2018 Releases

[JD]

They are, but I wonder how much longer S&S will be planning ebook releases.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/...carpenters-the-vinyl-collection.15689/page-24

I really hope they don't stop e-books altogether, I vastly prefer e-books to physical books and I'd hate to lose the option to get them in my preferred format.

I noticed that the article doesn't actually say how much e-book sales are declining. For all we know they could have gone from huge, record breaking numbers, to just really good numbers.

 

[Christopher]

I really hope they don't stop e-books altogether, I vastly prefer e-books to physical books and I'd hate to lose the option to get them in my preferred format.

I think it's a given that print novels will also be available in e-book form. I suspect that tomswift2002 is speaking more about e-book exclusive novellas.

 

[Little_kingsfan]

In my city's libraries, there's extensive use of the request system and shipping books from one branch to another, so they don't really stay in any one branch -- they just hang out in whatever branch they were last returned to until someone requests them to be shipped to another branch. So if you can't find a book you want in your local branch, maybe log onto the library's catalog and do a search for it.

We do the same at our libraries - the collection floats between the branches. However, for some reason, my library has stopped getting the newest Trek books (although we still have a few of the older ones), and I have to request them from other libraries around the state (thank you, Link Plus!).

 

[tomswift2002]

Plus, the article that tomswift linked is an opinion piece.

It may be an opinion piece, but it’s interesting how the writer, in terms of ebooks on the decline, references the American Association Of Publishers.

 

[YubYubCommander]

Got my hands on the English translation of Fire With Fire. Looks like they’re going six months between books. Second book (as noted earlier) releases in May and the final book, titled In the Heart of Chaos, releases next November

 

[ClayinCA]

I read today that David Goodman is going to do a Spock "autobiography" as a follow-up to his Picard one. Has anybody heard anything about when that might be due to come out?

 

[The Wormhole]

I read today that David Goodman is going to do a Spock "autobiography" as a follow-up to his Picard one. Has anybody heard anything about when that might be due to come out?

I wouldn't expect it any earlier than 2019, which I'm basing on the precedent that Goodman had two years between his other books, The First 150 Years of the Federation in 2013, the Kirk autobiography in 2015, Picard autobiography in 2017, it seems logical the Spock autobiography would be in 2019.

 

[ryan123450]

I seem to remember he mentioned when it would come out during a recent episode of Literary Treks he was interviewed on. Maybe @Kertrats47 or @Admiral Rex remembers?

 

[Idran]

It may be an opinion piece, but it’s interesting how the writer, in terms of ebooks on the decline, references the American Association Of Publishers.

I mean, the writer does reference them, but did you look at the link he gave to what he was referencing, tomswift2002? The link does give the specific numbers, by the way, JD:

eBooks: Publisher revenue and unit sales for eBooks declined for the third year in a row, losing about $1 billion since their peak in 2013 when revenues were $3.24 billion. In 2016, publisher revenues for eBooks were $2.26 billion, down 16.9% from 2015. Unit sales also declined by 14.7%, with eBooks now making up 14.0% of the trade book market, down from 16.9% last year. Within the Adult fiction book category, eBooks are the most purchased format with 33.0% of the market.

They're declining, but they're still a huge part of the market. We're beyond the "EBOOKS ARE GOING TO REPLACE PRINT" peak we were seeing about 4 years ago, sure, but it isn't like they're dying. They're still the largest segment of the Adult fiction category, and they still make up 14% of the trade book market as a whole.

And the loss probably isn't a migration back to print. By that same article, the overall number of units sold increased by 2.8% between 2015 and 2016. The number of print books sold increased by about 3.2% in that same timespan (not spelled out explicitly, but it went from 1,836.7 M to 1,897.1 M by the presented chart). That's nearly the exact same proportion, which suggests that the increase was almost entirely because of the increase in number of units sold as a whole. But do you know what surged between 2015 and 2016? Audiobooks, which increased in number of units sold by 24.7% between 2015 and 2016, and which has seen the number of units sold double since 2012.

By the evidence, the decline in the market share of eBooks isn't because people are realizing the true glory of print. It's that people are getting more interested in audiobooks.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Seriously, "even the subtle taste of the ink on your fingertips"? You were at a loss to figure out how to hit "taste" weren't you David Sax.

Yes, that really struck me as odd when I first read it in the article. I'm reasonably sure I cannot actually taste through my fingertips. And if you are sticking your fingers in your mouth while reading to taste the ink... why in the world are you doing that?!

 

[Damian]

A lot of people just don't want to take the time to sit down with a book and read it. Ashame really. I usually read during my lunch and then before I go to bed. It's a nice way to unwind. I prefer actual printed books. I only read the e-books when that was the only format a book was released in. I guess I'm a bit old fashioned though. But they do take up more room. I have 4 bookcases of Star Trek books at this point in my attic. Whenever I go up there it reminds of the one scene in the movie Fahrenheit 451 where they go up and find a hidden library in the attic.

 

[Christopher]

I think part of the decline in book reading too has to do with our ADHD type of society. A lot of people just don't want to take the time to sit down with a book and read it. Ashame really.

When the printing press was invented, there were probably people who lamented that it would lead to a degeneration in the art of people having conversations with each other, because they'd all have their faces buried in books. And that it would cheapen books by making them something commonplace that anyone could own.

 

[David Weller]

Am I the only one who is worried that young people do not seem to read for pleasure as much as they did when I was younger.

I know there has been a technological explosion since I was a child but children do not seem to be encouraged to read.

I have a six year old granddaughter and the other day, seeing a book on the table next to my chair, said “Why do you read so much?” She then asked me to turn on the television.

Of course, it is no surprise that her mother doesn’t read for pleasure either.

 

[trampledamage]

Yes, that really struck me as odd when I first read it in the article. I'm reasonably sure I cannot actually taste through my fingertips. And if you are sticking your fingers in your mouth while reading to taste the ink... why in the world are you doing that?!

If there are any Horizon: Zero Dawn players here - I'll just say that Brin knows what he's talking about

I have a six year old granddaughter and the other day, seeing a book on the table next to my chair, said “Why do you read so much?” She then asked me to turn on the television.

Of course, it is no surprise that her mother doesn’t read for pleasure either.

Rather than lamenting a lack of reading why not see technology as offering so many more choices for children (and adults) to find fun and learning.

As for your granddaughter - if she sees you reading, then she'll know that books are available for enjoyment, she'll pick up the habit if she wants to. When she's older you can offer her some of your books

 

[Damian]

As for your granddaughter - if she sees you reading, then she'll know that books are available for enjoyment, she'll pick up the habit if she wants to. When she's older you can offer her some of your books [/QUOTE]

That may be true. My daughter loves her I-pad and video games like most kids her age, but she also loves to read. She's has a ton of books of her own. Part of it was I used to read to her when she was younger and then she started picking up on it. I get David's point though. It seems a lot of parents these days don't take the time to read to them. It always starts there. Unfortunately I was never really able to get her into Star Trek. I tried, even trying the animated series on her but it wasn't her thing. Oh well, you can't win them all I guess.

 

[ryan123450]

Every day I pop into this thread hoping for news. Everyday left still waiting.

 

[Greg Cox]

Am I the only one who is worried that young people do not seem to read for pleasure as much as they did when I was younger.

I know there has been a technological explosion since I was a child but children do not seem to be encouraged to read.

I have a six year old granddaughter and the other day, seeing a book on the table next to my chair, said “Why do you read so much?” She then asked me to turn on the television.

Of course, it is no surprise that her mother doesn’t read for pleasure either.

I suspect it depends on the individuals and their parents and siblings, of course. One of my nieces is a voracious reader. You never see her without a book, she's on a first-name basis with the clerks at her neighborhood bookstore, and the challenge is to get her to put down her book at dinners and family events. And my other nieces and nephew, while maybe less obsessed, all have well-stocked bookshelves in their rooms and enjoy frequent trips to the library. Then again, my family has always been into books and reading, and the children were read to before they could read themselves.

Also, the fact the young-adult fiction is a boom industry these days bodes well for the future.

 

[Christopher]

Then again, my family has always been into books and reading, and the children were read to before they could read themselves.

My parents read to me from a very early age. I literally cannot remember a time when I couldn't read, although I remember a time at age 3 when I was still writing several letters and numbers backward. The first time I encountered a neighbor kid (a year older than me) who told me she couldn't read, I thought she was lying, since it had never occurred to me that reading was something that had to be learned rather than just something that came naturally to everyone.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Both of my daughters love their tablets, but both are also voracious readers. They’re always checking books from the library (school and public), and asking me to take them to the bookstore. Books are usually on their wish lists for birthdays/Christmas.

Father is pleased.

 

[Idran]

I think part of the decline in book reading too has to do with our ADHD type of society.

What do you mean by "our ADHD type of society"? Isn't that a little rude to people with ADHD, to take a disorder and minimize it by turning it into a general description of an entire culture? Like, what's the difference in meaning between this and saying "our distractable type of society", or "our unfocused type of society"?