by Ryan C Christiansen
Columnist
A couple of years ago, eBook distributor Smashwords took a close look at its sales data. What it found was that rural folks tend to buy more eBooks than urban folks do on a per-capita basis. Alaskans were the top individual eBook buyers, but North Dakotans came in second place, followed by Utahans and Wyomingites. The top twenty list was dominated by rural states.
It only makes sense. Because we’re located in what folks like to call “flyover country,” (meaning that our part of the world is geographically inconvenient to the rest of the world), being a reader here in North Dakota does have its disadvantages, especially when it comes to buying physical books. Unless you live in Bismarck, Fargo, or Minot, you don’t have easy access to a Barnes & Noble, the nation’s number one bookseller. Meanwhile, most small, independent booksellers have disappeared. Sure, you can sometimes find a limited selection of books in grocery stores (very limited), but even the selection at your nearest Walmart isn’t much better. Fortunately, many larger rural towns still actively support public libraries, and most libraries are members of statewide networks that allow patrons to borrow books from other libraries through interlibrary loans. But if you’re looking for a book on an obscure topic or by a niche author, even libraries have their limitations, and that’s the reason why so many rural folks have gotten used to the idea of purchasing printed books over the Internet from Amazon.com or other online retailers; the books arrive in your mailbox in just a few days.
The time that it takes for a rural North Dakotan to get to a place where they sell or lend physical books might be a barrier to some of them becoming regular readers. Access is important. That’s why it’s so great that the eBook has caught on, and statistically speaking, it’s set to become the primary medium for delivering literary works to readers. Folks in North Dakota can now access a multitude of books without ever having to leave their living rooms, and this includes access to borrowing eBooks from public libraries or online libraries such as the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. And you can read eBooks not only on eReaders like the Kindle, but also on tablet computers, smartphones, and regular desktop and laptop computers, too.
The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project recently looked at how people in urban, suburban, and rural areas read eBooks, and they found that while rural folks do read a lot of eBooks, they testify that they tend to prefer reading printed books. Perhaps that’s because a lot of people like to debate the merits of eBooks; they see it as a war between eBooks and printed books, and between change and tradition. But I think eBooks and printed books can co-exist. Each format has features that make it special, and while the main feature of eBooks is access and portability, the printed book (when done well) has a certain physical beauty.
What many people don’t realize is just how valuable the eBook has become to rural writers. Rural folks have a lot to say about the world, and they can offer wisdom from a rural perspective, but until recently, rural writers had to send their manuscripts to places like New York City if they wanted to be considered for publication. Their hard work disappeared into black holes. Sure, a rural writer can shell out a few hundred or a few thousand dollars to have a physical book published at a printer, but then they have to haul them around in totes and sell them at craft fairs and such. There’s some reward in selling books in this way, I admit. You get to meet folks face to face. But still, the rural writer’s reach with physical books is limited.
Nowadays, however, rural writers can publish their works as eBooks, and they can use e-mail and social networking on the Internet to interact with readers and to market their books. Together, the Internet and eBooks have made it possible for rural writers to sell books to audiences they never could have imagined reaching before, including readers around the globe. The overall effect that eBooks have had on rural areas is that rural writers can now more easily reach their primary audience: rural readers, and not only in their own states, but in other states and countries, too. The eBook can become the centerpiece for cowboy conversations around the globe.
Folks who favor printed books and who have had the opportunity to visit a Barnes & Noble lately have probably noticed that the bookseller has given over a lot of its floor space to games, puzzles, and toys. That’s because Barnes & Noble is having a hard time competing with the likes of Amazon.com. I predict that Barnes & Noble may fold altogether, just like Borders Books did a couple of years ago. But if that were to happen, I doubt that you’d see printed books disappear, too. In fact, I bet you’d see a revival of the small, independent bookseller. And while most of these small booksellers will need to sell something else, too, to make ends meet, at least you might be able to buy books again from a bookseller who’s genuinely interested in books instead of having to buy books from a big chain store that only cares about featuring the latest, greatest book from a millionaire author.
In the end, I think the majority of rural folks will benefit from eBooks. If more people are reading and talking about books, then I think that’s a great thing for everyone.