Read an E-Book Week

I’m not an “official” sponsor of “Read an E-Book Week,” but one of my publishers (CurrClick) is. E-books were originally ignored by the big publishers, but no longer! Those of us who write for the e-book market thank God for the ability to compete with the biggest authors in bookstores.

Why E-Books?

I published my first “real” book in 2005, but my first e-book, The Four Foundations of Lifelong Learning, was actually published first, in late 2004. Shortly after, we introduced our Bible curriculum and then our P.E. curriculum. I’m in love with using e-books in my homeschool. Currclick published a few reasons why, and I wanted to add my comments:

1. “E-Books are paper-free.” Many homeschooling moms don’t need to print all 100 or more pages of an e-book they buy. It saves money for them, and for the publisher. For moms who really like the feel of paper and traditional books, e-books can be delivered to print-on-demand publishers (like Lulu) or to their local office supply store.
2. “E-Books are delivered and produced electronically, no trees are used in their production, very little energy is used in their creation and no fuel is used in their delivery.” This matters to me as a publisher because it also reduces my costs substantially. Now I can spend more time and money on getting my message into the hands of people, and less time and money on the act of physically printing and shipping books.
3. “E-Books are easily storable so there is no need to build more bookshelves.” Do you realize how many e-books I have on my computer? (And I have almost as many mp3 files…)
4. “E-Books are delivered immediately.” Again, my customers don’t have to wait for the UPS driver. If my little ones are sick, or I’m having a baby, my customers don’t have to wait for us to get back on our feet before we can ship a book. For e-books on urgent topics (such as health), a customer can get the information she needs in a more timely way.
5. “Purchasing and downloading an E-Book is simple.  It doesn’t matter if you live in a big city or a small remote village; everyone has equal access to an E-Book.  All you need is an Internet connection!” What a blessing this has been! I now have customers in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and Romania. Missionary moms can have access to the same great resources we have here in the United States, without paying 50% in shipping costs. When I think of the implications in spreading the gospel, I get really excited!

Other great benefits of e-books include being able to search an e-book for exactly what I need. As handy as an index can be, it can never compare to the ease of searching electronically. Then, finally, I have friends who read their e-books on Kindles or on their blackberries. (Ahh… dream… someday!)

Move over, Big Publishers! E-books are here to stay!

P.S. If you don’t have a free copy of my first e-book on parenting preschoolers, be sure to stop by and pick up a copy today!