Apex post: Knowing Self and (Own) Space As A Writer

Knowing Self

Print Book? Ebook?

My book will be out next year. I am excited, nervous and anxious. It is my first novel out with a small publisher, granted it’s not with the big guys like Tor or Baen. I have completed the first-round edits. Yes, my novel is finally taking shape – trim, fit and ready to face the world.

Yet, I find myself wrestling with the print book versus ebook issue. Ebooks seem to be at the receiving end of criticism, especially by those who see themselves as “gatekeepers”. Granted we need gatekeepers, but I want to put forward the argument that publishing itself is changing. Evolving with the digital revolution. Yes, there will be people who will still buy physical print books. But there are readers who also read ebooks.

Perhaps, why I am writing this short post, is that I have concerns and vested interests when it comes to the print versus electronic issue. I have an ebook coming out. I am not even sure how it will be received. Of course, I would like it to be accepted by the general SF/F community. But what I have observed is that the SF/F community is still strongly print-book.

Forgive me if I am wrong. I am just tired, perhaps, of the flake ebook authors have been getting. We are writers. We are authors. Damn it, we write. Our mode of communication is still via words. Be it print or electronic, our words speak. Don’t get me started with Singaporean SFF writers trying to get a smidgen of recognition (We do exist, thank you very much). I hesitate to call us a “fledgling/nascent SF/F group” (A lot of us have been writing SF/F, only that we are not that public or recognized)… but ebooks are a good way for authors to get a head start.

You might disagree with me here and I welcome it.

#ZombieLuv 140

“They died. They rotted. They rose, saw each other and fell in love. Then they knew each other, legs flailing and falling off.” #zombieluv