More than a decade after
becoming one of the first well-known authors to publish an e-book, horror
writer Stephen King has turned his back on digital publishing for his latest
release. The bestselling writer will not release an ebook version of Joyland, set in a North Carolina amusement park in 1973, and
tipped to be a huge bestseller.
He hopes his fans will
continue to buy his books in print form and give a boost to the many
booksellers worldwide who are struggling to compete against e-books.
Personally, I think he’d do
far more to help ailing bookshops by emulating Barefoot Books and refusing to let Amazon retail the book! As far as
I’m concerned, it’s not ebooks that are driving traditional booksellers out of
business, it’s e-commerce and the huge buying power of retailers like Amazon
and the supermarkets. If anyone else has an opinion on this, please do comment!
King was among the first
authors to pioneer e-books when they hit the market in 2000. He exclusively
made his 16,000 word ghost story, Riding the Bullet, only available as an e-book. He has also released
three other stories as Kindle Singles, on top of his non-fiction essay, Guns, in the wake of the Newtown shooting.
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