Epic Comic con Battles of Modernity! Digital Vs. Print
At Salt Lake Comic Con 2014, Jess Smart Smiley, Carter Reid, Mike Lovins, Bryan Beus, Valerie Gardner, Jaleta Clegg and Jason A. Anderson got together to discuss whether people should publish digitally or in print. By and large, the answer from the panelists was both, but the advantages of digital publishing couldn’t be ignored.
Reid says that digital’s greatest advantage is also its greatest weakness.
“There’s no barriers to entry,” says Reid. Anyone can get a website and be ready to publish in 20 minutes.
Gardner says that uploading to eBook and the software for the conversion are free. However, that doesn’t make digital better.
“There’s a place for both of them, and there’s a need for both of them,” says Gardner.
When uploading eBooks or any other electronic format, it is important to know who controls what. The reader is going to control the font choices, so there is no point in spending a lot of time worrying about that. However, it may be important for the author to understand where the page breaks are and make sure that they happen regardless of format.
“I love digital because I am trying to simplify my life,” says Beus. “The less things I have, the more time I ca spend on my story.”
Beus still finds that people will buy something tangible over something that lives in the cloud. He sells 10 times as much in hard copy as he does in electronic.
Smiley enjoys the process and uses a workflow that allows the means to be as rewarding as the ends.
“I gravitate to books,” says Anderson. “The market will sustain both.”
“I think they supplement each other.”
Reid says that digital makes editing easier. As a cover artist, he is able to create a cover, and if changes have to be made, he can do so quickly in digital artwork. In print, the changes usually mean doing the whole thing over.
“It was really freeing to have a computer,” says Clegg. It made it easier for her to write and edit.
More people are willing to take a chance on a cheaper eBook than on a more expensive hard copy when it comes to trying out a new author.
“The market I evolving, and I think it is important” to evolve with it, says Lovins.
The Internet alone has changed the workflow for Reid in terms of research.
“Being able to have instant information at the drop of a hat revolutionizes everything I do,” says Reid.
“Don’t be afraid to give stuff away for free,” says Beus. It is a lesson that he has learned from Jenni James, and it has worked for her.
Reid says that digital’s greatest advantage is also its greatest weakness.
“There’s no barriers to entry,” says Reid. Anyone can get a website and be ready to publish in 20 minutes.
Gardner says that uploading to eBook and the software for the conversion are free. However, that doesn’t make digital better.
“There’s a place for both of them, and there’s a need for both of them,” says Gardner.
When uploading eBooks or any other electronic format, it is important to know who controls what. The reader is going to control the font choices, so there is no point in spending a lot of time worrying about that. However, it may be important for the author to understand where the page breaks are and make sure that they happen regardless of format.
“I love digital because I am trying to simplify my life,” says Beus. “The less things I have, the more time I ca spend on my story.”
Beus still finds that people will buy something tangible over something that lives in the cloud. He sells 10 times as much in hard copy as he does in electronic.
Smiley enjoys the process and uses a workflow that allows the means to be as rewarding as the ends.
“I gravitate to books,” says Anderson. “The market will sustain both.”
“I think they supplement each other.”
Reid says that digital makes editing easier. As a cover artist, he is able to create a cover, and if changes have to be made, he can do so quickly in digital artwork. In print, the changes usually mean doing the whole thing over.
“It was really freeing to have a computer,” says Clegg. It made it easier for her to write and edit.
More people are willing to take a chance on a cheaper eBook than on a more expensive hard copy when it comes to trying out a new author.
“The market I evolving, and I think it is important” to evolve with it, says Lovins.
The Internet alone has changed the workflow for Reid in terms of research.
“Being able to have instant information at the drop of a hat revolutionizes everything I do,” says Reid.
“Don’t be afraid to give stuff away for free,” says Beus. It is a lesson that he has learned from Jenni James, and it has worked for her.