New Line Press author James Halon was recently interviewed and featured in a newspaper article regarding the talk he gave to a captivated audience at a public library earlier this month about the future of reading and the electronic Kindle Reader.
New Line Press thanks the Ledger-Dispatch, reporter Bethany A. Monk, the Amador County Library, and James Halon for his community involvement.
Ledger-Dispatch
Kindle allows users to read books electronically
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By Bethany A. Monk
Ione resident James Halon gives a presentation on the Amazon Kindle wireless reading device at the Jackson branch of the Amador County Library system.
James Halon of New Line Press Book Publisher in Pine Grove says the Amazon Kindle is the wave of the future.
The author and publisher gave a presentation on the device, which allows people to read electronic books, to Amador County residents at the Jackson branch of the county library recently. Halon brought his own Kindle to the presentation and held a question and answer forum for the nearly 20 people who attended.
Amazon Kindle is a software and hardware program created by Amazon.com launched in the United States in November 2007. The device's screen is 3.6 inches wide and 4.8 inches tall and displays the page of a book in electronic form; to turn the "page," one simply presses a button. It is used without a computer and can hold up to 1,500 novels, Halon said. With the purchase of a specific disk, it can hold up to 25,000 novels. Amazon.com has some e-books available for free, and most others cost about $9.99.
"It's kind of the wave now," Amador County assistant librarian Linda Laolagi said of the Kindle. "It would really benefit students. Think of all the kids who could put their textbooks on it instead of carrying around all those books in their backpacks."
"There was a good turnout," Amador County librarian Laura Einstadter said of Halon's presentation. Some people brought their Kindles with them and were able to ask Halon questions about the device.
"I think it's something a lot of people are looking at purchasing," she added. "I'm not sure the (Amador County Library) is in the position to purchase one, but a lot of other libraries are purchasing them and circulating them - they're getting a good response."
According to the Amazon.com Web site, a new Kindle 2, the latest version of the device, costs $359; used Kindles cost $225 on the site.
Of Halon's presentation and turnout, Einstadter said it was nice to see so many people interested in technology.
Halon is the vice president of New Line. Like many of the bigger publishers, New Line is also selling its books via electronic book form, he said. It saves a lot of money, Halon added, and is very green.
"We don't have to do the actual shipping or storing or publishing of all the papers," he said.
New Line went e-book last year, he said. The first book the company made available electronically was Catherine Burr's novel, "Silicon Secrets." Now several are available in the e-book format.
"It works sort of like a cell phone," he said. "You don't have to be at a computer. It runs on a battery."
Halon, who uses his Kindle often, says he recharges the battery about every three days. "The average person would probably need to recharge the battery once a week."
One of its downfalls, he said, is that it doesn't light up at night. Amazon.com does sell an attachable lamp, Halon said.
Halon, author of several novels, says one of the reasons he likes using Kindle is that he can also download his own manuscripts onto the device and work on them via the Kindle keyboard.
"I can see why some people say they are not going to make the change (to Kindle)," Halon said, adding that some people just really enjoy the traditional book format. Many people, however, will enjoy the benefits of the device, he said.
"Once a person sees this and holds this in their hands, they're going to wonder why they didn't have one sooner," Halon said.
Bethany A. Monk
Ledger Dispatch article
New Line Press.com
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