Health Reform Books: It’s E-lementary, My Dear Watson!

In the past years, e-books have skyrocketed in popularity..For new releases, the first week brought an increase in sales of electronic copies than of print copies.

Julie Bosman, “E-Book Revolution Upends a Course, “ New York Times, July 17, 2011

July 18, 2011- As everybody knows by now, E-books have taken off, Amazon’s Kindle is the hottest retail product on the market, everybody with an E-reader loves their new gadget, the print book industry is threatened by extinction, E-books are regularly listed on the New York Times best seller list, and you can easily convert a print book into an E-book.

No Sentimentality

There is no use getting sentimental about these trends, said Jame Gleik in yesterday’s New York Times, “Stop Being Sentimental about Books.” He should know. He has written a 2011 best-seller The Information : A History , a Theory, a Flood .

Go with the flow of history, Gleick says,”An object like this (A book) – a talisman, is like a coffin at a funeral. It deserves to be honored, but the soul has passed on.”

What To Do?

If you’re like me, a author of print books, what do you do?

You act.

• You begin to publish E-books (The Pros and Cons of ACOs(PSR Publishers, www. Practicesupport.com).

• You spread the word that your publisher is producing your new book The Health Reform Maze, (Greenbranch Publishing), due out in two-three weeks, will debut in both in print and as an E-book.


• You encourage your previous publisher (I-Universe) to convert your 2009 book – Obama, Doctors, and Health Reform – into an E-book.

And while you’re at it, you mourn the passing of print and you proclaim that a new medium has been born.