Monday mornings can sometimes bring really interesting e-mails to the Bat Cave in-box. Today it was an e-mail from Malle Vallik (one of the awesome folks over at Harlequin) announcing the arrival of Carina Press. Carina Press is a brand spankin' new digital-only press under the Harlequin umbrella. The plan for the official launch is set for sometime Spring/Summer 2010. Angela James has been hired as Executive Editor (welcome back to the Land Of The Gainfully Employed Ange!), and they're already accepting submissions.So what does this all mean? Well, first off I'm going to direct you to Jane's post over at Dear Author (which includes a guest post from Angie) and Sarah's post over at Smart Bitches for some of the more "technical" talk like no DRM, submission guidelines, business model etc. I'm not an author, nor an aspiring one, so a lot of this stuff goes right on over my head. I'd also encourage you to check out Carina Press's web site, which has even more information (including a blog!).
But since you are all here visiting the Bat Cave, I'm going to give you my spin on this.
It's huge. Big, huge colossal news. If only for the fact that Carina Press is under the Harlequin Enterprises umbrella. Certainly Harlequin has already readily embraced digital, but with the formation of this new press, they've effectively kicked open the door. It's huge. It's unprecedented. And it puts every other "major" traditional print publisher on notice.
All this being said, I have never been the reader (or librarian) who is a zealot for e-publishing. I don't think Dead Tree books are going anywhere in my lifetime (sorry, just don't), and until the electronic format is more affordable, easy to understand, stream-lined, and idiot-proof, I just don't see the world takeover that so many others are predicting.
However, I think I speak for all librarians everywhere (well, at least the awesome ones) when I say we're all a big ol' bunch of Format Hos. While it's highly unlikely I'll ever give up Dead Tree books 100%, I love the ability to be entertained in a variety of formats. I love my Dead Tree books. I love audio books on CD. I love downloadable audio books (OMG! Heaven!). And I love ebooks. I love them all. I love having options. Gimme, gimme, gimme lots of options and I'm a happy, happy girl.
Ultimately what the formation of Carina Press does do is put the naysayers on notice. While I certainly don't feel that digital publishing is going take over the world, I do think it's short-sighted of traditional print publishers to ignore it. Now we have a major player in the publishing industry (Harlequin) further embracing the digital model and medium. It's huge (have I said that already?), and I'm fully expecting I'll be bombarded by news, editorials etc. in all the Industry-Type Stuff I read for my job. It's certainly intriguing, and I for one am very curious to see what's going to be offered up in the way of their launch titles.
11 comments:
It's really exciting for this reader as well. I'm hopeful that Carina Press really does deliver in terms of diversity of content. Isn't that the true promise of digital books?
I am really excited about this news as well and hope they deliver.
Keishon
I'm curious to see what they'll be offering, too. I read the site and what I saw about diversity of offerings definitely caught my eye. Am waiting to see info on coming titles!
Count me as another who's excited to see what they'll be offering.
I can give you another reason dead tree books won't ever die.
MIGRAINE SUFFERERS.
As one myself I can attest to the fact that reading anything on the computer for long periods can trigger a migraine. So unless they come up with a cure for migraines there will always be dead tree books. They're easier on the peepers.
@JamiSings - I hear ya on that one. I have eye problems that make computer screen reading headache-inducing for me, so I'm mostly a print reader, too. I have a special screen overlay on my desktop at home for reading ebooks when there's a digital book/story I just can't miss, but still haven't found a portable solution to the headache issue.
I was really ready for one of the major publishers to FINALLY break with the whole DRM thing. I'm like you Wendy though a little more attached to digital books. I have HATED that I can't load Harlequin books onto my Kindle because of DRM and have to go through too many processes to try to convert it to a format I can use and strip the DRM--too much trouble usually.
I actually love my digital book reader for those days when my eyes are tired. I can set my font bigger and it is so much easier on my eyes after a day of computer screen and print that gets smaller and smaller each year (can't possibly be my eyes, of course). Can not wait to see their first few offerings. Hey, publishers really really rethink the whole DRM and proprietary formats.
I agree that this is good news for digital readers. I hope in the future that there will never be OOP books - with digital how could that ever happen? My dream is that eventually I'll be able to read anything, anytime...no matter the year published.
Wow! This is big news...
Going by what's currently on their site, the diversity of content does look really promising. Now all we have to do is wait and see.
To the migraine sufferers: next time you're in a Borders or B&N, see if they have any of the digital readers (Sony or Nook) on display. I find the eInk technology much easier on the eyes than a traditional computer monitor. That being said, I'm not a migraine sufferer (thank the good Lord!), so can't offer any personal testimonial on that front.
Joy: You should see how big I blow up the font on my Sony Reader. Besides storage, it's the other reason I really like digital.
Peggy: I'm wondering what this means for Harlequin's backlist? Will they digitize older books under the Carina banner - or will they continue to reissue them under Harlequin?
Wendy - part of my migraines come from the fact my pupils are larger then normal, so therefore I take in more light then regular people. (I also see "in the dark" pretty well.) Part is hormonal - they come around the same time as my red headed Aunt Flo.
So it's not so much a font issue for me, but a light issue. I have to take breaks from the computer every little bit, closing my eyes, or I get the starts of a migraine. And those filter screens, for me, are like the goggles they put on that parody of Arnold on The Simpsons. "They do nothing!"
Of course that's just me. But all migraine sufferers have light sensitivity. That's why we lock ourselves in dark rooms.
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