Guest Post from Elle Newmark!

Like Britt, I LOVE books. Adore them. Go through them like a drunk with a six-pack. And that’s why I now can’t live without my Kindle.

First I objected to ordering books online. Give up the ambiance of a bookstore? Lose up the comforting sight of shelves jam-packed with literary adventures? Pah! Get thee to a nuthouse.

But then one day it was raining and I was still in my jammies and I wanted to buy a book. I heard the siren song of Amazon and never looked back. It’s not only convenient it’s cheaper. And here’s the thing: They have not banned me from the bookstore. It’s not an either/or. And, like it or not, it’s here to stay.


Then came the Kindle, and I balked for the same reasons Britt did. I’m a writer. I stare at a computer screen all day. And the Kindle has such a tiny screen. What about the nice heft of a real book in my hands? What about the Pavlovian response I have to the smell of ink on paper? No Kindle for me, thank you very much.

But then one day I had to go to India for a month-long research trip for my new novel, and I was faced with needing to carry enough books to last me. Full of shame and apprehension, I bought a Kindle and loaded up about 20 books for India.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the screen does not glare like a computer screen. It’s some kind of freaky new technology that makes it as easy on the eyes as paper. And you can change the font size! One night I was reading a really good book in bed and falling asleep, but I didn’t want to put it down. I kept making the font bigger until I was only getting like six words on a page. I finally put it down and went to sleep, and I didn’t give myself a concussion by dropping a big old hardcover on my head when I passed out.

And the books are cheap. My novel, The Book of Unholy Mischief is $26 in the bookstore and $17 on Amazon. On Kindle it’s $9.99. So if you buy enough books, the thing eventually pays for itself.

This is not an ad for Kindle and I don’t work for Amazon. I am an author and my first purchase on Kindle was my own novel, The Book of Unholy Mischief. You can read more about it on my website, http://www.ellenewmark.com/, and that was another thing I objected to at first. Put up a website?

But then one day I got this book deal from Simon & Schuster…


Thanks so much to Elle Newmark for stopping by to share her thoughts!!