Plays and Playwrights

Since we first got the idea to expand our publishing into the e-book arena, I have done a great deal of reading on the subject.  I have read the small amount available on converting a printed book to an e-book and I have read the ever expanding discussion pro and con about e-books in general.

There seems to be a group that feels e-books are unnecessary and a waste of time.  In my head I liken this group to those who felt the electric typewriter was not really an advancement. (It really was – those little fingers flying across the keys on the old underwood, could really soar effortlessly and more accurately once you plugged it in.)

I have noticed that many of the people debunking e-books have not really  read one. 

Why not give this new advance in publishing a try?  It’s the easiest way to buy a book; you can even glance at some of the material before you commit. It’s certainly not expensive. 

Log on to any e-book stores such as amazon’s kindle or b&n’s nook.  Notice the free apps on the sidebar for your PC or mobile device.  Download one of those.  You do not need to buy a special device such as a kindle or nook to read e-books!

In the kindle and nook e-book stores you’ll generally find a downloadable free sample of books like ours.   Click on that and get a chance to look at what you’ll be getting.  If you already have an account you can purchase and have the book within seconds.  Setting up an account is quick and easy.

Give it a try.  And let me know what you think.

It was just recently announced that once you purchase an ebook at amazon’s kindle store, you can now lend it to a friend and/or family member.  Each book may be lent once for a total of 14 days and it will not be useable by the owner during that time.

I find this exciting for our play anthology because now the artistic director of a company can purchase the book, check out some of the plays he/she might be interested in and then pass the book on to a director or lead actor and get their opinion.  Just like what you can do with a print copy.

Check out our Plays and Playwrights for the New Millennium – the e-book on Kindle and watch for information soon about coming e-books.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00378L6LO

You don’t have to own a kindle to get this book.  On the sidebar of the above page you can click on links for free apps for your PC, iPhone (iPod Touch), BlackBerry, iPad, and Android.  Download the ones you would like and check out our e-book.

The same holds true for the e-book sold on the Barnes and Noble nook site. And you can lend your book from there, too

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ean=9780979485244

NYTE Small Press now offers our e-book via just about all the most popular outlets.  Download to your favorite ebook reader or to your PC or mobile device from Borders or from amazon’s kindle store  or from Barnes and Noble’s Nook or from Kobo.

You make the choice.  The e-book retails for $9.99 but both Kobo and Borders are selling it for $7.79.

This is a fast and easy gift to give anyone on your holiday list that enjoys theatre. 

What’s really nice about e-books is we won’t run out and you can pick up a copy as late as the night before Christmas and have it ready to present on Christmas day.

We are excited about the news that our anthology, Plays and Playwrights for the New Millennium – the e-book is now available on amazon’s  new Kindle store for the United Kingdom.  Sure hope all you folks living across the ocean will check this out.

And for our U.S. friends, please check out our listing on amazon.com. You don’t have to own a kindle device to read these books. There is a free, easy to download app for your iPhone, Blackberry and your PC and Mac. 

We’ll have more news about our e-book publishing program within the next month or so — stay tuned.

Books have been around for a long time, but times, they are a-changing, and it now appears that e-books, in various forms, are here to stay. A couple of years ago, I didn’t know anyone who read books online; today, I have Kindle software on my PC and on my iPhone, and just about everytime I’m in the theatre I see someone in the audience reading from a Kindle or Nook before the show begins.

NYTE prides itself on helping professionals and audience members in our community make great use of new technology–and that’s why we’ve recently published our first e-book. It’s currently available on Kindle only:

Plays and Playwrights for the New Millennium – the e-book.

But we’re planning to publish to other formats/readers in the near future, and to expand our selection of titles, too.

So why should you be thinking about e-books?

Reason #1 — so easy to get, so easy to use. You never have to leave the house, don’t have to put on your shoes, don’t have to wait til daylight to shop.  You can buy it at 3:05 a.m. and by 3:07 a.m. it will be ready to read on your iPhone, iTouch, iPad, BlackBerry and PC.  Got a Kindle? It will be there, too,of course. 

And it’s easy on the eyes.  I make the font a little bigger and I don’t have to fumble for my glasses to read it. Click to shut it down and when you come back to it, it’s exactly on the right page.  Don’t have to dog-ear the pages or worry that the bookmark will fall out.

Want to skip around? Just go to the Table of Contents and click on the play you want to read.  There you are in a nano second.  And you can get a free sample downloaded to see if you really like it.  Give it a try.

Reason #2 — You can read it anywhere. Download it to all your devices–your iPhone, BlackBerry, etc.  Read it on the subway, read it at lunch, read it on your way to an audition.  It is the most convenient way, I am finding, to read whether it be for pleasure or for a more serious purpose.  The book you want is always in your pocket or on your laptop and that is worth a lot.  And having it on your PC where you can go to it when you just want to take a few minutes off from working on another assignment is fun. 

Reason #3 — This anthology seems to be a first.  We’ve checked around and we don’t seem to be able to find any other anthologies of contemporary plays.  This excites us as we still believe this is a group of playwrights that is decidedly underserved where publishing is concerned.  Contemporary work should be easy to find. 

One caveat with the Kindle store — unless you know the name of the e-book or can follow a link, you will have a difficult time finding this.  Unfortunately in the navigation bar there is no heading for “drama” or “plays” so send out this link to your friends — no obligation to purchase, but this way they can get to look at what we feel is a great e-book.  And it’s only $10.