Another Option

Whenever I try to explain the concept of the eBooks we sell at Frugal Living Press, I get one of two reactions: Most people seem intrigued with the idea of a book you can buy online, download, and either print out or just read on your computer monitor. Others squint one eye and curl one corner of their lips and generally say something like, “What an odd concept.”

I was interviewed the other day by a reporter for the Web site of a well known, national organization—I can’t tell you which one until the article’s published—and after I explained the concept of eBooks to him, he placed himself squarely in the “odd concept” category, because, he said, “I like to read in bed, and I can’t imagine taking a bunch of printed pages to bed with me. It just wouldn’t be comfortable. It wouldn’t seem like a ‘book.’”

I was forced to come up with a favorable, positive response; I certainly couldn’t let the interview hang on that last, negative utterance. Besides, he’s right. I might as well ‘own’ that fact. Pride and Prejudice they’re not.

“Our eBooks really aren’t the type of books you take to bed,” I admitted. “They’re quick, to-the-point, how-to books that probably are not in the nocturnal reading category.

“Take Shrewd Shopping, for example. That’s the kind of book that you leave on your desk by your computer so that when you’re shopping online, it will be there for reference. Or Real Food, Real Cheap: You might want to underline food-shopping suggestions and make notes in the margins and take the appropriate pages with you when you go to the grocery store. But printing out our eBooks and taking them with you to read in bed before you fall asleep? Probably not.”

And our latest eBook, Frightfully Frugal Halloween, well, obviously it’s not a barnburner that you’d cuddle with on a rainy day, but it is certainly chock full of party, costume and food ideas that can help you save some cash while having fun with your family and friends on a very popular holiday.

I don’t think electronic downloadable books in PDF format will ever replace “real” books. At least, I hope not. I’m told that the latest version of Kindle will download PDF files, which would be a real boon to those of us who sell only digital books.

Holding a book and reading each page before the physical act of turning to the next one is something I savor, something I look forward to at the end of each day, or while sitting in a coffee shop or out on my porch. Pages from a printer or an electronic book device will never replace the feel of a real book. We acknowledge that. But we’re not trying to replace “real” books; we’re just adding another option, one that, we think anyway, is completely appropriate for the type of information we offer.—Carol Wiley Lorente