so Im probably not that qualified to comment but I do prefer the idea of real books - i like the low tech tactile experience of reading. Mind you I once said that about Ipod's and downloads and my CD's are now in the loft and most of my music is purchased on Itunes.

Is the original book a sumptuous affair replete with photos and an aesthetically pleasing layout or is it primarily a text-based biog with a few photos?

From a punter's perspective I'd see little point in buying the book as an e-book if it's the former but if it's the latter then I'd be interested.

Perhaps another consideration is that e-books will probably only get better and the content more dynamic in how it is accessed and read. In that respect dipping your toe in the water now may actually lead to greater long term exposure to the book, the act you wrote about and your own talents.

I seem to recall someone on here a while ago talking about the economics of publishing your own stuff directly on Amazon in electronic format. Can't recall the detail, but the split was from memory a lot better than 25:75...

As regards preference for one format over another - I really don't have one any more, I read both formats regularly. Price and ease of access are the main drivers with most of my 'impulse' purchases being electronic these days. Doesn't stop me buying real books when the mood or opportunity takes me though.

the cardboard/plastic of CDs and the paper/cardboard of books. I like having walls of CDs and bookshelves full of books. I don't have an ipod, don't do this Spotify doo-dah and I will never own a Kindle.

So I'd buy the book.

...and thanks Bisto: yes, primarily text based, so there's no 'dumbing down' aspect in sanctioning a e-book,

I'm not sure about the rights vis a vis whether I could publish direct if I wanted to. All I know is my print publisher can't seem to publish without permission/renegotiation in e-book format.

Truth is, I don't want/need the bother of publishing in a new format myself anyway. I'm happy enough for the title to continue existing in physical format - and the idea of 30 or 40 quid every six months from the standard 7.5% hard copy royalty is in itself a pleasing novelty after 10 years of negative equity!

If I thought saying yes to 25% might mean 25% of a vast pie of wealth maybe my principles would go out the window, but I don't. I don't even know what ebooks sell for - presumably peanuts.

It just sticks in the throat a bit, thinking that - with barely any capital costs that I can see (bar contributing to their general overheads along with every other author on the books, as it were) - someone is requiring 75% of your earnings for doing... what?

both Bisto and Paul above. If it's mostly text based, it would lend itself to e-format very well, and, owning a Kindle, I know how easy it is to buy on a whim. With bookshops becoming rarer, buying online is the method of necessity, and if it's a choice between waiting a couple of days for the physical item to arrive, or download within seconds, and there's not too large a difference in price, the e-book format wins.

....the question then becomes "how many policyblokes are there?"

It's valuable insight: I download music, but almost always ONLY when there isn't an option of owning a hard copy. I'm like Daddio, above - I'm just used to things that live on shelves, by and large. I doubt I'd ever become a Kindle reader myself.

large-format coffee-table volumes.

The recent Steve Jobs biog weighs about a kilo - it's hard work physically manipulating a hardback of that heft whereas on the iPad it's easy.

In addition, I like the instant gratification - see a book, buy it, start reading it within seconds.

So, to answer your question, would I buy your book in e-book format, yes.

BUT, if it weren't available as an e-book then I wouldn't not buy a hard copy on some sort of principle, it's just that an e-book is more convenient for me.

Ask for 50%. Tell them that there is little risk on their part so going with a more even royalty makes sense. Stick to your guns if they decline, wait a week or so and see what happens.

I'd buy a eBook over a paper book provided that there is a small price benefit and its a book that you read front to back and don't jump about via an index (like a recipe book for example).

Have done so, Leedsmeister. about a week ago, as it happens. Haven't heard a thing. I might compromise - honestly haven't considered it, don't have a 'figure in mind' as it were, but I knew instinctively that 25% for an e-version of a text which had already made the publishers its money back and more was just plain wrong.

.....anything for 3/4 of the potential profit!

On the wider issue, if all these people are getting Kindle all those lovely books have to go somewhere.
Now is the time to buy the books.....get Kindle at a later date.

(see also the CD/vinyl change in the 1980s when the clever money was on lapping up the discarded vinyl and getting CDs/a CD player ten years down the line.)

... why don't you offer them a full buy-out, say £1,000, for the rights? Based on the numbers you quote above ("30 or 40 quid every six months"), that would be 50 years' worth of hardcopy sales...?

I fundamentally agree that the publishers are hardly "earning" their 75%, though they might reasonably suggest that they did all the marketing/PR stuff with the hardcopy version, and this is just an extension of that...

On the other hand, the fact they're asking for your signature suggests the original contract didn't include any "future formats" clause, so self-E-publishing might be an option worth looking at.

And to answer the original question, it's hardcopy all the way for me.

As others have said, electronic self publishing seems to be the way to go.

Firstly, it's pretty easy to do and costs you next to nothing. Secondly, a growing number of authors, curators, collectors and, yep, copy and pasters are making a tidy sum from doing so.

Your tale reminds me of a conversation I had with an old friend a few months ago. After many years apart we were catching up over a quiet pint.

