6 Reasons Why eBooks Are the Future by JM Array

As those of you who follow my tweets may know, I’ve been slacking off down in Palm Springs, watching Federer and Nadal play tennis instead of slaving away at the keyboard. I managed to get a couple posts up earlier in the week, but today I’m going to let JM Array take things over with a guest post.

6 Reasons Why eBooks Are the Future

There has been a sudden up rise with eBooks lately. Suddenly more and more people are reading electronic books for many reasons. Although there are many people that still prefer the old-school paperback books, here are six main reasons why eBooks are the future.

1) Eco-Friendly

This is by far one of the obvious reasons. EBooks are more eco-friendly than normal books for many reasons but the main one being the need of paper is non-existent; which means that trees won’t have to stuffer anymore and we can continue to have beautiful forests. That reason alone should be enough, but of course it isn’t.

2) Cheaper

It is cheaper for everyone. First and foremost it is cheaper for the author/publisher. Since they don’t have to spend lots of money in print, distribution and what not, the costs are WAY less. Apart from that, since the costs are less, the books don’t need to be as expensive; therefore it becomes cheaper for the costumer as well. It is a win-win for everyone.

3) Faster Distribution

This, to me, is the most amazing one of them all. Have you ever been at your house bored out of your mind and you learn of this new fantastic book but you can’t go out to buy it because it is too darn late and all of the stores are closed? It sucks doesn’t it? Even worse, you go from store to store looking for this book that you absolutely want with all your guts but you can’t find it anywhere? Or even more than that, you are desperate and you can’t wait anymore but you have to order it online and wait like a week for it to arrive? I don’t know about you, but I have had all of the above happen to me. Well, with eBooks this isn’t the case. You want a book? You can get it anytime, anywhere. NO problems at all. You just go, download it and start reading in less than five minutes. Oh the joy.

4) eReaders Sensation

There are many eReaders out there but the main ones are the obvious ones: Kindle, Nook and of course the iPad. Combined, they have sold around 20 million of them. That is, without counting the iPad 2’s that are going to be sold in the next few weeks, which will easily reach the millions as well. What this means is that there are people slowly changing to the eBook sensation (although we should note that not every iPad owner is getting it for the eReader function, but they still have it if they wish to use it). Not only that, but it is also good news for authors: There IS a market out there and they definitely want electronic books.

Plus, it is just like reading a real book. People often complain that they don’t like eBooks because they like the feeling of holding a book in their hands. With this eReaders, it is like having the real thing in your hands. Not only that, but you don’t need light for it. The light comes from the device itself, so you can read anywhere you want. You are almost blind? No problem, select a different font or pinch to zoom in. You remember parts of a quote but you are not sure where it was? No problem, make a search for it. It is THAT simple and that awesome.

5) Carrying and Keeping Your Books Together

This one hardly needs any explanation really. There is nothing better than being able to have all your books together in one small digital package. No need for more physical space. Why is this so important though? That is if you don’t care about space and weight. Well think about the following: Have you ever gone in a trip where you are half way or almost at the end of a book? Since you need to finish it, and you know you will, you have to take a second book with you so you can have something else to read once you are done with the first one. And as you calculated, you finished the first one in just thirty minutes into your trip, and now all it does is take space. With eBooks, this isn’t a problem. Heck if you run out of stuff to read, you can refer to reason #3.

6) Technology

Last but not least indeed. Technology is constantly advancing in an exponential jaw-dropping way. The possibilities with eBooks are pretty much endless. They are just getting started; testing the waters of what is possible with an eBook. There are many amazing things that writers will be able to do with eBooks that they just couldn’t do with a normal book. Perhaps incorporate some ambient noise or something, to give a real feeling like they do in movies. Or for example, let say the character finds a recording, instead of writing what the recording contained, the user can actually play it and hear it themselves. Or even for children, there could be moving images instead of just stationary ones. And the possibilities just continue. Like I said…they are endless and amazing.

These are the six main reasons I could come up with. I am sure there are many more but if this haven’t convinced you yet then I am not sure what will. There is no doubt in my mind, that eBooks are the future and perhaps the future is NOW.

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His book Two Lives…One Diary is available at Amazon and at Smashwords.