AAR

[connieko]

I am considering a Kindle. I have found many books that I would like to read and a few that are some old favorites, but most of my books that I would like to keep to reread are no longer being published (series romances from as long as 15 years). Is there a place that we can find these old favorites in Kindle or ebook (that can be formated for Kindle) formats or are they forever lost to the digital world?
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Connie K.

[Rosario]

Well, I've seen Harlequin release some bundles which included older titles, but they've tended to be quite a bit more recent than what you're asking. Obviously, I don't know if publishers will decide to publish their backlists in e-format, but I'd guess they won't. My impression is that they're basically looking forward and focusing on current releases in their e-business. I hope I'm wrong, though! It would be so cool to be able to get some of those old treasures in e-format!
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[Tinabelle]

I would definitely agree with Rosario. I think publishers are looking forward rather than backward with their decisions to publish in an ebook format. I recently got a Kindle, and I have noticed that there are some authors who do have some of their backlists available. They are fairly well-known authors though whose books are still widely read. And they tend to be authors published in hard cover or mass market paperback whose older works are still in print and selling. I, too, would be surprised if some of the older categories would be made available. But, you never know. More and more is being published in ebook formats all of the time.

My recommendation would be to contact the publisher of the the books you are looking for and find out if they have plans to make older titles available. Demand will definitely drive the market in this case, IMHO.
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[Anne Marble]

In the case of older books, it's probably close to impossible for publishers to create e-book editions. First, the books are often not available in an electronic format, or they're only available in print. That means publishers have to find have to scan in the book and use OCR technology to make it into text (a very big pain because of errors that crop up), or they actually have to have someone retype it. Both methods are prone to errors. For the number of sales they will get from an e-book edition, it's not worth the trouble. Baen Books has a lot of older books that they have not released in e-book format for those reasons (and others), even though those books might sell.

Second, the rights of older books might be tied up. Fifteen years ago, very few people had predicted e-books, so publishers weren't buying e-book rights. In those cases, while they could have print rights to a book, they still won't have the e-book rights, and they'd have to negotiate for those separately -- assuming the author even wants to sell. And on top of all that, sometimes the author is dead. In those cases, the estate takes over. And some estates are very reluctant to sell additional rights to publishers, often holding out for more money.
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