My Thoughts On The New, Steam-Powered, Horseless, Electronic Book!

If you’re interested in my thoughts on the future of the electronic book, I’m quoted in today’s Irish Times, towards the end of this piece by the mighty Conor Pope. (And how quaint “electronic book” will seem in a few years! It’ll read like “horseless carriage” does now…)

Sample quote from me:

"I can't see how you can control the distribution of words. Good writers could end up with huge readership but they will probably have to find new ways of earning a living from it, which is fine. Good writers were never likely to make much money. Yeats never made more than £200 a year from his writing until he won the Nobel Prize."

Comments

[clevercelt]

Some time ago I bought, read and enjoyed your print book 'Jude: Level 1' . It was funny and entertaining and how I laughed and know not how nor why but I, like others, have become a fan. Jude's electronic sequel seemingly subtitled "The Squarespace account judeonline is not currently available" was just a tad disappointing Julian.

I have had some myopic views on e-books and udder things like that also for sometime, expressed here for your and others' amusement: http://clevercelt.blogspot.com/2008/06/ebooks-ashtray-on-motorbike-phenomena.html

[MC]

Hi Jules, I randomly came upon your August 2007 post on the financial markets, and it's scary how prescient you were on almost every point. I felt the same way back then, but only had a vague sense of doom, where as you nearly targeted specifically almost every single institution/industry that fell. Kudos to you Mr. Gough.

[Julian Gough]

Well, these are very kind comments, thank you both. I am too tired to do justice to them, it's nearly 4am and I tripped over Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, outside White Trash Fast Food, on my way home, and twisted my ankle. Must rest. (He is looking wonderful, in case you were worried: as lean and nimble as a greyhound, and wearing the skinniest long black leather coat in the history of tailoring).