Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks - A lesson in book publishing for the future

Brent Weeks announced quite a while ago that he was writing down parts of the back story of Durzo Blint, one of the main characters from his Night Angel trilogy. This was exciting news, since I'd really enjoyed the books, and Durzo had always been a favorite of mine. For the moment, however, this was just a side project.

Later on, Brent mentioned that he was looking for a way to have the story published,  but that it might be difficult, because it didn't fit any well established category. Too long for a short story, but not long enough for a novel. Then he announced that Orbit would publish "Perfect Shadow" worldwide at the same time in a wide range of eBook formats. For $2.99. But only in eBook format.

I did a bit of research after this announcement and found out that "worldwide" actually meant "in the US and the UK". My intital reaction was a certain amount of outrage and disdain; I felt that my opinion of the Americans was being confirmed: they think that they ARE the world. But then I realised I was being unfair, and that I was by no means owed any book, however much I'd like to read it. And if I'm that fed up with being on the wrong side of geographical restrictions, I always have the choice of moving to the States (here's material for another entry to write...).

What I was actually most surprised by, was that many people reacted quite viciously to Brent's announcement. Just reading some of the comments on his site made me wonder about certain people's attitudes. Towards a writer whose work they obviously enjoy, since they're reading his site. And towards the idea of eBooks.
Admittedly, I've been reading books almost exclusively on my iPad for nearly a year now. So I might be a bit biased. But Brent (and Orbit Publishing) is offering  the eBook in nearly all formats and all platforms one can imagine:

• Kindle
• Nook
• Kobo
• Sony

All those sellers offer a dedicated reading application for PC and MAC, many even for Linux, iPhone, Android, iPad. So even people who do not want to spend money on a dedicated eReading device, can easily enjoy Brent's newest work of fiction on the same device they use to look at his website.

A few months have passed since the initial announcement. From what I can gather from Brent's site and his Twitter feed, publishing in different geographical regions simultaneously appears to be a sure fire way to get a headache. As of today, people in the US can pre-order "Perfect Shadow" on Amazon. I can't. I could complain. Actually, I can and did. But that was before I read one of Brent's replies in the thread on his Website, which I think contains a great deal of information on international rights, digital publishing and writers being business people. That's an aspect which often gets overlooked. Writers don't earn their income by writing books, they earn it by selling them, and that is a very legitimate activity.

And on a side note, which is actually the main point of this whole text: I honestly believe that what Brent Weeks is doing here is going to be the only way books will be published in the near future. Because in addition to the electronic version, which is available to everybody, Subterranean Press is offering a limited print run special edition, hardcover, bound in leather, numbered and signed by the Author. That's a perfect example of making the distinction between "the book as the story" and "the book as the medium for the story". Paperbacks will disappear, just like the CD. Hardcover collector editions will always be available, just like collectable vinyl LPs.