[SIZE="1"]I know that I'm just begging to be flamed and misunderstood, but I just have to post it.[/SIZE]

Dear Mr. FPW,
please support eBooks. Talk to your publisher and ask them to get in touch with eBook stores and make your books available to the readers 2.0 out there.

So far, only one or two books of yours are available in electronic format at horrendous prices.
Since Books on Board had a sale, I decided to get "hosts". I contacted Books on Board and asked them if they'd be able to offer more of your books. The reply came quickly:

Thank you for your patience. Mr. Wilson would need to contact his publisher and have them make the additional titles available to distributors. They would then show up in our feed. However, we are unable to become involved in Author/Agent/Publisher/Distributor negotiations and contracts and distribution agreements. We have agreements with the distributors but no influence upstream of them. Thank you for shopping with BooksOnBoard.

So here I am, begging you to go digital.
You're one of the few authors that have a lively forum, you have a good internet site, so I can see you are not digitally challenged.
So take it from me: there are a LOT of people on this planet that read digitally. Either they, like me, have smartphones where they read on teensy weensy screens, or they shell out and buy eReaders with eInk screens.

The iPhone is taking the phone world by storm, and there are programs to read eBooks on it. The download numbers of these programs are amazing.

I can see that Amazon offers kindle editions of your books at great prices. But not everyone has a Kindle. Either they're too expensive, or they're just not available. Please get in touch with your publisher and demand of them to release mobipocket and eReader versions.
fictionwise.com
booksonboard.com
diesel-ebooks.com
etc.
will probably gladly take them.

THEN talk about pricing.
Why do I spend $25 on a digital version of "hosts", when the paperback costs 7,99 and the kindle edition is 9,99 ?
I can see that new releases are always more expensive, but some time the prices need to drop.

Well then, this is my rant. I love your books, bought dead-tree versions and downloaded some, but I want to have all my books in my pocket, so please, please go digital.

Thank you for listening.

Flame away.
(ah the smell of paper ... cuddling up on a couch ... sensory enjoyment ... what has this world come to ... )

[SIZE="3"]I've forwarded your post to the publisher. I'm always pushing for new platforms but I think they worry about piracy, etc.[/SIZE]

If they're worried about piracy, they're already too late
A lot of printed books are pirated. Scanned and OCRed and released on torrent sites or the IRC.

But, if books are available at reasonable prices, people tend to buy rather than steal. It's worked for mp3s and it'll work for books too. Nobody will buy a book for 10 dollars only to unlock it and let other people leech off their investment.

Anyhow, thank your for forwarding my mail!

No flame from me. I'm an ardent supporter of eBooks and I've pinged FPW about ebooks on more than one occasion (as recent as last week's post on Kindle).

I'm one of those iPhone eBook reader folk (transitioned from PocketPC). Anyhoo, I've purchased FPWs novels from eReader and wish there were more of them...

Mr Wilson: if it helps, add this reader -- once again -- to those that really, really, really, really want to see Jack (and everything else would be nice too) in electronic format.

Out of curiosity, what is the advantage to eBooks? Ok, I know that I'd need a lot less shelf space but other than that, what's the appeal?

I'll admit that I do read books while taking baths and would not want to risk dropping an iPod or whatever device in the tub and ruining said device. So you won't convert me to eBooks. But I am curious about their appeal.

Lolarennt ... I got started with eBooks when I wanted to fill a gap in my education and read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I didn't want to buy the german version in my country (Austria), so I googled some and amazingly was able to download the entire book in .LIT format and read it on my PDA.
It was hooked.
*) Backlight let's the spouse sleep, unless you shine the PDA right in her/his eyes
*) In the mood for a book? Just go online and buy it. No need to lift your butt out of that comfy chair and trawl through numerous bookstores till you find your desired reading
*) Especially if you read multiple books simultaneously it's easy on your pockets
*) Save the planet ... do not kill trees
*) Save shelf space

Having said that last bit, you should see my living room. A wall that's 5m wide and more than 3m high, totally covered with "billy" shelves from ikea. Filled with Books.
Minus a TV and some DVDs.

Ebook reading must be tried to be liked. I can understand people who like to read on actual paper. It's just not for me.
I like having my books with me all the time. And if I ever leave the house unprepared I'll still be wearing my clothes, my shoes and have my cellphone=eBook reader with me.

Having said that last bit, you should see my living room. A wall that's 5m wide and more than 3m high, totally covered with "billy" shelves from ikea. Filled with Books.
Minus a TV and some DVDs.

The "Billy" series from Ikea is possibly my favorite line of shelving. Ever. Got them on most of the vertical surfaces in the house (a lot more than five meters). Living room, bedrooms, halls, kitchen (the white finish works great there). Most have two rows of paperbacks per shelf (and we bought a bunch of extra shelves, since the default number is far too few unless you only buy oversize hardcovers and coffee table books, or are shelving LP records rather than storing them in milk crates).

Ebook reading must be tried to be liked. I can understand people who like to read on actual paper. It's just not for me.
I like having my books with me all the time. And if I ever leave the house unprepared I'll still be wearing my clothes, my shoes and have my cellphone=eBook reader with me.

So far, I'll stick with paper (except for the daily news and such). I like to turn pages by hand, and the way I dress (unfashionably) I always have room in my pockets for at least two paperbacks and a hardcover along with a few cans of beer and enough cigarettes to get me through the day.

I love ebooks. I just read Ghost Story on my Kindle and with my paperback. I bought the ebook and remembered I had the old paperback upstairs in the bookshelf. I would read the ebook on the go and when I would come home I would read the actual book. It was interesting comparing the two styles. The ebook is much easier to hold in bed as all you have to do is hit a button to turn the page but it was nice to know how much book was left with the actual book.

The main appeal of ebooks to me though, is 100's of books in your hand with the weight of a small paperback.

it beats taking an army of paperbacks for a month long trip to California. pin drives and laptops take up less space

Out of curiosity, what is the advantage to eBooks? Ok, I know that I'd need a lot less shelf space but other than that, what's the appeal?

I'll admit that I do read books while taking baths and would not want to risk dropping an iPod or whatever device in the tub and ruining said device. So you won't convert me to eBooks. But I am curious about their appeal.

Hi I have a Sony Ereader (They have By The Sword and Gateways) in Ebook and I also have a Ipod Touch and Ereader.com has (Host) in Ebook.

I was shocked when I went to Amazon.com Kindle web site a saw they have 8 Repairman Jack eBooks (By the Sword, Secret Histories, Conspiracies, Harbingers, The Haunted Air, Host, Infernal and Gateways) WTF!!! Sony and Ereader need to get there act together if they want to be around and get these books. Or they will be history like The HD-DVD Player and HD-DVD Disc.

I know that I'm just begging to be flamed and misunderstood, but I just have to post it.

Dear Mr. FPW,
please support eBooks. Talk to your publisher and ask them to get in touch with eBook stores and make your books available to the readers 2.0 out there.

So far, only one or two books of yours are available in electronic format at horrendous prices.
Since Books on Board had a sale, I decided to get "hosts". I contacted Books on Board and asked them if they'd be able to offer more of your books. The reply came quickly:


So here I am, begging you to go digital.
You're one of the few authors that have a lively forum, you have a good internet site, so I can see you are not digitally challenged.
So take it from me: there are a LOT of people on this planet that read digitally. Either they, like me, have smartphones where they read on teensy weensy screens, or they shell out and buy eReaders with eInk screens.

The iPhone is taking the phone world by storm, and there are programs to read eBooks on it. The download numbers of these programs are amazing.

I can see that Amazon offers kindle editions of your books at great prices. But not everyone has a Kindle. Either they're too expensive, or they're just not available. Please get in touch with your publisher and demand of them to release mobipocket and eReader versions.
fictionwise.com
booksonboard.com
diesel-ebooks.com
etc.
will probably gladly take them.

THEN talk about pricing.
Why do I spend $25 on a digital version of "hosts", when the paperback costs 7,99 and the kindle edition is 9,99 ?
I can see that new releases are always more expensive, but some time the prices need to drop.

Well then, this is my rant. I love your books, bought dead-tree versions and downloaded some, but I want to have all my books in my pocket, so please, please go digital.

Thank you for listening.

Flame away.
(ah the smell of paper ... cuddling up on a couch ... sensory enjoyment ... what has this world come to ... )