Last night I had one of my very vivid dreams which I am still evaluating for its meaning. Basically I was in a used bookstore and looking to see what was being published in the romance line. I opened some and to my surprise, they were a combination of words and little videos which were like movies with sound and moving images. I was a little upset by it as it seemed the videos, although very attractive, were distracting from the words.
It's not hard to understand why I'd dream such a thing given my work lately with covers and trailers. I had even seen a book trailer on YouTube which did have actors portraying the characters in live action.
Although I've gotten into the idea of trailers and want to make at least one more, I have also seen a drawback to them and that includes the more graphic covers. When I wrote my stories, I tried to use descriptive passages to let the reader imagine these characters. When I began to put together covers with photos, even when digitized, they took on a reality that then gave them a focus point that they hadn't previously had. The cover image became the character.
I guess that dream was an expression of the conflict I feel. Create a photographic kind of cover or trailer and it is a draw. For me, it's also fun to do, but it also is a firming up of something that previously was only in imagination and words. When words for books went from paper to this world of light and color, the potential for trailers as part of the book was there.
Where it comes to the issue of eBooks or paper ones, I like both and feel no conflict as some do. This new world is, however, throwing a lot of preconceived notions into the air for rethinking. With the government going after eBook publishers with the accusation they have been in pricing cahoots (like what part of our consumer world isn't?), there is a lot of concern for what it will mean.
The notion is that eBooks, which don't have physical substance, should be cheaper than those published on paper. The argument on the other side has been that the big publishing houses must be protected from the encroachment of this new world which might sink them, and that publishers and authors deserve the same price for an eBook (or even more).
Well if the worth of a book is in the words, than they are right. If the worth of a book is in its cost to produce, the argument grows slimmer. But publishing houses maintain editors, graphic artists, publicists, and the facilities required to create and get to the market. They sell books not just by the reputation of the author but also their house. So they do have cost that Amazon won't have for the books they put up like mine. Should their industry be protected even if that means price fixing?
An author's fame can help sell a book. It happens again and again. People want books by authors who are famous and have been reviewed by experts (although some of those experts are basically in cahoots with publishing houses). When someone like a Tom Clancy brings out a new book, he has sales waiting. Is that worth more money? Up until now, the market determined that. If his book didn't sell at the higher price, the publishing house would either lower it or find a new author.
I have heard indie writers worrying about the cost of the big name writers coming down and fearing it will impact their already meager sales. I don't see that as an issue as unless an indie writers wants top dollar, their books (generally between $.99 and 2.99) will always be a lot less than the big guys.
As to whether videos will ever become part of books, I doubt it. The cost alone would preclude most writers going that route. In the dream I found it hard to pay attention to the words on one page when on the other was a scene being acted out.
The idea there was you'd go between videos and words to get the whole story. It's rather as though a movie had been created from the words, kind of like graphic novels (where some go a stage beyond the comic book to a theatrical film).
