Cars did not kill off horses. Digital publishing will not kill off books.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The advent of ebooks is no more going to kill the pleasure of reading than the introduction of the internal combustion engine made horses extinct.
Books on horse racing subjects have never done well, and I am told that publishers had come to think of them as the literary version of box office poison.
When I wonder what the future of books will be, I often think about horses. Before automobiles existed, everyone had a horse. Then cars became available, and their convenience, compared to horses, was undeniable.
I had no idea I'd end up writing four books when I completed 'Mortal Engines.' I didn't even think it would find a publisher.
The technology that threatens to kill off books as we know them - the 'physical book,' a new phrase in our language - is also making the physical book capable of being more beautiful than books have been since the middle ages.
Books are alive, you see. They're not dead, they're alive.
Movies can't ruin books. They can only ruin movies.
Remember that just because major publishing is having trouble, that doesn't mean people have stopped reading books. Printed books won't go away, but ebooks won't go away, either.
For years I'd understood that publishing in paperback was the kiss of death.
Unless their use by readers bring them to life, books are indeed dead things.