Still Relevant: The Undeniable Draw of eBooks

Considering that Barnes and Noble is one of the most popular and well-known booksellers, you really can’t deny the obvious, warranted allure of their Nook when choosing a reading app for iPhone. Not only is the app free, but it also gives you access to a library of 4 million books in all genres, as well as comics and magazines. You can sample many of these books for free, and many magazines even offer a free two-week trial when accessed through the app. There’s a lot more to the app than just these basic features, though; once you actually begin to read and explore, you’ll find a multitude of customizable and intuitive features to enhance your reading experience in some unexpected ways.

Tackle That Tome!

For starters, using a reading app with your iPhone might be the perfect excuse to finally dive into that intimidating classic you’ve been thinking about for years. A reading app eliminates the need to carry around a large, heavy book with you, which is especially useful while traveling. You might also find it useful to link your accounts between your devices, in order to effortlessly hold your place and switch your reading from your iPhone to your tablet and back again.

While pouring over the text, reading on an iPhone makes it incredibly easy to research, clarify, or look up supplemental materials as you switch back and forth between your web browser and your reading app. You can also type and share notations in the text, even capture them via audio by recording your musings or using a speech to text program to transcribe and save for later reference.

Reading can become a lot more comfortable with all of the different accessibility and viewing options a reading app has to offer, as well. Deciphering and delving into works of the past can be even more satisfying and enriching with current technologies. Ironically enough, Clive Thompson reporting from Book Riot pointed out the visual similarities between certain 18th-century printing formats and the mutability of text display on his iPhone screen while reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace. There you have it; in some cases, modern digital reading might actually give you more of an “authentic” experience than some forms of mass market print.

It’s not just published classics that might draw your long overdue attention. Free eBooks run the gamut when it comes to topics and a wide array of sources. As reported by Open Culture, for example, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has released over four hundred free art history related eBooks to date, easily downloadable and ready to read on your iPhone. There are countless other cultural and historical institutions out there offering free eBooks that you might never have dreamed of reading or accessing so easily. Similarly, many colleges offer eBooks downloaded via their research databases and journals. All it takes is a quick search on the Internet; there’s no telling what the limits are to what you might find.

The Writer’s Side

While you may already be acquainted with the eBook self-publishing boom, it’s an area that continues to flourish, especially in our digital age of social media and the resulting ease of self-marketing, fan base growth, and direct contact with consumers and followers of your work. If you’re looking to dip your pen (or pencil, or keyboard) into the world of self-publishing, it’s certainly not too late to look into releasing your work via digital formats. eBooks are still making up a considerable amount of book sales; in 2014, for example, 23.2 percent of publisher Simon and Schuster’s books sales were eBooks. That’s really not too shabby, considering how steadfastly many readers are still holding on to print copies of books. eBooks are still being sought out and purchased, and there are many independent publishers out there that have latched on to the ease of digital publishing in order to get more literary voices out there.

Furthermore, The Guardian recently reported that the literary world is the realm of media wherein the least amount of illegal downloads and piracy occurs. If there were ever a reason to feel confident about the security of self-publishing your own work via eBook, this would be it.

Stay Connected

Although the concepts of digital reading and eBooks aren’t exactly the newest of technologies anymore, there’s no telling what the future may hold. The possibilities are seemingly endless as digital media evolves, and it’s well worth keeping up with, and in touch with, current reading apps and technologies.

It’s worth your while to start by checking out what’s out there with a reading app like Nook, and see what you discover. Whether you’re just a casual reader looking to make your experience more convenient and interactive, or a writer looking to self-publish, the future of eBooks undoubtedly still holds some exciting developments.