Team E or Team T?

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Are you Team E or Team T?

When e-books first emerged onto the scene, many predicted they wouldn't last. No technology, no matter how wonderful, could replace the feel and smell of a beautiful, brand new book. E-books (E) might be a nice diversion, but they'd never overtake traditional (T) books.

To be honest, I was one of the skeptics, and, when it comes to certain books, I still am. I used to have rules -- non-fiction (e-book) vs. fiction (traditional book), books I'll end up donating (E) vs. books I want to keep (T), books I want to take to the beach or with me when I travel (E) vs. books that will stay home. I might dabble in e-books, but my heart belonged with Team T.

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Over time, the rules got blurry. Non-fiction books I wanted to use for teaching needed to have paper pages I could highlight and write on, as well as page through in class. Novels were sometimes more fun if I could hold them in my hand; curling up with a book was just more fun than curling up with a Kindle. But, on more than one occasion, price won out over format or impatience swayed my decision. Having the book I wanted to read in my hands right away meant siding with Team E over Team T.

As an author, I feel strongly about making my books available in both formats because readers face many of the same dilemmas I do. Should I get a paperback I can get signed? Buy the e-book because it's 99¢ this week? Do I have a place to store something that will take up more space than a simple computer file?

In the end, as both author and reader, I've decided to go with a sentiment I've felt all along: the more books I have, the better.

And any format that makes that possible is fine with me.