Do you think there is any market in having the new Shadowrun novels (and by context the BT ones as well) in an ebook format? I ask as I have an ebook reader that I now read all my novels on, as I just don't have the space for the physical books anymore (I reserve the space for RPG books).

I'm talking Adobe ePub format, mobipocket, LRF or Microsoft LIT formats.

This is totally undecided at this point in time ... I've been researching the market as I've been researching buying an ebook reader, and it seems wacky and fractured and very much a case of never being able to please everyone no matter what we do.

Oh I hear what you're saying. With the Sony Reader now supporting ePub, the open format, it seems likely that over the next year or two it could become the defacto standard going forward.

P.S. Speaking of readers, I haven't got that little side project done yet, but I shall do shortly. Just been too busy.

I don't think the ebook market is very big. I imagine that most people still want to buy a physical book, or at least I know I would.

Yeah -- I've been thinking that ePub [sold from our own site] plus Kindle [from the Amazon store] would be the way to go.



Looking forward to it!

I'm just trying to decide between a silver or red 505...

I think you may find it's bigger than you think, but no it's still not huge. If there is a large enough market for PDF RPG books, then there's likely to be a large enough market for novels of the games in ebook formats especially if the initial setup costs are low enough (as you'll have an electronic format of it anyway in this day and age.)

I ordered the Sony PRS-505 [in BRIGHT FREAKING RED!] yesterday.

Despite being a Technologist, I gotta love my Dead Tree Versions myself.

But an E-Book would be nice... Lots of books, easy to carry on a train or airplane (Unless they think it's a bomb, it does have a battery and wires after all!), just wish I could afford one.

Oh well. They'll come down in price.

Good for you. If you need any assistance, send me an email. You have my personal address.

Bright red. You're a brave lad and no mistaking it.

I always want my books in paper format, no electronic device I have used compares for straight reading. Having said that, electronic versions are far superior for later reference use (keyword searching alone).

It's why I buy all my SR books twice. Paper at my local game store, and PDF from the publisher. Can't afford that for other games, but SR isn't other games.

If the new novels are available both ways I will buy paper and electronic as well, but the less proprietary the electronic the better. I still remember Beta/VHS, where I chose Beta because it was higher quality, and would not want a reader that went the same way as HD DVD (which I avoided until Blu-ray won for those reasons).

P.S. I have not really tried the hand held readers because the market still seems fractured, is ePub restricted to certain platforms?

I'm a hard copy fan myself and if its something I'm going to use and doesn't appear in print I feel the urge to print a copy for in game reference, the ink people love me.

I always prefer to have a hard copy. I buy PDF's of the SR4 books then get them printed out, if they get too worn/tattered print another one to replace it.

WMS

http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Main_Page seems to be the best resource for information about formats, which readers support which formats, etc. ePub seems to be limited to the PRS505 at this point, but I believe that from a technical/license perspective, any reader could integrate support for it, as it's an open standard.

Mobipocket and .lit seem to be the most common, as the market is indeed fractured. However with ePub being pushed by Adobe, and it's relatively quick takeup for the Sony Reader 505s, lots are starting to sell in it. It's likely that iRex and Cybook will support it shortly. Possible the Kindle will hold out with their version of mobipocket, but it's getting a fair following among the sellers now a device supports it.

Still at the moment I mainly buy in .lit or mobipocket and convert them to lrf for the Sony Reader.