The future is ebooks but print owns the present

A trip to the bookstore is my nirvana—the cover art, the smell of the paper, the shrink wrap, the ability to sit and browse through whatever part of the book you want before buying.

You’d be hard pressed to see me walking into a bookstore and not walking out with a new book in tow. But about a year ago I decided to try switching to ebooks to see if they could take the place of my book buying compulsion, if only for a short while.

I’m continuing to work at it but I’ve yet to make the full switch. There are many reasons including price, DRM and device and format compatibility, but the real issue came from one specific niche of the book industry—comic books.

Case study
When I first opened my freshly delivered copy of The Absolute Sandman—Vol 1, my senses were overwhelmed. The look, feel and smell when I first opened it were an overload to my system and I had to sit back for a minute to compose myself. And when I finally set my eyes on the first page of panels, I nearly started crying. I’ve yet to have that experience replicated by an ebook and device combo when reading a comic book. Or any book for that matter. And until an ebook reader comes out that can show a comic as utterly resplendent—yes, it’s so good that I had to pull out the thesaurus—as The Absolute Sandman print version, I won’t make the full switch.

Opportunity knocks
While I was catching myself up on a long-running comic series I’d neglected for the last couple years, I had a dream. And in that dream it would be possible to subscribe to my favourite comics and have them delivered directly to my ebook reader as soon as they’re published.

I only follow a few series but keeping up with releases is a pain and when you want to try and follow crossover arcs, it’s an exercise in futility for all but the most devoted fans. Why not make it easier for people to buy that content?

If a Batman story ties in with a Green Arrow story, I’d be much more inclined to buy the tie-in if it was presented to me just as I finished the Batman story and I could buy it at that exact moment. Take advantage of book lovers at their weakest—when they’re fully engrossed in a plot—and keep them reading! Ebooks present an amazing opportunity for comic book publishers to develop a platform to deliver their content right to their readers and help make sense of the tie-ins. They’ve even got a chance to develop their own niche-market reading device.

Marvel is getting close but they still haven’t nailed it. With things picking up in the digital world for comic books, this is a step that publishers can’t miss.

Related Links
Stan Lee and Walt Disney Partner on Digital Motion Comic Series
Digital Comic Books Now Available for iPhone and iPod Touch
Readers Say Paying for Digital Comics is the Future

twitpitch: The future is #ebooks. @thebatlab explores opportunities for #comic book publishers to deliver content.