Ligotti kindle editions

[Dave Brzeski]

I actually found this forum while on a (failed) hunt for an affordable copy of 'The Agonising Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein & Other Gothic Tales'.

I reached the stage of giving up being a collector a few years back. Can't afford it anymore & really don't have the room for yet more books in this small house.

This has led me to embrace the kindle as a way to get books I want to read cheaper, store them more easily & actually be able to find them when I want to read them.

Would it be too much to hope, I wonder, for there to be a major Thomas Ligotti ebook reissue programme in the workes?

[helios1014]

Teatro Grottesco and My work is not yet done are can be purchased on the kindle currently (this was how I was able to first get into Ligotti).

[gveranon]

In an interview a couple of years ago, TL said this:

"Virgin pretty much published the original books after giving them a proofreading. They did provide more promotion for the paperbacks they published than the original hardbacks received, which was practically nil. Recently, though, they seem to have violated their contract with me by publishing an electronic edition of Teatro Grottesco."

[DoktorH]

while I love Ligotti's books to the point of spending more on them than on rent (not every month, but it happened once a couple times), I do not like his stance on e-books. I like the pretty books from Centipede and Durtro and Subterranean, they are little printed bundles of pure joy. I would love to see a digital download included with purchase though, so I can take a digital copy with me on my gadget of choice and keep the nice pretty high-end book safe on a shelf at home.

[Dave Brzeski]

I hadn't realised that TL actually had a stance against electronic versions of his books. That's very disappointing. I actually did pick up a copy of Teatro Grottesco.

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Dave Brzeski

I hadn't realised that TL actually had a stance against electronic versions of his books. That's very disappointing. I actually did pick up a copy of Teatro Grottesco.

Most of me doesn't blame him.

[helios1014]

What is wrong with electronic editons? The way I see it, the phyical book only becomes more precious as you have a digital copy to dog ear and batter to death.

[hopfrog]

I used to be a real book snob and frowned on the idea of ebooks. Last Christmas most of my friends and family got Kindles, and that shew'd me the manner of future reading. It made me question why I write--& I know absolutely that I write in order to be read. Nothing can ever replace a beautifully published book, the feel of my own book in my hand, the weight of its pages, the smell of its ink; but there are people, in this economy, who cannot afford my expensive hardcover editions, or who have great difficulty buying my trade pbs. I want those people to be able to read my fiction. Thus I have come to embrace the idea of ebooks, and am happy that some few of my own titles will be released as such this year.

[slayn666]

The advent of ebooks can only help our little corner of the publishing world, and Tom's books are a great example of why. Right now, only two of his books are reasonably-priced, and that's really only enough for a taste. After that, you're looking at prices north of $100, and that's simply too much for a lot of people.

Now if all of his books were available in an electronic format, Tom would make more money, and his work would be more widely read. Additionally, ebooks would in no way affect publishers like Subterranean and Centipede - their lovely volumes would still sellout prior to publication, or very shortly thereafter. The only ones affected would be sellers in the secondary market, and after looking at the prices I've paid for some of the books in my library, I have a hard time mustering much sympathy for them.

All that said, I don't think the above quote from Tom indicates a particular problem with ebooks so much as a problem with publishers not abiding by contracts, and that's perfectly understandable.

[Michael]

I can definitely see both sides. Like Wilum I've tended to be a book snob and anti-ebooks. Nothing, for me at least, will ever replace the feel, texture, and (especially) smell of a new book. There's just nothing else like it.
At the same time, I remember back to my first experience of Lovecraft (which set me on a straight path to Ligotti), with the cheap Del Rey paperback (which I still have). I really do feel it's a matter of affordability for the newer (and usually younger) reader, as slayn666 alluded to. My first copy of Ligotti was "The Nightmare Factory" which, at the time, was only a few bucks. Had it been more, I just wouldn't have been able to experience his writing, which I cannot imagine my life without at this point.
Ebooks were not around when I was younger but had they been it would've been a relatively inexpensive way for me to find Ligotti and others. I see the work Tartarus is doing with their line of ebooks and though I still am one of the few holdouts for getting a Kindle, I respect the spirit of what they're doing. I can see Ligotti being righteously upset at Virgin for what they did. I hope to see though, in the future, a publisher (similar to Tartarus's style) who really will invest in him, give him the respect he well deserves, and put out a line of ebooks, supervised by Ligotti, that are both well done and reach a wider audience. I hope for this because I know there are people out there searching for that book that speaks to them, that book they think doesn't exist and never will. Tom has already written it and when I found it it was, and remains, one of the best things in my life.