Okay, I'm not abandoning print entirely. But I have been buying a significant number of ebooks instead of print books of late, and most of the print books I've bought are either remaindered hardcovers or books for the kids. The reason: I got a Kindle Fire for my birthday. My kids had a Kindle from when they first came out, an old e-ink version, and I had sort of commandeered it. But I sort of wanted my own, and I was jealous of the tablets I see people with (iPads), but I couldn't justify the money the Apple product costs.

A patient came in with a Kindle Fire and demo'ed it for me. Looked pretty slick. Did more than I really want it to do, at least now, but I liked the look of it, and the capabilities of it. So I suggested to my wife that maybe a Fire would be a nice present.

So I've been buying more and more ebooks. I've got a room in the basement filled with shelves and boxes of books. My kids' bookshelf is stuffed to overflowing, and the bookcases in our room and in our office are both filled to capacity. What the heck am I going to do with all those books? My thought was always, open a used bookstore. I still may do that someday. I've always thought that it would be cool to open two stores next to one another, one a used store and one a specialty mystery and/or science fiction/fantasy bookstore. Still might happen, but it really doesn't make sense for me to buy books with the idea of stocking that future store.

So I've cut way back on my purchases of hard copies. There are a few series that I want to continue to buy - Denise Swanson's Scumble River series is one I'm more or less hooked on. I have the first eight books of the John the Lord Chamberlain series and plan on getting #9 sometime soon with my other birthday present, which was an Amazon gift card from my staff. I'm going to continue to buy Stephen King and Harlan Coben in hardcover when they come out. Others I'm waiting for the remaindered copies, including CJ Box, Jim Butcher, Jonathan Kellerman, Stephen White, Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, Lee Child...

I also won't buy an ebook if it's going to cost me more than the remaindered hardcover will cost me. If there is no such animal, then I will break down and buy the paperback - but I won't buy an ebook, not at 8 bucks or higher. I'd rather have something I can resell at that price. (Remember that used bookstore?)

So authors can talk all they want about pricing their ebooks, or putting a higher value on their talents and output, but for me I'll look elsewhere if they're the same or more than a paperback. Five bucks sounds about right. I think about a five dollar purchase, but if I want it I'll pay that. If it's 7 bucks, I will usually pass. I especially won't take a chance on someone I've never read before. The sample would have to blow me away at over 5 bucks.

There are plenty of books being sold at the 2.99, 3.99 and 4.99 price points. Great storytelling (in my subjective opinion) can come from any genre and any author AND at any price point, even free, by my experience. (See my Amazon review of Amanda Hocking's free HOLLOWLAND.) I'm rediscovering that on the Kindle. The gatekeepers are gone. No longer do I have to see a thousand titles that are copying off of J.K. Rowling, or Rick Riordan, when I go look for books at a Barnes and Noble. I can find titles in any genre and subject matter that interests me at Amazon's storefront.

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