Books, Candy And Kindle
(Why Printed Books Like Salad Dressing Are Here to
Stay) by Susan James
I Love Books..I’m a writer, also an avid reader.
I spent almost $500.00 on books during Christmas, and
most of them were for me. I spent another $300 on books
before Christmas, and again, they were for me. These
weren’t coffee table books. (Not that there’s anything
wrong with that! Thanks Seinfeld)
As a writer, I’m also a business owner. Will I do the
Kindle dance? Well of course. It’s another way to produce
my writing, it’s a business choice. Amazon, is a wonder
machine for us writers. They’ve accepted one of my
essays for their Amazon Shorts program, I’m looking
forward to getting it up on their site. It’s digital content.
Much of my writing is in digital form. It compliments the
printed paper form. The printed paper form that people
love to hold in their hands. I love it that people want to
hold me in their hands. Thank you for that!
Paper printed books will disappear when Candy
disappears. No one is talking about candy disappearing
simply because there are new styles, formats and flavors.
Are they?
Paper printed books will disappear, when we no longer
have to have all the different choices of salad dressings
that line our grocery store shelves. They just keep coming
too. No one is touting the end of salad dressing bottles are
they?
This is not Logan’s Run, where we take pills for our
meals, and live below ground. Great cult movie that
Logan’s Run. What is it that paper printed books have in
common with candy and salad dressing? They appeal to
our 5 and 6 senses.
We love to see, hear, touch, feel, smell, taste things. We
are still very much a humanity, and not robots. Which is
why, those who are not writers, also love to read. We love
having a relationship with that little piece of heaven. We
love seeing the photographs in the backs of our books of
our new and favorite authors. They look like us! It makes
us want to read more of their books. They are just like us,
and we get to hold them in our hands for a while. They
don’t talk back to us, they entertain, teach and make love
to us through the words on the paper. Some of us get
Brook’ed through those books. (Thanks One Tree Hill)
We love color and artwork. We love being teased by the
luscious men on the covers of our romantic novels. We
love the artwork of the warriors in our fantasy titles. We
love seeing the pictures of the next new IT person, the one
that’s going to help us lose weight yet again.
We love seeing the pose of the next big phnom chef or
personal development motivator. We love seeing the
CEO’s face on the jacket. The one who crashed and
burned on his way to the top. It makes us believe that we
can make it out of our own messes too!
And remember when so many of our beloved independent
book stores had to close due to changes in the book
selling industry? If you’re keeping up with trends you’ll
see that, guess what…the small town books stores are
coming back on the scene.
Why? They are giving us flesh and bones, living
breathing, touching feeling and kissing people, who are
not robots; they are giving us what we want. We want to
hold our books in our little hands. The owners of little
book stores are readers who simply love books. This level
of reader is also willing to take a risk with the books they
love. They choose to develop themselves in the book
business. They choose to put food on their tables and
contribute to their communities with the book business.
We are gathered together us readers.
I’m in front of my computer more than anyone I know,
and I love it. Don’t look for me to try and find a way to
get away from it all. I love it! And I love how I can
throw my feet up on my big desk, read one of my soft-
cover or hardcover books, while my computer screen
keeps humming along, letting me know when it needs my
attention.
When I’m on the road..it’s there with me, humming right
along. Do I read electronic books, well of course I do. I’m
a savvy girl, thirsting for all of it, not some of it, all of it.
There’s something else of a higher nature going on as
well. WORDS in printed form, are a sort of fiber optic
thread into the invisible realms. We expand ourselves
through the mechanics of both writing and reading words.
And yes, the printed form can also be seen on our
computer screens and cell phones. But will all of that
replace our paper books?
We do it with the eyes behind our eyes. We as humans
NEED the printed paper form of books.
What about our children? Are they reading more and more
digital content? Well, yes, of course. But they are also
holding “Captain Underpants” in their hands. (The
Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dave Pilkey) .
Have you ever stood next to a child in the kids fiction
section? I have. And I ask them why they are reading what
they are reading. It’s very exciting. The new readers of the
printed books are our little ones.
Are our kids on myspace and facebook? Well, of course
they are, as are we. Many of the things they talk about in
those communities are how hot the vampires are which
they read about in paperback and hardback forms. I didn’t
know vampires were hot until I asked a teenager why she
loved reading about vampires. They also love the girl who
writes the books. (Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse by
Stephanie Meyer)
Our new parents aren’t going to hold a small monitor,
reading from it to their new babies. The moms, dads and
the babies, want words and pretty pictures that are big
enough to see and point to. They want more than a
computer bundle, as they hold their own little bundle
of joy.
When we no longer need our eyes to see to read, then our
printed books can be gone. When we no longer need our
tongues to taste chocolate, make love to our lovers, then
our printed books can be gone. When we no longer need
our lettuce covered in smatterings of salad dressing and
our turkey sandwiches lathered in (Kraft) mayonnaise,
then the books can be gone.
We have choices of how we read what we read. This is
not an either or matter. It’s a how do we want to read this
particular book? Which format do we need or want,
depending on the subject matter, depending on where we
are that day, that week, that month. Are we on a digital
diet this day or preferring a paper indulgement moment.
Printed books are one of the many loves of my life that are
here to stay simply because well, I said so.
Susan James (Copyright 2008)
Susan James
Writer-Independent Publisher
Among the many published forms of James authored
works are books, print and digital formats, articles/essays,
electronic newsletters, distance learning courses and
consulting. Susan Writes on Expanded Views of Personal
Development, Business and The Livelihood of Writing.
Author of The Award Winning Manifesting 101 &
Beyond, Manifesting 102 & Beyond, Manifesting
Methods for Would Be Millionaires, Manifest Warp
Speed, 17 Seconds to Weight Loss, and the novel, The
Millionaire Maverick. Watch for her upcoming series of
books.
Primary Website http://www.susanjames.org
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