Format- Ebook or Book?

Just curious to see what everyone’s favorite format is when it comes to reading grimoires in general, and EA’s work.

I prefer physical books, but I know there are some who prefer ebooks.

What about you?

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Physical. It makes it easier to highlight and bookmark exercises. :slight_smile:

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ebook. i can take it where ever i want. however physical is nice

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They both have advantages but I like having the actual book. I love to highlight and make my own personal notes.

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Ebooks are more discreet, and for my purposes work much better. But if I was able to choose and all things were the same I’d prefer a book.

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Proper e-books, the ones released by the publisher and easily viewable on a viewer are an excellent fallback when the real thing isn’t available or out of reach. I already own some EA hard copies for instance, and I would love to finish the collection. Seeing Kingdom Of Flames however, which is not a top priority for me, on ebay for thousands of dollars is a bit disappointing given how modern these books are. Tis true! In the case of EA’s books it’s clear that the publisher enjoys seeing the books being so expensive as to force people to flock to the e-books. Those aren’t numbered and are a cash cow. There is NOTHING wrong with having a desirable brand. I am happy for BALG and have already invested over 800$ in books with them.

Regardless, I would rather buy the ebooks than pay more than I am willing for a particular collection.

There are books however that I am willing to pay at inflated prices for the privilege of holding in my hands.

Those awful PDF ebooks that contain scanned images of each page of a real book however … those are just NO. They don’t scale, are difficult to read on a small device and depending on the scan resolution are terribly slow to load on dedicated e-readers.

Either way, if you pay for the book, it’ll probably be enjoyable. If you pirated a shitty scanned copy of a book, then it will suck, as is deserved.

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You highlight in dark magick grimoires? GASP. (kidding)

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“…This demon is useful in the murder of adversaries and inflicting insanity…”

highlights in pink

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You highlight in dark magick grimoires? GASP. (kidding)[/quote]
I do highlight. Make personal notes. Write on the inside covers. It think that is what makes them special.

My gragrandpa was a baptist preacher. But i would love to have his bible for the simple fact he highlighted things and wrote in the margins. He has whole sermons written out like that in it. Thats where the real magick is. Where you add to it with your own research and then leave it for someone else to build upon even more!

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I’m a bibliopurist, which is a word I just made up that means that I don’t like writing in books. I like my books pure and untouched, like a virgin. And I like to leave them like that.

I remember one year in college our assignment was to interact with a book by underlining things and writing in the margins, it was so hard and difficult for me. The entire time I felt like I was committing some supreme from of blasphemy.

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[quote=“ashtkerr, post:10, topic:9175”]I’m a bibliopurist, which is a word I just made up that means that I don’t like writing in books. I like my books pure and untouched, like a virgin. And I like to leave them like that.

I remember one year in college our assignment was to interact with a book by underlining things and writing in the margins, it was so hard and difficult for me. The entire time I felt like I was committing some supreme from of blasphemy.[/quote]
Thank you, I now have that Madonna song stuck in my head…" like a virgin…hey touched for the first time…"

Thats cool though. Everyone is different. I write on EVERYTHING !! Notebooks, books, paper, my blue jeans have hearts drawn on them. I draw sigils on the palm of my hand. All my school work had doodles in the margins. Nothing is safe from me :wink:

I almost wrote “…pure and untouched, like a virgin, like Madonna.”

But, ultimately decided against it. It’s nice that my intention ultimately came through the text and you received it.

I like a nice paperback, the size that’s around 15cm x 23cm (6ins x 9ins, trade paperback as it’s usually called), it’s not made of anything that makes me feel terrible if it gets tea spilled on it, and books printed in that format are usually readily available, so if one get’s busted up I can get another on Amazon, but without the eyestrain inherent in e-books (for thems of us as spend a lot of time looking at a screen).

But I’m not a collector and honestly probably not your target market for this anyway. :slight_smile:

Still, a book like that is the one most likely to find its way onto my bookcase and into my life.

A free e-book with audio download for pronunciation that buyers get if they sign up for a book-specific mailing list might be a nice touch, and a way to acquire people who buy resold books into your mailing list? Also the pronunication thing might be bloody useful, it comes up all the time on here and thankfully we have videos, but a lot of authors don’t.

You could even have mantras and stuff people can download and play in the background to attune to the currents, and to sanctify their space etc. Recording an MP3 (not a video) can’t be overly taxing, and would add value and engagement to the book.

All JMO! :slight_smile:

Also, hard copy isn’t that specific, because you have the high-end stuff like BALG do with fancy leather and all kinds of refinements, which is one market, then you have standard hardback like every established author (fiction or non) gets published in, which certainly lasts better for the reader than paperbacks, then you have the various sizes of paperback, which I like but (as anyone who owns NAP can tell you) the spines tend to either dry out disintegrate, leaving you with loose pages - some of my dad’s old Pan horrors are in that condition now, and almost unreadable.

So what kind of heritage you want to leave is also a factor in what you choose, and e-books don’t go near that because they usually rely on proprietary software that may rapidly become incompatible with modern OS’s.

PDF is okay for now, but we’re talking less than 30 years in use and something could come along that blows it out of the water, plus it’s harder to take a PDF into the woods or whatever.

Just some brainstormed ideas anyway, I’m more familiar with marketing than choosing what TO market. :slight_smile:

I feel the same, although all my favorite books are stuffed with loose leaf paper of what I would have scribbled in the margin.

Speaking as an author myself, having an e-reader just feels impersonal. The paper, binding, and even the cover art give a feeling of life to my books.

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I’m new to BALG and want to learn the basics, but I’m not financially able to buy the hard cover, out of print books. I also have a hard time reading on a screen. My eyes are old school and like real books. My question is, if I buy the collected works in E book or pdf can I print them on my printer? I use computers only when necessary so I can’t do anything fancy. Thanks.:slight_smile:

You can certainly print off pdfs. It’s totally legal as long as you don’t intend to sell the pages you print.

Thank you, ashtkerr, so I’ll buy it in pdf, not e-book? I usually ask advice about digital issues from neighbors, but I think if they saw the content there would be trouble!!:slight_smile:

If you can. It’s not possible to print off an ebook. However, there are ways to transfer an ebook into a pdf and then print it out. Just ask Dr. Google.

Just to affirm the answer is yes, in Timothy’s own words:

That’s OK.

Copyright includes permission to print for personal study.[/quote]

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Thank you all, I appreciate your care!:slight_smile: