King offers fans online book
By Tom McHenry
Summer Editor
The director of the West Lafayette Public Library
is excited about author Stephen King’s new idea.
King announced Thursday that he will release his
next novel, "The Plant," in installments off of his Website,
www.stephenking.com,
starting Monday.
"I’m fascinated by it- it’s intriguing
and definitely different," said Nick Shinkell, director of the West
Lafayette Public Library.
"The Plant" will be the first novel from
a best-selling author to be on the Internet before it’s on bookshelves.
"It’s certainly going to draw attention
to it because it’s Stephen King," Shinkell said. He said that
he thinks the Internet may be a great way of providing information to
people but it won’t replace books. "Books are still very popular
here," Shinkell said.
"The Plant" will appear in 5,000- to 7,000-word
installments which can be purchased for a dollar each from King directly;
King’s readers will be on the honor system.
King said on his website that he will continue to
produce installments for the story only as long as the money comes in.
If readers cheat and print copies for friends for free or publish them
to make a profit themselves, King will stop installments.
"Pay and the story rolls. Steal and the story
folds," King’s message said.
King is not the first to try electronic publishing,
or e-Books, but his honor system and high profile have created a lot of
attention.
"If I could break some trail for all the mid-list
writers, literary writers and just plain marginalized writers who see
a future outside of mainstream, that’s great," King said.
Joel Robinson, director of the Tippecanoe County
Library, said he feels electronic books and online manuscripts may be
an alternative worth pursuing. "Sure, I think for some people, depending
on their work and situation, the electronic book is a good thing,"
he said.
But Robinson doesn’t think that electronic books
can ever replace the "real thing." Books have been around for
more than three thousand years and survived through all manner of trends
that should have made them obsolete, he said.
"I love printed books," Vic Abell associate
director of the Purdue Computing Center, said. "I’m not interested
at all (in King’s new novel)". Abell said that as people lose
the elasticity of their eyes it becomes harder to read materials on a
computer screen for long periods of time.
Shinkell said if anything, King might lose a large
number of his audience who aren’t willing to download the story or
lack the computer aptitude to.
He said that the Harry Potter books are one example
of the continued popularity of books even with an electronic generation.
New technologies in online publishing have only helped
libraries, in fact. By placing more and more of their resources in easily
available online sources, unneeded stock can be trimmed down.
"I think it already has had a big effect on
how libraries provide ready reference," Shinkell said.
Shinkell said he sees the Internet, not as a very
good archival device or reading device, but as a good communications device
for accessing "anything that can be quickly digested and put into
a chart."
"I think it will basically change the way libraries
do business, but it won’t put libraries out of business," Robinson
said.
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