Yes, the e-book has evolved from a mere pest underfoot or perhaps a curious novelty into a giant in only a few years.

In doing so, it has upset the entire apple cart that is the publishing industry. Authors can now publish and manage their own books and communicate more directly with readers. Even better, e-books are finally starting to wake up to their potential.

From the start, I envisioned a whole new world for e-books that would make them far different from paper books. With the power of electronics’ magic, e-books can become entertainment powerhouses melding many forms in one (images, video, audio, and so much more.) With all these exciting visions dancing in my head, it was somewhat of a let down to find that even inserting images into a Kindle e-book was challenging. At the time I published, the colorful photos I’d taken were only viewable in black and white. Now they are in full color (thanks, Kindle Fire!).

My hope for 2012 is that it becomes feasible for me to do even more than put some photos and web links in my books (without spending a fortune and thus driving up the price for readers).

While e-books have huge potential, challenges have grown as the number of authors has rapidly expanded. It has become much harder to identify quality writing from experienced and knowledgeable authors. On Kindle forums, I see readers complaining about this challenge. Authors must work even harder to demonstrate their skills and show readers why their books are worth the time to read.

Despite the challenges, it has been exciting riding the rising surge of a wave of change in publishing. In 2012, publishing promises to continue the fireworks show. Every author will need to navigate a world changing by the minute. I will be right there with my fellow authors, trying to decide what is best for my books in a shifting world.

Here’s a link to 2012 predicitions for publishing:

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2011/ten-bold-predictions-for-book-publishing-in-2012/

I’m well into the pre-Holiday crunch time. But just wanted to take a minute to point out an interesting (but rather long) post on author payments. In this post, the author argues that traditional publishers can afford to and should pay authors more for their work. This would then better compensate authors and discourage them from defecting to Amazon where pay is better. Will anyone take his advice? Time will tell…

http://www.idealog.com/blog/paying-authors-more-might-be-the-best-economics

The publishing community has responded with mixed feelings to Amazon’s latest move in buying up a line of children’s books from Marshall Cavendish. Amazon’s rationale is that the new Kindle Fire is an excellent tool for viewing color books as many children’s books are. (Lucky for my book, “Small Business Rocket Fuel”, I had already incorporated color photos and color flourishes throughout the book!)

While some were pleased that Amazon would offer good distribution of the books. Others felt it was further pushing publishing toward a monopoly. Independent book stores pointed out that there is no way Amazon can replace the personal touch and insightful comments they offer customers. A final comment was that Amazon’s dominance ends up devaluing books and training buyers of them to have a lowest-cost commodity mind-set.

So many tough issues here. While the broadest distribution possible is best for sellers/authors, a monopoly will reduce author power in their negotiations for the best payment for their work.

Here is a link to a useful article:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/49771-booksellers-unhappy-with-amazon–s-latest-moves.html

This is the kind of story I love. A group of smart, twenty-something New Yorkers disenfranchised by traditional literary society/industry strike out on their own and create a new journal and intellectual salon. These writers and editors could have given up when all the doors slammed in their face. But they didn’t. They pushed on and created something new themselves. Now they are starting to gain national attention for their work.

They might not be raking in big salaries yet, but that’s beside the point. They are on the right path. They are on the path of opening doors themselves, not standing outside closed doors passively and waiting for them to open. There may be twists and turns on the path and it may get discouraging, but it’s essential to keep trying and keep learning. Most successful people have experienced plenty of failure as well, but the key thing is they learn from it and move past it.

Here’s the whole story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/fashion/new-yorks-literary-cubs.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210