"I bought your iPad app." I offered, apropos of nothing.

"What app?" He asked. "I've never made one of those app things."

"Your book," I replied. "The one about Peter Cook, all the interviews, it's been published as an app."

"Stone me. The c*nts. I'd better call the publisher."

In the rush to cash in on all things shiny and Apple-app-store-alike it turns out the publisher had packaged the content up as a barely interactive app (rather than an ebook) and was coining it at £5.95 a throw...without a word to the authors.

So, self publish, before someone else does.

From your post, it would appear that you do have the rights to your book, so you were correct to be wary.

Twenty-five per cent is a pretty standard rate from a publisher for an eBook; however it only makes sense from the standpoint of a regular publishing deal, where you have the weight of a publisher behind you, with respect to hardback, paperback and eBook sales.

However, if you are only publishing as an eBook — assuming you have the electronic publishing rights — you have to ask yourself the question of what the publisher can do for you. If you think their promotional and marketing efforts will boost sales, then it might be worth considering; if not, it strikes me as a poor deal.

The economics of self publishing electronically (and also in paperback via print-on-demand) are attractive; selling your book on Amazon, as long as you're selling for more than £2, gives you a 70% royalty, which is obviously much higher. The challenge, of course, is promoting and marketing your book – and there's every chance it will languish in obscurity. However, if you already have a profile and some contacts, you have a definite advantage.

As for eBook conversion; it's easy to do it of a fashion, but takes some effort to do it well. I've done several myself (I also write a Kindle conversion website) and can probably help you out (technically) for the price of a couple of pints.

...a blog?

Does not compute.

...and that idea about publishing a BLOG... :-D

I mean, crikey, we're into about 12 volumes of book over at the Mahavishno thread alone at the mo...

Anyway: Brookster, I shall inquire of my electronic rights from the publisher. If it transpires I do indeed own these, I'll get in touch. (I do know a few pro 'new media' guys, but your rates sound very competitive :-D ).

I could certainly 'add value' to the ebook version by including a few appendices that never made any of the print versions...

Thanks for all the responses so far chaps - it's been really helpful, and I'm sure there'll be a few more comments yet.

Vulpes: your Wheeltappers & Luddites Club - can I join?

book on Kindle Android app after hearing his podcast-one of the books that helped to sell me on Kindle as well. I now use an app and share a Kindle with FPO. Have wbought several books this way now, but generally less than a tenner.

Travel quite a lot on buses and planes.

Hope that's another useful sample point for you.

Well, the answer is 'it depends'...

...but so as not to be obtuse, I'll add that I happen to have fallen for e-books since buying a Kindle about a year ago. I had a Sony Reader Pocket before that but it was slow and the screen bad. Anyway, both 'dead tree' and 'e-' books have their place and so for me it boils down to the a few questions:

(1) Will I want to read it again? If so, I might prefer a paper copy;
(2) The price? All being equal, an e-book priced at the same price as a paper copy always pushes me towards the paper copy as (a) I feel I'm getting something more;
(3) The content? If it's a biog then it ought to have pictures and things in it. Kindles don't do pictures so well. Especially not colour ones;
(4) What kind of 'e-book' you have in mind; though I haven't been sold on any thus far, I think that in time there is a lot of mileage in the truly interactive, 'iPad-style' e-book whereby a non-linear approach to reading a book and consuming its content can be taken, and also where additional media (audio/video/etc.) may be included. Clearly that's tricky with a conventional book...

So there you have it. My reasons, m'lud.

...just to add that I've been on the receiving end of a lot of eBook contracts recently - for work, not because I'm a famous author - and 25% seems to be standard. This is Random House we're talking about, mind you, so they don't show much enthusiasm for negotiating individually on what must be thousands of contracts - publishers are scrambling to catch up, and as electronic publishing becomes the norm, or at least not the exception, percentages may increase. That's what agents and authors are assuming, anyway. (Contracts used to have a catch-all clause covering ways of publishing 'yet to be invented', which always amused me, but now they've been invented, of course.)

The advice you've been given seems good to me - it's hard to see what your publisher can actually bring to the party. All they can do is get the book on Kindle, iBooks etc, and you can do that yourself with a bit of work - you can't just bung a Word doc out there, it needs to be formatted in various ways, but there's plenty of online advice on how to do that. As long as your contract allows it, I'd revert the rights - a friend of mine has just done that with book of hers - it was out of print in hard copy, the publishers offered to do it electronically, but she wanted to control the process herself.

...I'll confirm the rights thing next week and ponder. Meanwhile, I'll try and recover from the crippling stomach pain that's laid me low for the past 36 hours...

I'd still prefer a traditional printed version if there are lots of pictures or if the book is not intended to be read in a linear fashion.

As somebody has pointed out, the impulse buy is a lot easier to achieve if you don't have to go to a bookshop and physically hand over your cash or debit card. The market among people who've been drinking red wine all evening should not be ignored.

...if one's aiming for sales among UB40's membership. But then they're mostly all bankrupt now, aren't they?