Defeated by the eBook

I’m beginning to think that the best way to get myself out there is self-publication. And with the ever-increasing news of independent bookshops going out of business and the fall of the printed novel being fuelled by the Internet and eBooks, it’s not a bad shout.

It’s a difficult one to submit to – writing for digital readers, rather than old school ones. That’s because I’ve never been a fan of the Kindle or cutting bookshelves out of the home. It worries me that our children will live in a white box and only interact through a remote control and the swipe of a finger.

That said, this New Year, whilst holidaying in Mozambique, I read so quickly that the Kindle of our new Marine friend seemed suddenly sensible. He got through five books, while I read two. He had more space in his suitcase while I weighed mine down with paper. Something I thought I’d never resent. In Afganistan, he told us, books are a rarity. Who’s going to want to lug them around when the Kindle can do that for you? They had enough to carry.

When I got home I looked at my beloved book collection and picked up the second in the Stieg Larsson trilogy. In rush hour, The Kindle got another point as I squashed myself onto the Central Line with a book that couldn’t get much bigger. I realised defeat.

Some people do like to read when they go to bed or in a comfy chair on a Sunday afternoon but I’m not really one of them. I read on the commute and a holiday just like most of the population and would probably do better to just buy a Kindle than keep filling my bookshelf. Whether I will or not is another matter but it’s suddenly becoming more apparent that the eBook is the future, either way. And if it’s going to be easier to get my work out there that way, then I guess that’s what I need to do. On my own.