The Future is Now

by Michelle Gagnon

I heard an interesting term the other day. A friend was discussing the book she’s reading for her book club, and she referred to it as a “pBook.”
I was initially mystified.
Turns out a “pBook,” as she explained, is a book in print form. Or, as I like to refer to it, a book.

But is this the wave of the future? As eBooks become more prevalent, will the term “pBook” enter our lexicon?

Recently Andrew Gross announced that for his latest release, RECKLESS, a full 35% of his sales were digital downloads. I noticed that he made the long list for New York Times bestsellers, and it made me wonder. Do digital sales count toward the list now? I’d love an answer if anyone knows.

Regardless, 35% is simply remarkable, considering what a leap that likely is from previous years. I know that in the past, my books averaged between 5-10%. I’m currently awaiting my most recent royalty statement, and I wonder what kind of increase I’ll see for my titles.

14 thoughts on “The Future is Now

  1. I’m sorry but I think that is silly! ebook is fine, but pbook is unnecessary. Obviously a book is a print version!

    But hey, thats just me.

  2. Michelle, your post got me to thinking. I checked my latest statement that came in a few days ago and my eBook sales count for 25.7% of my total domestic sales.

  3. I’ve seen the term pBook before, but I refuse to use it because I think it is dumb. On top of that, e and p rhyme, so if we’re trying to make a distinction between the two in conversation it would only cause more confusion. With pictures we have physical pictures and digital pictures, but we simply call them pictures most of the time. I figure books with end up being the same way. We’ll simply call both physical and electronic versions books unless we need to be more specific, at which point we will probably be even more specific, so instead of saying eBook we might say pdf file.

  4. Hmmm…pbook does sound a tad redundant but I am intrigued by the percentage that ebooks now appear to represent. I bet we’ll soon see an ‘ebook’ bestseller list just as we see a hardback/trade pb and mass market list now.

  5. Michelle, the previous statement showed that eBooks counted for 9.3% of my domestic sales. So it took a 176% jump in six months. With eBooks, there’s no such thing as “out of print”.

  6. Another term commonly used on forums for a print book is a DTB (dead tree book).

    The real question for Joe and Andrew is, are the increases in ebook sales replacing the print book sales or adding to them?

  7. Thanks for clarifying that, Neil. And Joe, that’s amazing. Would you mind if I ask how much of a jump that was from your previous statement? Still waiting on mine.
    Liza, I think that’s the issue. Ten years from now, it won’t be obvious that a book was read in print form. However I suspect that Timothy is right, in general conversation it will just become “books.”

  8. I wonder if selling more ebooks lowers your royalties or increases sales as is it easier to click a button on the internet to download than it is to get in your car and drive to a bookstore?

  9. At the risk of sounding paranoid, I personally have allot of concern over eBooks and the rise in eBook sales. I don’t dislike them and actually see the potential in terms of delivery and ease of storage as high points. My issue is with the potential to generate copies of eBooks – essentially royalty free, illegal markets. We’ve seen this in music, software, and movies already. I find no reason to believe eBooks are any more taboo than other electronic media in the warez/torrent phenomenon.

    On topic, I agree that for now the term pBook seems redundant, and most likely in the near future, they will all be simply “books.”

  10. As I exited my favourite pub the other night I happened upon a man standing in the alley beside the building facing the wall. He held a small light of some sort to illuminate the space before him. Drawing near I heard the telltale splash of a man evacuating an excess of ferment barley beverage from within. Curiously, I noticed that he was mumbling to himself, not in a drunken manner but as if tallying figures. I approached him as he zipped up. He finished writing in a small hard back volume as he turned towards me, smiling amiably.

    “Pray tell, are you a novelist?”

    “A novelist? Oh no sir. Why do you ask?”

    “I could not help but notice that you were writing somewhat copiously as you voided your bladder.”

    “Ah, I see your point of misunderstanding. Well, I was by no means writing a story of any sort fictional or otherwise, rather upon the order of my physician for the healthy sustification of my liver and bodily systems, it is a ledger.”

    At that point he opened the volume and showed me page after page of annotations consisting of blocks of quite similar text.

    Ingested: 2 pts Ale, 1 pt Porter
    Time to bladder void: 1h 14min
    Degree of necessity: urgent
    Coloration: Light brown-dark yellow
    Quantity: 4 pts, approx.

    “I say,” said I, “what record does this ledger keep?”

    He granted me the smile of one who instructs young children and replied with not a trace of mockery,

    “Why sir, it is my Pee Book.”

  11. I do agree with Liza and Tim, silliness. Book should mean what it always has and always will. No mincing of words hear.

    It is a verb meaning to create a hotel or restaurant reservation in advance.

    Or

    To run really fast when Po-Po is coming up the street.

    or

    what Po-Po does when you didn’t run fast enough

    or

    a shef of tobacco leaves

    or

    a block of crystal mica

    or

    whatever single one and only meaning the word has.

    I mean seriously, it’s not like language is fluid and ever changing. No siree, it’s Anfyint Anglais fore mine own habitat babee.

  12. There’s that darn spam ad again… Kill Zone crew, you should get rid of the darn things before they reproduce.

    Anyway, in response to Richard Waskiewicz’ concern over pirate copies: My day job is a computer teacher and this is covered in the curriculum. Generally speaking, because of the fights in music, software, and movies the electronic book people are well aware of these dangers. In short, I guarantee they’re doing everything in their power to prevent it because once a black market gets started it’s almost impossible to stamp it out. Best to prevent that eventuality from the beginning so don’t lose any sleep over it. You can trust people to guard their assets.

    Back on topic I agree with Timothy too. (And I’ve never heard DTB before…) Thanks for the vocabulary lesson.

    BTW, do you guys know what Blam and Spim are? Blam is blog comment spam (like “Nishant” in the comment above this one) and Spim is Spam over IM.

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