New guy - lost

[Requia ☣]

have you tried Lulu.com?

I don't really see the point of a POD or vanity press printing.  The people who want it can get electronic editions easy enough, hard copies are only useful if you're trying to sell a premium product over the electronic version, or trying to get something onto library/bookstore shelves, which POD won't do.

[Golden Applesauce]

have you tried Lulu.com?

I don't really see the point of a POD or vanity press printing.  The people who want it can get electronic editions easy enough, hard copies are only useful if you're trying to sell a premium product over the electronic version, or trying to get something onto library/bookstore shelves, which POD won't do.

Or if you want a copy that you can read without requiring a power outlet, or one that you can put on your bookshelf, or one that you can give away.

[LordOfganza]

I agree with electronic reading beacuse it saves paper and space BUT i still think that reference books are better to have phisically. It's exausting to check grammar rules or Roleplaying Games rules on a PDF. Besides exausting, like it was already said, it is still limited to where you are and the acess to computer etc. I own a Kindle and I love it. I can read something and if I don't read it again it won't be gathering dust on my shelf nor will it be thrown away, PLUS I can use it without charging or burning my eyes (no backlight) for weeks. But when it comes to reference books, you still can't beat the real deal. At least for now.

Or kill me

[Don Coyote]

have you tried Lulu.com?

I don't really see the point of a POD or vanity press printing.  The people who want it can get electronic editions easy enough, hard copies are only useful if you're trying to sell a premium product over the electronic version, or trying to get something onto library/bookstore shelves, which POD won't do.

Or if you want a copy that you can read without requiring a power outlet, or one that you can put on your bookshelf, or one that you can give away.

Exactly. That's how I learned about Lulu. A martial arts instructor of mine used it to publish his translation of the Gladiatoria Fechtbuch and the Armbraser Codex, along with class materials. And his is the only English translation of Gladiatoria floating around. No one else thinks Harnischfechten is as sexy as Blossfechten.

[Iason Ouabache]

I agree with electronic reading beacuse it saves paper and space BUT i still think that reference books are better to have phisically. It's exausting to check grammar rules or Roleplaying Games rules on a PDF. Besides exausting, like it was already said, it is still limited to where you are and the acess to computer etc. I own a Kindle and I love it. I can read something and if I don't read it again it won't be gathering dust on my shelf nor will it be thrown away, PLUS I can use it without charging or burning my eyes (no backlight) for weeks. But when it comes to reference books, you still can't beat the real deal. At least for now.

Or kill me

True, but paper reference books don't come with a search function.

[LordOfganza]

True, but paper reference books don't come with a search function.
[/quote]
Agreed. And that is pretty helpful at times. But I have a bunch of books where an automated search function wouldn't help squat, like my Kanji (Japanese Complex characters or ideograms lended by the chinese) Dictionary, where you have to search by number of strokes and prefixes. Of course that these are extreme examples. Maybe I just like to have the book in my hands some time. It feels good to look at them and the smell of the pages is fascinating,,,

[Cramulus]

have you tried Lulu.com?

I don't really see the point of a POD or vanity press printing.  The people who want it can get electronic editions easy enough, hard copies are only useful if you're trying to sell a premium product over the electronic version, or trying to get something onto library/bookstore shelves, which POD won't do.

I disagree that hard copies are only important if you're selling a premium product.

lots of people don't like reading books on screens

lots of people will buy a physical product if it's there in front of them

[maphdet]

I could never read a whole book on the screen. My eyes start to water and hurt after about 10 mins. of straight reading.
If I want to read a Whole book-I defiantly buy a hard copy.

Monitor reading for me is only for short reads. (even then my eyes bug out on me-could not imagine reading a whole book on the screen at all!)

[Triple Zero]

True, but paper reference books don't come with a search function.

