Here’s the info from Book Depository‘s About Page:
“Welcome to Book Depository, the world’s leading specialist online bookstore. We’re proud to offer over 14 million titles, all at unbeatable prices with free delivery worldwide to over 100 countries. Whatever your interest or passion, you’ll find something interesting in our bookshop full of delights.
“Of the 30 million titles ever printed in the English language only a few million of these are in print. We are seeking to make available as many of these titles as possible (and working to do the same with foreign language titles). This way, we will have the largest breadth of titles available in the world.
And, here’s what wordery says about itself:
“We’re one of the fastest growing online bookshops and our mission is to provide you with an alternative haven to buy the books you love. We offer over 10 million books and provide free delivery to over 100 countries.
“A place where booklovers could discover new reads and chat to helpful staff with a genuine enthusiasm for all things bound. It would, in short, be like a traditional bookshop. But with all the convenience of an online store: great service, an outstanding choice, round-the-clock access, excellent value, and – of course – free delivery to anywhere in the world.
“…we’re committed to working with charities to improve literacy among young people, because we believe this is a crucial measure of a healthy society. We partner with national literacy charities and a local primary school to engender a love of reading among pupils. It’s proving a real success, and many children have discovered a love of literature as a result of our efforts.”
Now, let’s jump from the beloved world of Print books to a particular digital haven of Free Reading…
First, by revealing (from a literary studio called Plympton) A Short History of Serial Fiction, since Wattpad specializes in the serialized reading experience (with around 85% of its 35 million monthly visitors reading on their phones…).
Regular readers know that I’ve been immersed in Wattpad for around 5 months (serializing my already-written novel, fantasies, poems, and a fable…)—reading Many books, from writers at all stages of the experience-spectrum—finding the “beginners” with bad grammar but powerful storytelling more enjoyable than some “experienced” writers who cloud their stories with over-written, florid prose…
I’ll even risk saying you can find “Any” kind of writing you want on Wattpad.
And, something Very Unique in the Wattpad reading experience is the tête-à-tête you can have with the authors :-)
One thing book-collectors won’t like is you can’t keep the books you read on Wattpad (unless the author has created a digital copy they’re selling)…
But, since the tag line of this blog is “Explorations In Reading, Writing, and Publishing”, I can’t end this post without saying that writing on Wattpad IS one of the many forms of Publishing; and, if you’re desperate to publish but are put-off by all the necessary learning in order to self-publish and abhor the insane efforts necessary to be traditionally published (and, you don’t mind letting folks read your work for free until you, perhaps, receive an offer for a book deal) you may want to check out how to write on Wattpad and learn how to generate more engagement with your writing.
Plus, here’s a video, well-acted and produced, yet ingenious in showing one way folks write (and gain acceptance) on Wattpad:
And, here’s a video of an ultra-real, unique-to-the-Max member of the Wattpad Community ~ ( the end is just too cute:-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you don’t see a way to comment (or, “reply”) after this post, try up there at the top right… Read Some Strange Fantasies Grab A Free Novel…
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I can hear some folks saying, “Hell, No!!”, and some others saying, “Of, course.”.
Yes, I put a trailing period on that last sentence—I’m a maverick…
Maverick enough to be “nearly” self-published—using FastPencil which is a “publishing-aide” company, not legacy.
If you want to see other posts we’ve had here on this topic, just click “Publishing” and “Self-Publishing” in the Top Tags widget in the left side-bar…
“I’m sorry if the title of this post misled you into thinking I was going to give you a cut-and-dried, simple, formulaic method for deciding which path to take in the publishing arena—things are changing, new methods are proliferating, the economy is tossing methods and people and companies every whichway…”
Just to give you even more to consider, try reading the following two articles on Digital Book World:
“The love/hate relationship between authors and publishers has endured for over a century. Digital self-publishing and e-books represent wonderful new opportunities. But, the power of new technology is no match against the power of human nature. Therefore, publishers need not fear extinction. The literary ecosystem is bound by an unseen force that affects every author. What’s the point of publishers? To exist and thrive by keeping the author ego healthy and alive.”
The second ends with:
“Ego doesn’t pay the mortgage. An author more concerned with ego than business is looking for a job. I submit that the point of publishers in a digital age is to partner with authors in a fair royalty scheme so that all the players in the business are committed to getting books from the content creators, Authors, to the content consumers, readers. All must bring value to the table in one form or another.”
The first is by Rob Eagar—founder of WildFire Marketing, a consulting practice that helps authors and publishers sell more books and “spread their message like wildfire”.
The second is by Bob Mayer—New York Times bestselling author with over 50 books published.
I dare ya to read both articles, ponder the pros and cons, and try to arrive at a simple Yes or No answer to the title of this post…
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One of them featured an initiative that achieved its goal: the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library [in the USA], partnered with Library Renewal, in petitioning for wider access to ebooks for libraries.
Their site also listed a number of spaces to follow for more information about publishers, ebooks, and libraries:
Library Journal’s Digital Shift: The Digital Shift is the new home for all technology-related stories and features published by Library Journal and School Library Journal.
TeleRead: News and views on ebooks, libraries, publishing and related topics.
No Shelf Required: Sue Polanka’s blog about eBooks, loosely defined to discuss eBooks, audio books, and other digital content found in libraries as well as the technology needed to read and listen to this digital content.
OK, my work here for today is finished.
Except to ask for comments from you on e-books and libraries…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Comment Link Is At The Top of The Post :-) For Private Comments, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com
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