In the
heart of most readers and writers there is a glimmer of hope that paper books
are not facing extinction. However the cold reality is that paper books are
soon to be replaced. I came to this stunning realization when I
read Karen Russell’s novella “Sleep Donation.” Russell’s work was published
only as an eBook and is the foreshadowing of major change in the literary
world. The demand for instant gratification in a fast paced world has created
an audience that no longer desires the traditional reading experience.
Since the turn of the twentieth
century human innovations have gravitated toward a need for speed. Making
faster cars, faster Internet, and even faster food are all examples of human
need for instantaneous satisfaction. The same goes for reading; people are and
will be seeking out a way to hasten their reading experience as well. This is
why the eBook has become such a trending commodity. It can carry many books in
one, and the speed of obtaining a new book is instantaneous. This instantaneous
satisfaction is what is driving people to purchase eBooks and their respective
reading material.
This change in the consumerist
landscape is beginning to affect the way books are written and published.
Authors cannot best the eBooks, so they may as well join them. This is
seemingly the case with author Karen Russell, and her novella “Sleep Donation.”
It’s publication only as an eBook is an accommodation to readers of the twenty
first century generation.
By publishing her book as an eBook
Karen has lost a great portion of consumer demographic, those incapable of
using eBooks i.e. the elderly, but gained the acknowledgment of those able to
use the required technology. And by adhering to the demands of the contemporary
generation Russell is able to launch her work off an entirely new platform than
traditional novelist.
Whether this new platform will
remain thriving and bring Russell successes is not for certain. Although as
readers and writers we can be sure that there is change afoot in the literary
world and there is no stopping it.
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