I was invited back to participate again in an SF Signal Mind Meld, which went live today. I’m in some pretty well-known company and it was quite an interesting question.
Q: With the prevalence of ebooks and audiobooks, how has your sf/f reading and buying habits changed, if at all?
Here is my answer concerning buying habits:
My buying habits haven’t changed that much, to be honest. Living in the Netherlands, it’s hard to come by ebooks I’d want to read without being forced to go through Amazon or other DRM hoops. And more importantly, my husband reads mainly SFF as well, but he really dislikes the idea of reading from a screen – I haven’t been able to convince him to actually try it, mind – so I buy paper books so I can share them with him. As for audiobooks, I’ve rarely bought them either, since they are rather expensive. The only time I’ve actually bought an audiobook was when Brent Weeks released an e-only/audio-only novella and the e-version wasn’t available to buy from the Netherlands.
To read the rest of my answer on how digital fiction has changed my reading habits and read the answers of among others Laura Lam, Marie Brennan, and Bryan Thomas Schmidt visit the Mind Meld over at SF Signal.
I used to hate the idea of reading on a screen too but the eInk screens are so different. I do still prefer a paper book and find it hard to write reviews without being able to flick through the book but ebooks have found a small place in my life. Convenience for travelling is a huge plus.