Print or E-book?

In writing circles, much has been said and written about the advantages and disadvantages of the format in which we publish our books: print or e-book? Or both?  That is one of the decisions writers have to make - albeit an important one - in the world of publishing today.

We are frequently reminded that if we want to write, we have to read. Given the choice, do we read a novel on our e-reader or as a print book? Every individual will decide on the basis of personal preference at the time. Again, the relevant factors have been widely discussed, for example: price and convenience on one hand; absence of page numbers and lack of a tactile relationship with a book on the other.

To date, I have seen no discussion on the effect, both short- and long-term, that each of the two different forms of reading has on the reader, especially the reader as a writer. Questions we might ask about reading an e-book version of a novel are:

• Does the reader engage as closely with the characters?
• How well does the reader remember the plot or the characters?
• Is the setting of the novel more or less vivid?
• Does the absence of colour illustrations on the cover (in some e-readers) reduce the import of the experience?
• Is the reading pleasure reduced or enhanced in using the e-book version?

Of course, different questions would be asked about other genres or about non-fiction books.

If our reading is a necessary feed to our writing, it would be interesting to know if one format rather than the other would have the optimum effect on our writing. To date, I haven’t come across any discussions on this. Perhaps students on a creative writing course could be encouraged to do some research on the topic?