PETALING JAYA: The question of whether consumers would switch from conventional books to virtual books was the hot topic of discussion at the MPH Megastore at 1 Utama Shopping Centre here.
Moderated by Lydia Teh, author of Life’s Like That, the two-member panel comprising author Shoba Mano and writer-cum-editor Eric Forbes discussed the topic ‘Virtual Books and its Impact on the Book Industry in the Future.’
The event was held during the ‘Hi-Tea with Local Authors’ session organised by MPH Bookstore. It was part of MPH’s ‘Support Malaysian Authors Campaign,’ which was launched three years ago.
“There is a definite future for e-books (electronic version of books) as it is slowly entering the lives of Malaysians today,” said Shoba, the author of Prodigal Child.Forbes said that he would not rule out the possibility of reading an e-book despite his profound love for print work.
Around 50 local authors were at the event to show their support for the campaign as well as to meet their fans and share their experiences with aspiring writers.
4 comments:
Ebooks have a problem in that they're not easily portable, and easily duplicated.
Wow. I didn't even think there were 50 local authors. Where are they selling their stuff ? :)
Anon, yes you're right. Also, many readers prefer paper books. There was some discussion at my blog : http://lydiateh.wordpress.com which you might like to check out.
Not all 50 turned up though. They sell their books at bookstores like MPH.
Hi Lydia - Great idea to have a media gallery to showcase your activities/ media coverage!
Re e-books, there's the hybrid option of print-on-demand or POD. The electronic file is held on the printing companies server and the book is available to order from Amazon and any good book shop. When you order it, the printer presses a button (so to speak) and the hard copy book is printed and shipped to you/ the bookstore where you ordered it. It saves the publisher the cost of stocking a warehouse full of the title and thus means that the non-blockbuster books can still be available for the readers.
Yang-May Ooi
www.fusionview.co.uk
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