Earth Day is April 22--Earth Day Giveaway!

Every April 22, the world stops to recognize Earth Day. In 1970 the first Earth Day was initiated to stop the destruction of our environment and to preserve our world for future generations. Instead of factories belching black, toxic smoke into the air, factories dumping toxic waste into our water systems, the unlimited use of pesticides, and the destruction of the wilderness and loss of wildlife, people took a stand to stop this savage destruction.

People today are more environmentally conscious and schools make a big push to educate our children to care for our earth. Even the simplest thing as not littering makes a big difference and is an easy lesson for our kids and for us to learn and do.

E-books are environmentally friendly. We can save our trees and gas, and eliminate trash by downloading e-books. Thousands of books can be stored digitally on e-readers and reading devices. (At this time there is some concern about what will happen to the obsolete e-reading devices.)

I am recognizing Earth Day by giving away my mystery/suspense e-book, Sunshine Boulevard, to a commenter on this blog via a random drawing. Just leave an idea on how we can help save our environment in our own way. For instance, we turn off lights when we leave the room. How about you? Winner will be chosen Monday April 23 at 9 pm. 

We will all be winners if we have a healthy environment!

E-book Formats Are Confusing...Here's Help

Once upon a time there were e-books and e-zines in their own little world on the Internet. The people laughed and thought how clever to write a short little booklet of information accessed on the pc. Then the clever little electronic books found their niche as promotional tools in business.

In 2000 Stephen King presented his fiction in the form of a "digital novella" which added credence to the idea of e-books having a place in the publishing business. Today with the Kindle, Nook, and more e-readers, plus apps for reading on other devices, the e-book is part of the national scene, not replacing print books, but enhancing the availability of stories and information to readers.

With so many reading devices, there are different e-book formats. Nothing is standard...yet. So if you are confused as to what format you need to order when purchasing an e-book, David Normoyle has added a Format Guide to his website. This clear, easy-to-read guide is a great reference for you. Thanks, David.

David's new e-book, Crimson Dream, is available now at Muse It Up Publishing bookstore.

Ebooks Outsell Print Books in Holiday Sales

According to an article at USA Today, ebooks outsold print books during a week of holiday sales. From this popular national newspaper--"USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list, to be published Thursday, will show digital's new popularity: E-book versions of the top six books outsold the print versions last week. And of the top 50, 19 had higher e-book than print sales."

It is little wonder that the ebook sales are happening during this time of the year since the paper reports about three million to five million ereaders were activated during the month. That is mind boggling. Activation doesn't necessarily equal sales. Some who received the gift may find the new-fangled reader more of a pain than a joy, (but I hope they don't tell their loving children since most were probably gifts from children and family members.) How many of the three million will actually enjoy reading from  an electronic reader or prefer turning the pages of a print book? Old habits are hard to change.

My daughter gave me a Kindle last May for my Mother's Day and birthday gift. I was delighted and enjoy the ease of looking up a book, paying for it, and then downloading it so I can read it within a blink of an eye. I also like being able to change the font size for easy-on-the-eyes reading.

Ebooks are here to stay. They are impacting the writing and publishing business, but I don't believe they will eliminate the paper books. Somehow I can't imagine cuddling up with my two year old granddaughter with my Kindle. It is too much fun to turn pages of a colorful picture book and ooh and ahh together at the images on the large page. What a joy to flip the pages back and forth to find that same frog on a page we read earlier.

Print books are here to stay, but ebooks will find a place in our lives in this new era of electronic books.