Over the past six months or so, I’ve read a number of e-books on my iPod Touch, trying out Stanza, Kindle for iPhone, and eReader. At this point the various annoyances (text that’s laid out with big distracting spaces between words, typos, boring covers, wading through the copyright info—and sometimes the “about the author” cover text—to get to the first pages of the book itself) are starting to outweigh the convenience of acquiring a new book immediately, portability, and reading in the dark. And the novelty of playing with a new toy has worn off for me.

So I’ve set aside the latest e-book I was reading, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s story collection There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby, in favor of some paperbacks I received for Christmas. Not because I wasn’t enjoying the book itself, but because of the less-than-pleasant reading experience. I downloaded it for Kindle for iPhone, and there are no text settings I can adjust to improve the readability. You can choose the text size and color, but that doesn’t change the biggest problem: when the text is justified on both sides, there are big gaps between words. At least with eReader, you can set the text to justify only on the left, which eliminates that problem. eReader also gives you the option to change the font, margins, and line spacing. 

Plus, I missed out on the nice cover of the book, yet only saved 21 cents (my e-book version just uses the title page):

But I really want to love reading e-books! So I’m glad to see publishing professionals calling for higher standards of quality.  The Casual Optimist provides a helpful overview of the dialogue here. Liza Daly’s presentation “Getting Past ‘Good Enough’ Books” really resonates with my own experience as a somewhat frustrated reader of e-books.

Mirasol Glass Art

In the midst of a revolution, when changes roll over the present with rapidity and disregard, it’s hard to see far into the future. In fact, at best you might be able to catalog various abstract possibilities to come, much like guessing the end of a novel when you’re still on page 20.

Then again, sometimes you see something, and you know you’ve glimpsed the inevitable. That happened to me yesterday.

E-readers are about to change so dramatically that the present Kindle is going to seem like an Etch A Sketch. What makes an e-reader so different from a computer screen is its screen surface.

With no backlighting and an appearance almost like paper, the e-reader screen is easy on the eyes. It’s like reading a paper book. Almost. But at today’s technology, it’s also slow, clumsy, and one dimensional. Like a book, you might say, but being accustomed to the mesmerizing tricks of computers and the Internet and judging by the widespread fetish of the iPhone, people are going to want more.

They’re going to get a lot more, probably by the fall of 2010.

Take a look at this short video below of the new Mirasol screen, made by Qualcomm, which, like the E-Ink technology of the Kindle, is not backlit, meaning the screen is illuminated by ambient light in a room or, if you’re outside, by the sun. Like the Kindle, it is easy on the eyes, it uses very little energy, and can produce a paperlike image for ebooks. But it’s also extremely fast and can stream video in rich color like your computer or an iPhone. It’s stunning.

The screen is likely to be used not only on e-readers but also on cell phones, which should dramatically increase their battery life.

Although another company might beat Qualcomm with a different technology, Mirasol or something similar is soon going to provide all the benefits of the present e-reader while transforming it into a multifunctional device for the Internet, music, videos, and all the things of the future we haven’t yet imagined.

If you’re worried about the fate of the literary magazine in this hectic new era of apps and tweets, you might find solace in Electric Literature, a bold new bimonthly with a plan to capture and convert a broad and highly mobile readership to literary fiction. Founded by Andy Hunter, 38, and Scott Lindenbaum, 26, who met in the Brooklyn College MFA program, the magazine is available on every possible platform, including paper (printed on demand), Kindle, iPhone, and audiobook. Although many literary publications have begun to offer electronic delivery in some form or another, Electric Literature may be the first to blanket the whole field.

By limiting their paper printing costs to exactly the number of copies ordered, the magazine eliminates a sizeable upfront expense as well as the losses associated with unsold copies. Such economy makes it possible for Electric Literature to act boldly in another way—by paying writers an impressive $1,000 per story. As the editors say in their mission statement, the pioneering model is designed to set a simple but compelling precedent: more access for readers, and fairness for writers.

The magazine seems to be off to a good start, thanks to some innovative marketing ideas and their success in landing such big-name writers as Michael Cunningham, Colson Whitehead, Lydia Davis, and Jim Shepard in their first two issues. With some 4,000 readers and growing, according to the New York Times, it’s generating a much-needed spark of optimism across the literary landscape.

I discovered recently, however, that Feedbooks (one of the 13 collections offered on Stanza) generally chooses more attractive covers for their public-domain books. Below on the right is the cover that Feedbooks uses for the same work. Much easier on the eyes, in my opinion. I think it’s the cover for the first American edition, but I’m not positive.

A little more browsing and comparing confirmed my suspicion: someone there is paying attention! Here are a few typical book covers that other ebook publishers use for public-domain works:

You’ve got your generic templates, random stock photography, and the cover to any old edition that’s available. It gets the job done. 

