Recent news definitely shows the changes that are happening, such as Barnes and Noble rumoured to be going on sale, the e-book and e-reader wars, agency pricing, and the latest shocker that Dorchester will be switching to e-publishing, and then POD (print on demand). It’s becoming very overwhelming to authors, readers and publishers whose business models are starting to look problematic – especially with ebooks becoming more popular and mainstream.

But the history of publishing, like all things, always faced new changes, obstacles and new developments. The invention of the printing press allowed a wider audience to read texts that they would not normally have had access to. The structure of the novel itself that we recognise today only emerged in the late 1700s, and even then it was not in the format we are accustomed to. Books by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen were released in instalments, and people would collect them in volumes instead of the full novels we see today.

But it was the arrival of the cheap mass paperbacks of literary classics by Penguin that revolutionised publishing. Penguin reached a wider audience and made a huge profit by changing their approaches – despite the fact that other publishers had sceptical attitudes that it would work. However, this was a huge success and it has become the model that major publishers use today. The evolution of the book and publishing always faced scepticism and obstacles in the face of new change, but it has not stopped people from reading a beloved book or text. Things do look pretty unsettled due to the recent credit crisis, the cutbacks that publishers are implementing, and the struggle to survive that is the brick and mortar stores. And yet ebooks are considered to be both threatening, or have less value compared to traditional publishing. But their growth has been phenomenal in the past year or so. It is becoming more and more apparent they will be a huge factor in publishing.

But now with the arrival of cheaper e-readers — such as the new Kindle and their full support to international markets, and multi-purpose devices that can read ebooks — things are changing again to challenge the Penguin model that has pioneered the present model of publishing. I am going to have an optimistic view that once the dust settles, e-publishing will compliment the traditional model of the mass/hardback market. People will always want to own a real book, but I do think e-books will capture a new audience just like what Penguin did with their cheap classic Mass Market books.

For instance, once e-readers become more popular to college and school readers — and with the success of Harry Potter and Twilight, which shows that there is a young generation of readers who will read books and the growth of the YA genre — I think the future of publishing will be very healthy. It has always changed in its approach and delivery on how books/texts are read and it will probably happen again in the future.

The only downside to this is that traditional publishers need to embrace e-publishing. Instead of placing roadblocks like DRM, high ebook prices, and geographical restrictions which is placing obstacles to readers who choose to buy in digital format, it’s not going to stem the tide of change and it especially won’t stop or tackle piracy. Nonetheless, there will be a fallout in the time being with publishers, agents and authors getting accustomed to this new sea change, and I just hope it will settle down sooner than later.

We are living in exciting times and there probably will be drastic approaches to publishing with losers and winners in the following years, but I don’t think this is the end of books as we know it. But it will be an opportunity to attract books to an increasingly competitive entertainment market where publishing can compete with other digital mediums, and thus a wider and less tapped audience.

Per the FTC regulations, I must state that I received a copy of this book from the author for the purpose of reviewing it.

The following excerpt is from the back cover blurb, which can be found at http://www.loreliebrown.com/.

“Of all the juice joints he had to bust, this one had to be hers…

In the world of illegal speakeasies, Kate Kirkland has her life running smoother than a Model T. Maybe moving the family bar into the basement wasn’t the best choice for her alcoholic brother, but Kate’s making them a living—until a local gangster tries to expand his territory. Right into her bar.

Luckily Micah Trent, her handsome and too-suave bootlegger, is ready and willing to offer her a helping hand. If Kate can bring herself to accept it. Since sharing one sensual dance to seal their deal, she can’t ignore the delectably wicked way he makes her feel.

Micah is keeping secrets of his own. He’s a Prohibition Agent, sworn to shut down the gin mills and distilleries that keep illegal booze flowing. Kate’s speakeasy is next on his list—right after he uses her as bait to catch the gangster hunting her.

But even if Micah and Kate can maneuver their way through the gangsters’ dangerous underworld, will their love survive the trial by fire?”

And you can’t forget Samhain’s infamous warning, “Warning: This title contains steamy hot sex, big fancy guns that result in just a little bit of brains on the floor, and enough booze to float an armada.”

I am glad I decided to end my self-imposed exile because Ms Brown certainly did not let me down.  I was immediately drawn into the world of speakeasies, and undercover agents.  Not the “Secret Agent Man” but something that seemed more realistic and gritty.  I got a good feeling for both the corruption that existed in the upper echelons of law enforcement and the struggles/challenges faced by the speakeasy owners.  I had never considered that they didn’t have to just worry about Prohibition Agents, but also the entire underworld and its power struggles.  Ms Brown showed some of what lay underneath the glitz and glamour, not just on the business aspect, but also the personal by bringing her characters to life.  I could feel Kate’s struggles and frustration with her brother, her intense attraction to Mica, and her determination not to lose her family business by mixing business with pleasure – or by meekly giving into the local gangster’s demands.  I also felt Micah’s internal struggles between his job and loyalty to his partner, his equally fierce attraction to Kate, and his fear about what will happen when Kate finds out who he really is, and why he entered her life.

I have to admit that I was concerned that Ms Brown would use some stale tropes as she worked her way through the various points of conflict in Jazz Baby.  The first thing I was worried about was the hero’s sidekick revealing their true roles to the heroine in an attempt to “save his partner”.  I was also dreading the possibility that the heroine would suddenly lose her backbone and independence then depend on hero to rescue her, her family and her business.  While Micah does fulfil the role of a hero, Kate remains true to her character through the entire novel.  Thankfully I predicted the solutions incorrectly.  One of the few times I was glad to be wrong.  I can’t tell you exactly how Ms Brown resolved my various points of concern without divulging major spoilers but I can say there is some very satisfactory groveling on Micah’s part *grin*.

The supporting cast of characters provided more then just acting as foils to Kate and Micah’s character development.  They each played integral roles in furthering Kate and Micah’s relationship or added to the layers of tension between the key players, including the primary villain – cue ominous music.  One in particular that I wrote off as a gold-digging idiot managed to redeem herself from the idiot label.  A complete 180-degree character shift would have jarred me from the world Ms Brown painstakingly created.  That level of detail down to secondary and tertiary characters was just another reason I enjoyed reading Jazz Baby.

I give Jazz Baby 4.5 out of 5 stars since Ms Brown left some string untied involving Micah’s partner and the young lady Kate rescued from living on the streets, no not the two of them together, but possibly with other characters.  Maybe Ms Brown will provide a sequel.

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I finally succumbed and broke down to purchase the new Sony Touch – despite stating to Has numerous of times that I wasn’t going to. Meh, my resistance to temptation is incredibly weak – especially when it comes to books. **grins**

The Sony Touch device is roughly the same size as the PRS-505. The on and off slide button is situated in the exact same position as the 505, and so is the memory card slots, the headphone jacket and the USB jacket. The Touch comes with a stylus that fits into the right top corner of the device, and it fits in securely so there is no worrying about loosing it. My Touch came with a black pouch, but no cover or protective screen. Thankfully, the original leather cover that came with my 505 fits the Touch, so I only have to buy a protective screen. I would suggest getting a protective screen to keep the panel of the reader clean (especially if your someone like me who snacks while reading) and to prevent scratches from forming.

One of the reasons I broke down and purchased the Sony Touch was the ease of navigation and the note taking feature – which is super awesome.

Setting the reader up is super easy, and exactly the same as the 505. You connect the Touch to the laptop via the USB lead and you can then use the Sony eBook Library to download and transfer your ebooks to the internal memory on the reader or to the SD Card.

I use Calibre, which is a free software program that allows you to convert formats and syncs the ebooks to your Sony Reader. Calibre only lets you convert non DRM ebooks, so to convert DRM ebooks, you would have to go about getting third party tools which strips the DRM.

As well as the touch screen, the Touch also comes with five buttoms on the lower part of the reader. They consist of page turnings, the home button, the font size/zoom button and the option button which gives you the settings of the reader.

