?” comes up again and again.

The simple answer: Ebooks should cost what the market will pay.

The complicated question to the simple answer: But what will the market pay????

I’m no digital proselytizer and despite my relative youth, I am slow to jump on the digital bandwagon. If it weren’t for the fact that I get an ereader issued to me through work, I probably wouldn’t have gotten an ereader in the first place. (Although I probably would have saved up for the iPad.) Why? No real reason. Am I book romantic? Do I love the smell of the pages? Do I love the sound a book makes when its spine is cracked open for the first time? Do I obsess over the font, leading, and typesetting? Yes, yes, and yes.

However, I have slowly come around to buying ebooks, mostly because I am a fan of instant gratification. Why walk 5 blocks to the bookstore when I can have a book zipped to me straight away? The price point doesn’t hurt either.

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Downloading a book illegally is stealing. Period.

This morning on Twitter, a woman tweeted at Sarah Rees Brennan that she had illegally downloaded a copy of her book because e-rights were not available where she lived.

First, you all know that I adore Sarah Rees Brennan. I am a huge fan. Second, that was incredibly rude, insulting, and thoughtless of the woman. Third, the woman tried to justify her actions because the mean publishers wouldn’t let her have her book! I mean, she would be a paying customer if it were available? In fact, she WILL be a paying customer if it becomes available! She’s going to let the author know this, so the author can relay the information on to her meanie publishers!

Other authors have spoken about the subject from an authorial standpoint and how it hurts them. (Saundra Mitchell‘s post in particular shows you with concrete numbers the very real consequences of illegal book downloading.) But for those of you unconvinced by their words, I have some words for you too.

If the illegal downloading of books continues, there may soon be a world in which you will never be able to read books again.

Bold words, eh? Hyperbole isn’t my strongest suit, but I am taking an issue and taking it to its most extreme logical conclusion.

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Back when I was first starting to blog, I used to make weird puns in my titles. I am bringing back my inner 17-year-old for today’s post. Anyway, where have you been, JJ? you might ask. (Or not. You probably don’t care.)

I was here. Book Expo America. And at social invents related to BEA.

BEA itself was amazing. I managed to attend the Young Adult Editor Buzz panel (featuring St. Martin’s Press’s very own Jen Weis) and steal a few galleys and ARCs, including MATCHED, which I have been anticipating for the past 6 months. (It won’t be out until the end of the year though so MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.)

However, the highlight of my day at the trade show this year was managing to fangirl Arthur A. Levine. He was also at the Young Adult Editor Buzz panel, but he happened to be leaving the Javits Center at the moment my coworkers and I were leaving and we had the amazing privilege of sweating our way to the subway with the man who essentially defined children’s literature for my generation.

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First, I wrote a piece for Publishr about ebooks, print books, and experiential reading! Go read and then tell me I’m off my rocker.

Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway. Not a real redhead.

Today on Twitter I complained about the ubiquity of redheads in fiction. Look, I get it. Red hair is gorgeous. And pretty. I’m partial to gingers myself; I happen to have a large collection of them. As friends. As friends! …what?

However, the proportion of redheads to the rest of the world in fiction is significantly different from the proportion of redheads to the rest of the world in real life. Red hair makes up about 2% of the population. So why do they make up 65% of all heroines?

It got me thinking a bit as to the descriptions of characters I see in manuscripts and perceptions of gendered beauty. What is common in female protagonists does not hold true for male protagonists. A ginger haired man? Unusual.

Why is that? What is it about our ideas of perceived “rarity” that we think is so attractive?

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Right, so last week I needed a break from my submissions pile and blasted through a pile of published books instead of muddling my way through manuscripts. I debated whether or not to review each book individually or together in one enormous post, but I decided separately would probably help the tl;dr.

Review of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green & David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

For some reason, I keep wanting to type David “Leviathan” instead of Levithan. Anyway, WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON was the first book I purchased initially for my ereader. So this review has the privilege of being two-for-one: review of content and review of form.

First off, review of content. WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON is the story of two high school boys who both happen to be named Will Grayson, whose paths happen to cross accidentally one night and how it affects them. Except for me, the novel should have been titled TINY COOPER IS BESTEST CHARACTER EVER.

Because he totally is.

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I was initially going to post this tl;dr post on ebooks and digital publishing on Friday, but then the entire Amazon vs. Macmillan kerfuffle came up Saturday. Other people have written much more eloquently and intelligently than me about the subject, so I won’t bore you with my own thoughts.

1. Post from agent Rachelle Gardner about e-rights and digital rights management.
2. Post from Scott Westerfeld about how this affects the author.
3. Post from writer Tobias Buckell about…a lot of things, but I swear this is a really good article.
4. A really great breakdown from John Scalzi
5. Agent Nathan Bransford explains the “agency” model.

Corporate snit-fits aside, the real issue at stake here was the future of digital publishing. Ebooks have been a sticky subject for a very long time.

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