But Feedbooks is clearly having more FUN picking the covers, and as a reader who’s eager to use this technology, I appreciate that. The authors may be dead, but that doesn’t mean their books have to look dead! Check out some examples:

And notice, too, how the Feedbooks versions all provide publication years and summaries, which is really useful when you’re browsing for something to download.

McSweeney's iPhone app

Leave it to the clever folks at McSweeney’s to find a playful way to make a mark in the e-publishing realm. They made an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch! Small Chair will offer an exclusive weekly selection of McSweeney’s material to subscribers. The content will pull from all divisions of McSweeney’s empire, including the Quarterly, the Believer, Wholphin, and so on, and will include not only stories and articles but also music, video, and art. Subscribers will also receive daily missives from McSweeney’s Internet Tendency as well as news and announcements.

The six-month subscription costs $5.99, which works out to just under a buck a month. That’s quite a bargain, though Gawker has not wasted any time in making fun of McSweeney’s. Gawker announced the new app in a post entitled “Everything Annoying in the Universe in One iPhone App.” Even though I am a fan of McSweeney’s, I have to confess that the Gawker title and associated article made me laugh. It seems there is no love lost between McSweeney’s and Gawker (or at least the author of the Gawker article). The final two sentences of the article sum up the author’s feelings: “How much do we have to pay to make sure no McSweeney’s ever gets on our iPhone? Is There An App For That?”

On the other hand, the algorithms of the Amazon brain (Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought…) are no substitute for the informed, individual, hands-on customer service—the inspired and unusual recommendations—that you’re likely to get at your local independent (if it still exists). And the indies know it.

That’s why they’re rallying around IndieBound, an initiative from the American Booksellers Association (ABA), designed to champion the “buy local” movement. Members are banded together by a common logo and a fierce “Declaration” that opens like this:

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for individuals to denounce the corporate bands which threaten to homogenize our cities and our souls, we must celebrate the powers that make us unique and declare the causes which compel us to remain independent.

Introduced a year ago, IndieBound is an expanded, rebranded, and reenergized version of BookSense, the ABA’s original vehicle for promoting the cause of independents. The new website features bookseller recommendations and best-seller lists, as well as copious DIY resources for independent booksellers to customize their IndieBound identities. By joining the community, users can create their own personalized wish lists, plug their favorite stores, and participate in social networking activities.

Big news at the BEA in May was the launch of IndieBound’s new iPhone application. Here are some of its features:

• Browse indie bookseller recommendation lists (The Indie Next List, The Kids Indie Next List) and best-seller lists (The Indie Bestseller Lists)

• Search for books from a comprehensive database of in-print titles

• Review detailed book information

• Buy books online from indie bookstores

• Find local, indie bookstores nearby or across the United States

• Find other independently owned businesses, like coffee shops, movie theaters, and bicycle stores

The application’s been downloaded more than 60,000 times in a month—which seems like a glimmer of hope in this otherwise dark night of the indie bookseller’s soul.

Fortunately, until Kindle apps appear for other smartphones, there are good alternatives. Among the best are Mobipocket, a French company bought by Amazon in 2005, and eReader, owned by Barnes & Noble. Both have apps available for most smartphones, including my own, the Samsung Omnia, run on Windows Mobile.

I’ve been surprised by how pleasant and useful it is to read on a cell phone, despite the three-inch screen. Reading on my phone has been a slippery slope. It started with text messages, then e-mail, then the newspaper. When I signed up with Mobipocket, I decided I would start with a book of poems—short things to read when I was stuck somewhere and had nothing to do. With Mobipocket I was able to connect to the site and buy a book directly from my phone.

I love paper books, so in evaluating Mobipocket and eReader, the real test was whether I would use them. I didn’t have to wait long to find out. One evening at the grocery store, I found myself in the longest line of my life. I was stuck near the cosmetics and couldn’t even see the cashiers. As people grumbled around me, I decided this was the moment. I pulled out my phone. I opened up Les Fleurs du Mal. By the time I got a glimpse of the cash register, I had already read three curious, ecstatic poems by Baudelaire.

A while back I mentioned the Amazon Kindle e-reader and how I am enjoying the new gadget. It is certainly a different kind of reading experience using an e-reader as opposed to a traditional book, but I wouldn’t say it is drastically different. If something can motivate you to read more, does it really matter if it’s battery operated?

After getting the Kindle, I immediately downloaded the iPhone Kindle application. It syncs up with my Kindle so I don’t have to search around for the right page. It’s perfect for when I’m in a long line at the post office or waiting in a doctor’s office. You’d think that trying to read on a tiny iPhone screen would be distracting or unpleasant, but the text is very crisp and easy to read.

More recently I downloaded Stanza, another e-reader application for the iPhone (and iPod Touch). Not only does Stanza offer content for sale but it also offers a vast assortment of free books, including many of the classics. I opted for Huckleberry Finn, since I have never read it (I know, can you believe it?). Now I can sneak out my iPhone whenever and wherever I please and read to my heart’s content!