Pros:

Navigation: The navigation on the Touch is a lot better than the 505. Finding books by author, title and genre is a lot easier and must faster. The Touch has a home button, which automatically brings you back to the home page of the reader from whatever you were doing previously. On the 505 I found it very slow with pressing the menu button continuously until I reached the home page again, so this is a very welcome feature on the Touch.

Font size and zoom: The Touch now has 5 different font sizes, ranging from small to XXL.  The formatting when choosing a larger font size is much better than the 505. It’s not so far out of range and I don’t find myself loosing which character is speaking from within the book.  The Touch now has a zoom feature.  Previously on the 505, I had trouble with PDF files. If you enlarged the font size, pages would go missing. On the Touch there is a zoom toggle function, which allows you to read in small font without loosing a page. The only downside is that when you turn the page, the zoom automatically switches off and you have to zoom in and toggle again, but it’s better than losing pages.

Touch screen and stylus:  If your someone (like me) who can read for over two hours, even going past three hours, then the touch screen is so much more kinder to your finger. The touch screen is not too sensitive and you don’t have to apply forceful pressure. It’s just right. With a swipe of your finger, or the stylus, turning pages is faster.

Note-taking, text memo, search function ect : The note taking is super awesome. You can take notes while reading your book and you can highlight passages from within the book and you can transfer it all onto your computer. There is also a text memo feature, where you can input whatever you want on a keyboard that comes up on the screen. You can also search for specific words in your books and it highlights them for you. The orientation is super fast also, and you can switch back to and fro by pressing the option button and touching orientation.

Cons:

eInk contrast and glare: The eInk on the Touch is not as sharp and clear as the 505. There is a noticeable difference, which you can see here:

(Click on image to enlarge and to zoom)

There is also a much brighter glare on the Touch compared the 505, so you have to manoeuvre the reader in a certain placement so the light doesn’t bounce on the screen, though I had to do the same thing with my attachable reader light on the 505.

Over-all I’m happy with the Touch, though I do wish the eInk could have had a better contrast, as it’s not as clearer as the 505. And after a while, the glare can get a little bit frustrating, but not to the point where I would ever think of returning the reader and going back to the 505. I won’t say goodbye to my 505, but I’m happy to relegate it as the back-up reader.

UK ebook retail sites = over priced, poor choice of genre books, and did I mention over priced?

With the US now implementing geographical restrictions, I’m getting frustrated with ebooks on the whole. I love my Sony Reader, but I’ve been buying a lot more paperbacks lately because they are not available or are inaccessible to me.

But, these sites I find to be pretty much a shining beacon:

Harlequin Ebookstore World Digital rights-no geographical restrictions
Samhain Publishing World Digital rights- no geographical restrictions
Whsmith Ebookshop Quite cheap compared to other UK sites.

And, here are some sites that offer free ebooks, legally:
Samhellion-
Baen Library
Harlequin Celebrates

‘Oooo, finally! This is good. More selection perhaps for us UK buyers.’

*Scrolls down for the romance section, and clicks*

*head desk*

‘Noooooooo! Why Borders, why? Why do you do a Waterstones, and not offer genre romances, and put out chick lit, and women’s fiction as romance?’

*Clicks back dejectedly to the main ebook page, and Epic fail!’

Lees Child’s Nothing to Lose priced at £17.99. WTF?

Not only is it silly, but insane. If you go to the Book Depository, you can get the same book in hardback for £12.09. Tell me, do these corporate business’ think their customers are stupid? Do they know we shop around for the cheapest price, and people who buy ebooks, are probably more than willing to pay cheaper for a hardback, and heck, even cheaper for the paperback version, which is £5.57 at the Book Depos.

I’m using Lee Child as an example. There is Karin Slaughter’s Fractured, £17.99.

On the Whsmith Ebookshop, Fractured is priced at £5.24.

Dear book goddess, don’t these bloody retail super stores actually do research before they put out their price lists. Seriously, I’m actually pinching myself to make sure I’m seeing this correctly, and it’s not my iron supplement pills that are giving me side affects.

I’ll let you folks see for yourself:
Karin Slaughter, Fractured. Borders price.
Karin Slaughter, Fractured. Whsmith ebook price.