In the beginning there was the published word, set down on paper, and it was good, for it gave millions of readers everywhere the opportunity to be transported by wonderful tales of faraway places, of fantastical things, of interesting people. But the printed word soon became expensive for those who would publish it. They began to tell those who would write - "Limit thyself! And thereby shall ye see thy words immortalized" and "Change thy story to that which WE say will sell." And so they did. And there was much sadness in the land that such were they forced to do. For those who would write were stifled in their creativity, and those who would read could find no thing that was new under the sun. Truly, there was much sorrow and gnashing of teeth.

And one day, a new type of publisher was born. A publisher who was not limited to paper, but able to offer books of a new medium. Books that could be transmitted and read electronically. And t'was a marvelous thing! No longer was there need to limit the length of books. No longer was the creativity of the writers constricted. Hallelujah! Now writers could tell the tales they longed to tell and readers could rejoice in stories that set their imaginations free. And joy was spread across the internet and beyond!

And truly there is joy to be found on the internet today - creativity and imagination abound in the wealth of wonderful stories available in ebooks. So what I am going to try to do here is tell you a about ebooks and why you should give them a try. I can't give you hard facts and figures, but I can tell you what I know as an ebook author -- and more importantly -- avid ebook reader. A personal perspective, if you will.

Print published books, while wonderful in their own right, have lost a little something in recent years. Publishers do have to keep an eye on the bottom line, but unfortunately, instead of finding other ways of cutting expenses, they seem to be making their cuts in the one area that should be changed as a last resort - the books themselves. I'm sure almost everyone has noticed that paperbacks seem to be getting smaller and smaller, while the cost tends to stay right up there where it was. And the way they make these books smaller? Getting the writer to cut her story down. How much story development can you really have in a 110 page or 200 page book? But it comes down to paper cost, so the story is sacrificed.

Ebooks generally do not have the same length constrictions placed on them. Since they require only server space to house them, and they are available in a downloadable format, length is not a problem. Which means storylines can be developed in greater detail, providing a richer, more enjoyable read.

And consider this too - storage for the consumer no longer becomes an issue either. How many of you out there lament the fact that you have too many paperbacks and not enough places to keep them, but you don't want to give them up because they're your keepers? Ebooks neatly and easily store on your computer's hard drive, or on disk, or on CD. Voila!

Next, you have to look at the storylines that print published writers are "allowed" to write. I say allowed because I know firsthand that writers are not necessarily given the freedom to write the story of their heart - not if they're writing with a view toward seeing it published. Writers of print published books are constantly constrained by what the their publisher believes is going to sell. And because of that, and because writers have only so much time and want to ensure on the business end of things that they sell what they write, they often have to discard story ideas they might have desired to pursue. Stories their fans might well have been thrilled to read. I don't know how many times I was told "Civil War romances just don't sell. No one wants to read them!" Tell that to all the people who have bought my book, THE VIVANDIERE, and are eagerly awaiting the next one, SOUTHERN PRIDE, NORTHERN HONOR.

This is where ebooks positively excel! Because epublishers are not faced with the possible problem of becoming stuck with stock that won't sell - either because a storyline is not right for that particular time, or maybe just due to lack of immediate interest - there is virtually no risk. He or she simply has to maintain the file of that particular book.

That translates into giving writers greater freedom in what they can write and offer for sale, and the readers are the ultimate winners.

Okay! So now you're thinking that maybe you might just want to join the ranks of the ebook savvy consumer, but there's just that one little thing... reading a book on the computer. It's not the first thing a person would think to do on a computer. Of course, there are a lot of things about reading a book on a computer that almost make it more attractive than reading a paperback - you can change the font size and style, you can change the background or contrast to make it easier on your eyes. But maybe one of the biggest drawbacks is - it's kind of hard to curl up in a chair with a computer monitor in your lap.

Well, that's not as much of a problem as you may think! There are a wide variety of handheld readers available on the market today that make it possible to take your downloads off the computer and carry them with you anywhere, and most of these devices are lightweight and user friendly. In addition, most readers have the capacity to carry 10 or 20 books at a time, or more! If you'd like to find out more about the various handheld ebook readers on the market today, check out this article on Ebooks Reader Comparison at Ebooks Rock.

Have I convinced you yet to give ebooks a try? Maybe? You say you're thinking about it, but you need a little more help, like... where can I find one? Here's a link you're really going to appreciate - a link to a List of Ebook Publishers. (Valuable to all of you aspiring authors, too!)

And for more reasons on why you should read e, check out this article - Why Read E?

Hey, I just want to be sure to give you as much information as you need to make an informed choice... and start reading ebooks!

You won't be disappointed!