E-books: And or Only?

So today I have good news and bad news (I think). A publisher wants to look at my novel! I was over the moon until I realized this publishing house only publishes e-books. That’s it. No print. No paper. Just e-books.

I didn’t even know publishing houses like this existed. I’ve always thought of e-books as an “and” not an
“only”. You published a print book AND and e-book. Not only an e-book. Sure, I know lots of people read e-books. I read e-books. But lots of people don’t. Like my mom (who is a total Luddite).

So I did some searching to find out what the story is on e-books. And here’s what I found:

• Of Americans over age 16, 43% or 103 million own e-readers or tablets (Pew Research Center)

• 28% of Americans read at least one e-book in 2013

• 5% of Americans read only e-books in 2013

That all sounds good to me. But how will people find my book when I don’t have any other fiction books to my name? I can understand making your name as a writer and then writing a few books that come out only as e-books. But someone perusing their local bookstore won’t see my e-book stacked up on a table by the door. How likely is it that people will find my e-book while they’re perusing an online bookstore? Not likely. So I’ll have to rely on other ways to get the word out about my book. But there can’t be any book signings, can there? Of course I often hear that most readers are finding their new reads through online sources: blogs, e-mags, tweets, etc. Will readers want to enter a giveaway if it’s just an e-book?

Does publishing as an e-book only leave too many people out? Readers who only read print books. Readers who read some e-books but prefer print books. Readers who want to give a book as a gift. Readers who buy books spontaneously when they see them in a store.

So many questions. Very few concrete answers.

Just one more question: do you think an only e-book is a good option for a debut novelist?

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