The song/CD analogy is really good. If a book is mainly a collection of discrete parts then Google book search makes it easier to read the stuff you care about.
[A]uthors in the digital age should design their books to be purchased or consumed in a more fine grained fashion.
Very true!
I've started, ever so slowly, to self-publish some technical books that I've deliberately try to keep small. I want to offer just the best parts, remove the fluff and filler: http://justthebestparts.com
It pained me to buy pricey books just for one or two chapters, and I see no reason now not to publish things in more digestible and accessible chunks.
In a past life I did some writing for Wrox Press (the previous, went bankrupt, version) and the editors were often very keen and having extraneous detail added rather than encourage people to either Google it or, perish the thought, go get another book (unless it was a Wrox book).
[A]uthors in the digital age should design their books to be purchased or consumed in a more fine grained fashion.
Very true!
I've started, ever so slowly, to self-publish some technical books that I've deliberately try to keep small. I want to offer just the best parts, remove the fluff and filler: http://justthebestparts.com
It pained me to buy pricey books just for one or two chapters, and I see no reason now not to publish things in more digestible and accessible chunks.
In a past life I did some writing for Wrox Press (the previous, went bankrupt, version) and the editors were often very keen and having extraneous detail added rather than encourage people to either Google it or, perish the thought, go get another book (unless it was a Wrox book).