Even though it’s only two years since The Savage Kick #5, a worrying trend has become the worrying truth.

E-books are here to stay. Worse than that, they’re taking over. The paperback book is trying to compete and is losing.

Now MSP is selling out and converting our stuff to e-book format. And all because the e-book of Robert McGowan’s NAM has sold more than the print one. We have to have digital versions of our stuff to survive financially... but I fucking hate it.

The advantages of e-books are obvious. Cost-wise, for both the reader and the publisher, they’re much cheaper. Space-wise, again for both reader and publisher, they’re a dream. You can stores hundreds of books on a little grey tablet. No more cluttered bookshelves, boxes, drawers... hell, even floors.

So what’s the problem?

A lot of hardened book readers raise the same complaints. Regardless of the improvements in e-book screens, they don’t have the feel of a book. That familiar texture, weight and even that familiar smell. Most models also don’t allow for colour art and often have annoying formatting limitations.

I wanted this issue of The Savage Kick to look like a careworn Fante and Bukowski Black Sparrow Press book that many of us have on our bookshelves. For whatever reasons, those fuckers really attract the dirt but remain real treasures.

Short of individually shitting on everyone’s e-readers, I can’t even try to replicate that in digital form.

My other concerns are even more troubling. For those of us without a bunch of money, possessions offer a safety net. Physically owning a book that can be sold later can help a lot. I’m not proud of it, but I needed money and had a shitload of Bukowski poetry collections on BSP. They got me out of a jam.

It suits publishers not to have print versions of books. They save on production costs and storage and commissions to bookstores. But this has led to the collapse of Barnes and Noble, Borders and a number of smaller bookshops.

I like bookshops. I like libraries even more. And I like the responsibility that printing a book places on the publisher.

Yes, a publisher can always pulp a book but they’ll battle for it not to be. If an e-book doesn’t sell swiftly – and sadly the dumbest sensationalist shit like 50 Shades of Grey often sells the most – why not dump the thing as it’s costless?

Alright, I’ll stop. Because whether you’re reading this on your fucking digital reader or gently caressing the carefully designed book, it remains great that you’re here.

Hope you enjoy the sixth issue of The Savage Kick.

Murder Slim Press