DIGITAL INC.

Curtis, literary agent and founder of E-Reads publishing, offers a history of the digital revolution in the publishing industry.

In his latest book, the author charts the development of e-books and e-reading from the earliest days in the early 1990s, when it briefly looked as if e-literature would be relegated to primitive cell phones and Palm Pilots. In 1998, the clunky SoftBook and Rocket eBook both faced the same obstacle: “The world simply wasn’t ready to embrace the precipitous transformation from printed books.” Curtis braids his account of the slow rise of e-readers with a history of other revolutions that rocked the publishing world in earlier eras, including the introduction of mass market paperbacks and, later, larger trade paperbacks. He links these to the story of his own company, which embraced e-reading, and its dealings with authors—many of whom, fittingly enough, were SF writers; the book includes the author’s fond memories of Dan Simmons, Elizabeth Lynn, and Greg Bear. “Although the e-book revolution bestowed countless blessings and benefits on humanity, it also unleashed a Pandora’s Box of vexations,” Curtis writes, dwelling at length on some of these troubles, including questions of copyright and piracy. The historical element of the book, which is amply supported by endnotes, leads inexorably to the 2007 release of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, and the author thoroughly describes the meteoric rise of this now-ubiquitous device and its first serious dips in its sales, nearly a decade later. All of this is presented in authoritative detail, breaking down earnings, risks, and industry concerns over two chaotic decades of transformation.

“As happens in so many revolutionary enterprises over time,” the author reflects, “the free spirit of independence became more formalized…as former rebels expressed the need for structure and standards, and for recognition by the public.” This elegiac tone permeates much of the book’s second half, as the short-lived boom in e-books comes to an end and Curtis sells E-Reads. Thanks to his natural storytelling gifts and deft pacing, readers get an insider’s view of the era, its major developments, and the pitfalls of e-reading technology. The author allows that the e-book phenomenon did “cast a beam of hope” in some corners of the book world, giving older works a chance to find some new consumers. However, although the bulk of his book is an engaging narrative of an industry embroiled in unpredictable change, the final notes on the rise of artificial intelligence sound a decidedly grim note, discounting the power of integrity or pride of achievement: “It is hard to imagine why a student or scholar would ever again produce an original book report, term paper or research treatise….From there, it’s an easy jump to AI-assisted creation of literature.” Still, the gloom of these predictions is considerably softened by the vivacity of the story Curtis tells in the earlier pages—of innovators and dreamers, and of readers seeking authenticity in electronic venues. Fortunately, that ray of hope still shines.

A lively and definitive insider’s history of the rise of e-books.