Do we retain more information as a reader from hard copies versus ebooks? I'm sure there is someone out there trying to discover the answer. I think with textbooks there is much to be said for the printed and highlighted text book as one crams for an exam.
Survey Finds 75% of College Students Stick to Print Textbooks
By Maryann Yin on January 7, 2011 3:47 PM
According to the Book Industry Study Group (BISG)‘s “Student Attitudes Toward Content in Higher Education” survey, 75 percent of college students prefer print textbooks over digital versions.
eBookNewser noted that 12 percent of those surveyed had purchased eBooks for convenience and lower prices. This group consisted primarily of men pursuing MBAs and long-distance learning students.
The BISG survey also revealed: “Renting a textbook – rather than purchasing or downloading – was preferred by 11% of surveyed students … Survey respondents said they often buy previous editions of a textbook (16% did this for their current class ) or international versions (18% did this at least once) … Print study guides, Campus Learning Management Systems – such as Blackboard and WebCT – and diagnostic self-tests held high value for survey respondents.”

For the past few years I have read and researched the evolving book buyer marketplace. Have readers declined? Absolutely. Let's face it - many people still love to read, but they also love movies, cable television, and playing with new technological gadgets. I am sure publishers and writers are exhausting all known resources to keep or find the audience, but there are so many channels of publicity, marketing and electronic distribution to discover, often pay for, and stay on top of that it boggles the mind. How do you build a loyal audience? One reader at a time... Can your writing make a difference? Often it does in ways that you can never measure. Case in point - I was restless the other night, needing to get away from the computer, the television, the stack of books by my easy chair, my two dogs and their constant need for affection. I went to sing some karaoke and fell into a conversation with a woman. I asked her what books she had read recently and out of the blue, she said The Five Pearls (my book).. (http://ping.fm/dXbkv She didn't know that I was the author. She said it rescued her from the emotional and physical loss of her son who recently passed away. Wow! I realized that the quest for success writer's crave is often co-mingled with a writer's more ethereal quest for contribution.

Book Readers Are Always Out There

For the past few years I have read and researched the evolving book buyer marketplace. Have readers declined? Absolutely. Let's face it - many people still love to read, but they also love movies, cable television, and playing with new technological gadgets. I am sure publishers and writers are exhausting all known resources to keep or find the audience, but there are so many channels of publicity, marketing and electronic distribution to discover, often pay for, and stay on top of that it boggles the mind. How do you build a loyal audience? One reader at a time... Can your writing make a difference? Often it does in ways that you can never measure. Case in point - I was restless the other night, needing to get away from the computer, the television, the stack of books by my easy chair, my two dogs and their constant need for affection. I went to sing some karaoke and fell into a conversation with a woman. I asked her what books she had read recently and out of the blue, she said The Five Pearls (my book).. (http://www.tumblebrushpress.com/  She didn't know that I was the author. She said it rescued her from the emotional and physical loss of her son who recently passed away. Wow! I remembered that the quest for success writer's crave is often co-mingled with a writer's more ethereal quest for contribution.

There is so much competition in social media now. So many sites, marketers, publishers, packages, seminars, webinars, SEO companies, VOD's, newsletter offers... It reminds me of the great immigrant floods into the United States over a century ago. An immigrant arrives at Ellis Island, speaks no English, has no contacts, but has money saved in his shoe and a book he or she has written about how to make cheese... a prime and gullible target for the unsavory. What I have learned in a relatively short time using Inet media is that there are times you must pay for services, for "expertise." but dig deeper in your search engine and you may often find one product barked as part of a marketer's package is a free service elsewhere that they are piggy-backing off. In my exploration of Free Press Release sites, I have discovered that simply announcing and posting one of my new book releases on the internet leads nowhere. But should I pay $399-$799 for a targeted press release? How can one be sure of the quality of a media insider list? Your feedback is appreciated.

Saying a lot with a little

In The Five Pearls, I decided on very concise writing. The flowers are there, but with less petals.

Example:

He carried his duffel over to the bus stop and sat down on a cool metal bench under a lean-to that was supposed to be a respite from the blistering Texas sun in summer. But it was long past summer now and the wind in the air tasted like dirty chalk.

A big sign was screwed to the fence next to the bus stop; words printed in big blood red letters:

DO NOT PICK UP HITCHIKERS

A picture tells a short story

Several years ago, a brave girlfriend and I visited Thailand and had the good fortune to go on an Elephant Safari in the northern region known as The Golden Triangle.

My next book always starts with a title

When I get my initial idea for a book it comes with a very rough idea for a title. This feeds the storyline, the central theme for me. Later, as I add characters, build the plot, discover the unfolding dialogue between the characters and find the settings and locales for the set pieces, I find myself with insomnia, searching for a better title. Here's a good example - my next book - currently titled The Glass Fence was originally Pretty Maids All in a Row. A few months later, it became All the Lonely People, followed by Hotel Confidential. But it still wasn't the best title... I savored it for a couple of months, defended it in the body of the work. But it still wasn't the right title. It was a catchy title, but didn't portray much of the true pyschology in the text... It didn't defend central theme for me as I found with my previous books - Chasing God's River and The Five Pearls. But wala! I think now the final title has arrived, driven in like a spike - from the story, the theme. But without a title to start with, I find it difficult to stay excited and move forward...