Agreed. And that is pretty helpful at times. But I have a bunch of books where an automated search function wouldn't help squat, like my Kanji (Japanese Complex characters or ideograms lended by the chinese) Dictionary, where you have to search by number of strokes and prefixes. Of course that these are extreme examples. Maybe I just like to have the book in my hands some time. It feels good to look at them and the smell of the pages is fascinating,,,
[/quote]

No you're right, and even if the book contains mostly text, say the D&D Player Handbook, it's impossible to leaf through a PDF or indeed even use the search function or bookmarks with the same speed and ease as looking something up in a paper hardcover book. The processor might be able to do it, but the interface just isn't there. Not yet, maybe it will one day though. But the fundamental difference between hardcopy and a single screen eReader is that in a hardcopy what you are holding in your hand has all the information right "there" which you can access by directly physically handling it, with the same speed and in any way you can think of, intuitively. While an eReader only displays one page at a time and you have to navigate to the rest via an interface. And this interface might one day be very userfriendly and intuitive and responsive, and that might be almost good enough, but I fail to see how a single screen eReader interface would emulate all the many things you can "just do" with a hardcopy book.
For example looking through the D&D Player manual, you want to compare some description of a magic spell (which are near the back) to some specific combat rules (which are multiple pages somewhere in the middle) without even having to think about it, you will take the bunch of pages between the combat rules and the spell description between thumb and index finger, and can switch back and forth just like that, or even hold them up vertically so you just barely have to shift your head to switch focus from the combat section to the spell description. Additionally, you will be using your thumb to leaf through the individual pages of the combat section, while keeping the spell description open all al the same time. I dunno, maybe one day eBook readers will have a user interface that compares to this in some way, that you can "just do" without figuring out how to "use" it. But we're not there yet.

I could never read a whole book on the screen. My eyes start to water and hurt after about 10 mins. of straight reading.
If I want to read a Whole book-I defiantly buy a hard copy.

Monitor reading for me is only for short reads. (even then my eyes bug out on me-could not imagine reading a whole book on the screen at all!)

They were talking about eReader screens, they don't have backlights, I dunno if you have ever seen one, but their surface reads exactly the same as that of your average magazine, except the letters can change. Which was really weird when I first saw it. I say "average magazine" because the one I saw was slightly more glossy than a normal book, but definitely not as glossy as the typical "glossy magazine".



Oh some other things about POD that is very important for things like the PD and all that: You can't leave a PDF on your toilet shelves for your guests to read while they're crapping. You can't place a PDF on your coffee table. If you lend or give your friend a hardcopy book there's a good chance they will check it out even just a little while if you send them a PDF there's a good chance they'll save it to their "ebooks" folder and never think of it again. If, during a heated discussion, you jump up and proclaim "a-HA! But the PRINCIPIA says ..." and proceed to point out something in a definitely holy looking book, because it has a special place on your bookshelves with a little floodlight pointed at it, you carefully dust it off and bring it to the table with a revering piety, that carries a whole lot more weight than if you'd open your laptop and point at something on a PDF that everybody knows you just got from one of those wacky crackpot sites you always go on about.

[maphdet]

I could never read a whole book on the screen. My eyes start to water and hurt after about 10 mins. of straight reading.
If I want to read a Whole book-I defiantly buy a hard copy.

Monitor reading for me is only for short reads. (even then my eyes bug out on me-could not imagine reading a whole book on the screen at all!)

They were talking about eReader screens, they don't have backlights, I dunno if you have ever seen one, but their surface reads exactly the same as that of your average magazine, except the letters can change. Which was really weird when I first saw it. I say "average magazine" because the one I saw was slightly more glossy than a normal book, but definitely not as glossy as the typical "glossy magazine".

Ah-ok, I see now. 
What a brilliant Idea these eReaders sound like.
Thanks!

[LordOfganza]

. If, during a heated discussion, you jump up and proclaim "a-HA! But the PRINCIPIA says ..." and proceed to point out something in a definitely holy looking book, because it has a special place on your bookshelves with a little floodlight pointed at it, you carefully dust it off and bring it to the table with a revering piety, that carries a whole lot more weight than if you'd open your laptop and point at something on a PDF that everybody knows you just got from one of those wacky crackpot sites you always go on about.

Couldn't agree more!

[the last yatto]

I've got discordia totalis off lulu...
The binding reminds me of a yearbook so I've had people signing it