E-books - joy and worry of book writers

Faced with this trend, book writers are happy because their works have the opportunity to reach more readers, but many people are also concerned about copyright issues and the value that each book brings.

Young writers and their views on paper books

Dao Thu Ha is probably not a strange name to literature and book lovers in Dak Nong . The female writer born in 1988 has 6 literary books and many short stories and essays published in magazines and literary publications. With a simple writing style, suitable for young people but still deep enough for long-time readers, Dao Thu Ha's works have more or less left an impression on readers.

Sharing about her work, Dao Thu Ha said that she is one of the few writers who choose historical topics to write about. Her love for history stems from the stories her father told her when she was a child, and the historical knowledge she accumulated during her time in university.

dao-thi-ha-1(1).jpg — Writer Dao Thu Ha (middle) received the 2022 Literature and Arts Award.

The historical story was collected by Dao Thu Ha herself in real life, which is the material that the writer puts into her works. Through the pages of the book, Dao Thu Ha hopes that readers will have "interesting feelings" instead of reading dry historical milestones. In 2022, with the publication of the book "Golden Smoke and Clouds", writer Dao Thu Ha helped readers have a more multi-dimensional view of historical figures.

Through this book, the female writer has also contributed to changing the perception of history subjects in schools, when she "used literature to tell historical stories". Composing and writing books for more than 10 years, living in a time when the book market is bustling with new formats such as kindle (e-reader), audiobooks, podcasts, ebooks (collectively called electronic books), Dao Thu Ha also has a more general view of her work.

She believes that, at present, e-books may bring certain advantages to readers, but they can hardly replace paper books - a traditional format that has been maintained for hundreds of years.

The female writer shared: “With the development of technology and science , you can read any information using mobile devices, including reading books. Not to mention the effects of mobile devices on the health of users, I think that reading a paper book will create a stronger impression than reading an e-book. For book lovers, the feeling of smelling paper and hearing the rustling sound when turning each page are factors that stimulate reading. This is also something that readers cannot feel when reading an e-book.”

dao-thi-ha-2(1).jpg — The female writer remains loyal to paper books because this format brings special emotions to each reader.

It is also from this concept that Dao Thu Ha refused the invitation to adapt her work into e-books. “At present, I am still loyal to the paper book genre. Because with each work published, when I hold it in my hand, I can feel the results of my work. In particular, paper books also become gifts for me to give to my friends, colleagues and literature lovers. For every writer, paper books have become an extremely valuable and meaningful asset,” writer Dao Thu Ha added.

Copyright and value of work

Each book is the brainchild of the author. It may be written from the author’s real-life experiences, or it may be the result of a process of research and selective collection. But in the end, it is a process of creation, polishing and going through many stages to get a complete form. That process sometimes only lasts a few years, but sometimes it is nurtured and nurtured for a decade.

Facing the trend of digital transformation, before the development of science and technology, writer Dao Thu Ha has many emotions. Information technology can bring her works to more readers, but along with that comes the issue of copyright and the value of each book.

Ms. Ha cannot deny the benefits of e-books. The birth of this format is aimed at a wider audience, especially those with visual problems and those who are busy with work. In addition, e-books are also quickly updated with the latest works, in line with the "fast food" trend of readers.

Writer Dao Thu Ha shares her views on paper books.

However, Dao Thu Ha believes that writers are at risk of having their ideas plagiarized. This is the situation she has been facing recently, with some of her works being “molded”, their names and surnames changed, and then posted on social networking sites.

For example, writer Dao Thu Ha said: “A few years ago, my works were published in literary magazines. However, I later read a few short stories and novels with similar content to my works on a website. The only difference between these works was the names of the characters. When I discovered the incident, I provided full evidence to claim my rights, but since then, I have not received any response from the publishing site.”

According to writer Dao Thu Ha, nowadays, websites, especially social networking sites, can share books, even for free. For books that are sought after by readers, these sites will buy a paper book, then retype the content or take pictures of each page to share. This has directly affected the book sales revenue of publishers and the authors of the books.

“A paper book is sold for tens to hundreds of thousands of dong, but when converted to an e-book, the price is greatly reduced. With just one account, readers can buy that book for only a few thousand dong. The low price has unintentionally made “popular” books that have been carefully invested in and have true value,” Ms. Ha added.

The concerns of writer Dao Thu Ha are also the concerns and thoughts of many other writers on literary forums. It is predicted that in the near future, in the context of digital transformation, e-books will be the development trend of the publishing industry and paper books will lose their "monopoly". Along with that, there must be mechanisms and policies to protect traditional values, protect the intelligence and efforts of book writers.

Source