Will ebooks make reviewing easier?
As I was finishing up another review for the site, I was struck with the following question: “Will reviewing become easier with ebooks?” That is really just part of the overall question of ebooks, though; I mean, I am one of those old school people who love the look of a grand library in the house filled to the brim with classic hardcovers. So let us just pretend that I could get the hardcover and the ebook–would that make reviewing easier for me?
I guess using the word “easier” is only part of the equation, the other part being will ebooks make for better reviews? Can technology increase the quality of reviews?
I am probably one of the few reviewers who does reviews differently each time. Sometimes I take notes while reading the book, but I found that to make for a less enjoyable read. Sometimes I keep a word processing document open, and when the mood strikes me, I jot some notes down. Other times I will do it from just my memory of the book, or I will do it with a copy of the book at hand to be able to reference.
Just based on the past two reviews I have done, I spent a lot of time looking things up in the books, from names of people and places, to different scenes that I wanted to re-read while writing the review. Those things take a lot of time, and sometimes I will skip over them if I cannot find them in a reasonable amount of time. Ebooks would allow me to find them much easier and therefore allow me to make better references and focus more time on fleshing out the review. I know that I am usually under a set time frame for how much time I can spend on a review with all of the other things going on in my life, so this would allow me to use that time to work on giving the readers a better review, I think.
So easier, sure; better reviews, I guess that depends on how you spend your review-writing time, if you are looking items up if you are under any time constraints. So for me, when I open up a hardcover, I should also have a CD with the ebook as well. Just for reviewers, and if that means that you do not send as many review copies out–fine by me. (That is another whole discussion I would like to tackle later, review copies.)
These are my opinions, feel free to share your thoughts. Would having an electronic copy of the book for easy searching make it easier to review? The follow-up would be, do you think it would have any effect on the quality of your reviews or on reviewers in general? I say yes to both. But what about you?
I’m not sure you’re too unique in approaching reviews differently for each book–at least, I do that, too. I have no issue dog-earing pages in a book, unless it’s like really special or potentially really valuable, so if I am struck by a scene or a passage that I think I might want to talk about or quote directly in my review, I turn down the corner of the page and take a look at all those markers when I sit down to write out my thoughts. Alternatively to “ruining” the pages, you could keep a stack of paper strips next to you to use as bookmarks.
As to your question, I personally don’t like reading on the computer. Not sure about a hand-held device like Kindle, as I’ve never tried one, but for me the circumstances which would make carrying the physical book prohibitive are so few and far between that I can’t see a digital copy making a huge difference for me. Maybe if I was really bored at my desk job and thought I could get away with reading on the computer there, or something–then I could quadruple my reading time, lol.
Yeah I hate marking pages or taking notes, so my thought is that when I am ready for the review, I could just do a quick pdf search or something. I agree I want the real book as well, just a digital copy along with it. Kind of like they do with blu rays and digital copies. You get the blu ray but you also get a copy to work on your laptop computer.
It should, it would, and it would clear away a lot of fat. I’ve been saying forever that having physical copies for reviews is a complete waste of time and money. Sure, if you have real VIPS – sites pushing a half million views a month or have some nostalgic status (major newspapers) and they demand a physical copy, sure, but the idea (and I see them all) that publishers apparently send out books for no fucking reason even if they do get reviewed boggles my mind. The truth is (especially in S/F) you don’t really have to worry about too many situations where if you’re the publisher,a reviewer balking at a e-format really matters.
That there are people who are payed to interact, set up, and ship (that I’m pretty sure cost money as well) to numerous venues that can’t really pay-off that investment seems like one of the dumbest facets I’ve seen any business practice (including government waste)
Further, if I want to collect your book for my library then I don’t see why I shouldn’t have to BUY it. I’ waiting for publishers to give me a reason to fit the executive BSC staff with Kindles.
My whole thing is cut down on reviewers and offer them both. Not just for this genre but for all of them. But on the physical book, I still say I like the whole Blu Ray and DVD copy for your computer situation. I wouldnt mind having both. THe physical copy to read and the pdf copy for researching. Ebook readers are just not there yet for me for reading from them even after using the new kindle for a few days.
How much can sending a copy along with the book cost on CD? I guess you have to worry about piracy if you doing that though which is always a concern, but if you buy into DRM then make it have some sort of DRM on the CD you are sending.
A perfect topic for the SFF/Fantasy reviewing community to discuss, but we both know that they dont comment on our site because we spread the truth.
I wouldn’t say cut down on reviewers on this matter as a whole as with an e-copy, who cares and I couldn’t care less how somebody spends their money. I just find it to be wasteful for no real reason. I just try to think of why they wouldn’t go e-copy exclusive excluding fear of piracy which is kind of starting to feel like some scared old people in some office trying to wait out the inevitable.
Personally, I don’t care about receiving another physical copy of a book. If I buy a book these days it’s a first print/vintage/old school copy that I’m not just tearing through anyway.
Well I do my reviews one of two ways–anthologies I keep a word document open and I review each story as I go. I’ve found when I try to review them as a clump, I get details mixed up or completely forget the stories I didn’t like at all. Ordinary books gets reviewed when I’m done. Occasionally I’ll need to look up a name, or doublecheck a fact, but I have that problem more often with e-books then with hardcopy.
I think something about the fact that I can feel it in my hands makes me remember things better–I’ve always been a more tactile person then a visual person when it comes to things like that. Like Elena I don’t like reading at my computer–my laptop is too bulky to be comfortable in the squished up position I read in and staring at the screen too long makes me see squiggles in the air, but i’ve tried out practically all the e-readers (not the Nook yet) on the market currently (including both versions of the Kindle, gotta love having a techie obsessed friend with wads of cash to spend) and it doesn’t feel right to me.
And I’m the sort of person that if I’m reading and uncomfortable it affects my perception of the book itself. It could be an author I have adored for decades, but if I am uncomfortable in my reading situation I will feel negatively while writing my review ::shrugs::
That being said I’m also a big fan of having your book collection laid out for all to see and admire (or be scared of). For some it might be cumbersome, but I’ve grown up with towering bookshelves of books around me all my life–I can’t visualize a life without those stacks.
Well, since I finish the book completely without taking notes or marking passages, I’m not sure that reviewing ecopies would make any difference to me at all other than the fact that I could probably have access to the book that much quicker since it doesn’t have to be physically shipped.
I’m also not sure if the search feature would be that much more helpful. I’ve searched for a scene in a book before and since I have a visual memory, can remember where approximately in the book it is and which side of which page it is on. Doing a search would require me to know a specific word used during a scene that was unique to that scene. I think, in general the biggest advantage the ebooks have over the paper books when it comes to reviews is the speed at which they can be distributed. All they need to do is set them to degrade within a certain period of time.
I don’t do ebooks. I need to have it in my hand, carry it around, waddle with it on the treadmill – if it’s mine, I write, highlight, etc. I sit in front of a computer most of the day at work, so I really don’t want to fry my eyes any more at a screen for pleasure/academic reading. I do know a lot of people who adore their iPod Touches/Kindles/whatnot, so I know these formats have a big following – it’s just not for me. Any notes I take are longhand – just as I write anything, I do not compose at a keyboard – but I again, I know many people who like to read at the screen with a Word document open to take notes. My eyes hurt just thinking about it.