Oh puh-leeze

cross-posted at my blog(s)

So the reason ebooks are taking off so big is because us women can read our ’salacious’ content in private?

According to this guy…yep.  he says:

Well, once again it seems like porn is blazing a path to a new media format. Of the top 10 bestsellers under the “Multiformat” category, nine are tagged “erotica” amd the last is “dark fantasy”. from the ITworld.com blog

First off…we don’t like it when people call our erotic romance porn.  Most die-hard erotic romance readers will tell ya that if the romance isn’t any good, the book’s not worth reading, no matter how well written, how hot the sex scenes are.  Please note…romance doesn’t equate sex scenes.  Romance is that slow slide into love, or that crazy free fall.  It’s the development of a relationship-the sex is just a bonus, because we need that romance.

If all we needed was porn or salicious content, (and felt the need to hide it) we’d buy playgirl and claim we read it for the articles.

From a romance reader, from a romance writer, from an ebook author, here are some reasons why ebooks are taking off.

1. More and more people are becoming aware of them.  The gadget on that one little site…uh…oh, yeah, Amazon!  is making more and more readers aware of ebooks.  That Sony doo-dad that is in the Books a Million stores, Borders store, Target…many who were unaware of ebooks are now aware.  Once made aware, they are more likely to check things out, rather than when they didn’t know it existed.
2. Storage.  I’ve got three tall bookcases crammed full.  One is for research.  One case is for keepers.  One case is my yet to be read.  I can only get so many books on those cases.  And I have no room as of yet for more.  Different story with ebooks.  I can store as many as my heart desires.
3. Instant gratification.  Say I’m cruising an author site and a title catches my eye.  Now I’m impatient.  I could wait until the next day, the weekend, when I have time to go buy the book.  But if it’s in ebook, no need to wait.  Viola, it’s there.
4. It is a little more earth-friendly.  No paper.  That simple.
5. Bookaholics can tote a lot more books on an e-reader than they can in their suitcases.  Instead of taking 10 print books and hoping I don’t wish I had something else, I can take my reader, which has upwards of 75+ books on it at all times.
6. Availability.  Perhaps the guy that wrote the blog post isn’t aware that many ebooks aren’t available in print.  Books from the smaller independent epubs like Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, Loose Id, Changeling, etc put the books out in ebook form only and the print format doesn’t come along until later.  I’m not inclined to wait for print, not if I really want to read it and it’s only in ebook format.

The only time salacious content comes into play for me is if the cover is so blatantly erotic, I can’t keep it on my shelves-not because I’m ‘embarassed’ or I need ‘privacy’.  I’m protecting my children.  I have three children.  Three young children.  They don’t need to see a book with some chick caught in a nekkid clinch with three guys. So if the cover of the book crosses my limit, but I want to read it, I will then see if it’s in ebook.  It has nothing to do with me needing:

the privacy they offer, both during purchase and when reading.

I’m an adult. I read what I choose. I don’t care what the opinions of others are when it comes to my reading material. I’m the one reading it…not them. If they don’t like my reading material, that’s fine…nobody is making them read it.

Have I gotten knocked for reading romance or erotic romance? Oh yes, but those knocks don’t leave me inclined to ‘hide’ my reading. It only irritates me or amuses me, and my response tends to be…well, what was the last romance you read? Most people can’t answer the question.

So there’s the opinion of a woman who has been reading and writing romance for years. I’ve been epubbed since 2003 (I think) and I’ve been reading ebooks since 2002 (I think). Shame or some need to hide my reading material didn’t figure into my purchasing choices then, and they certainly don’t now.