r_harvey - Paperless Books

Like circular books, paperless books have no beginning and no end--and every time around you see new depth. Each time through, your perspective changes, and the level of detail you see may increase or decrease.

Tip: In Windows, try making a Reference group or menu, with links to often-used help files. This is also a great place for saved HTML pages, Encyclopedias, and text file notes. Now, when we need to look-up something, it's all in our custom reference library.

While you're here, check-out the reference documents on the home page.

Online books in PDF or Windows help files are not limited by size constraints, easier to browse, easier to search, cheaper to produce, and easier to update.

So why would you want to pay for a help file, especially when it's only a few dollars? By the time a book is edited, printed, marketed, distributed and sold, there's little left for the author. And once the publisher has printed a garage-full of books, there's no way they'll update it when errors are found or additions are needed.

If publishers do short runs to make it easier to update and to minimize up-front costs, the books are never in stock, and they'll be back ordered for months--or forever. With specialized books, nobody wins: the publisher is reluctant to commit, the writer is lucky to get a quarter an hour, and the reader is hard-pressed to find current, accurate information in print.

Writers cannot afford the time to do the job they would like. And, on the other side, publishers must widen the margins and pad the illustrations in order to make it look like it's worth $40. It's no wonder most books are oversized and under-written.

I've self-published several books, which cuts lots of the hassles. But nobody truly wins, except the print shop. Paperless means the reader gets it faster, more complete, and cheaper--without the up-front investment in trees and ink.

About Paperless Books