Sometimes we take for granted the goodness of electronic publishing. But some people still wonder why an author or a publisher would choose to put out an electronic edition of their work.
Dr. Robert Lowery, seminary professor, dean, and author of Revelation's Rhapsody, was recently asked why he chose to publish his first book both electronically (with Logos) and in print (with College Press).
Dr. Lowery shared his answer to this question on his blog...which he has generously allowed us to reprint as a case study on Logos.com.
My favorite quotes:
Simply put, Logos is the world’s biggest developer of Bible software, and if I believe that my book will be helpful to people, I want to reach as many as possible.
And:
How many of the readers of my book will actually look up all of the Scripture references? If they choose not to do so, my book will not be as helpful as I desire. How many will actually turn to the back of the book and read the footnotes, notes that I believe are as helpful as the text itself?! In the electronic edition, notes and Scripture references are quickly available, just a mouse hover away.
I find it interesting to read an author's perspective on electronic publishing and see how his priorities align with ours: get the book into the most hands possible and help readers get more out of the book.
But it only makes sense: labor-intensive details such as footnotes and Scripture references represent hours of wasted effort...unless readers actually use them! And making these features easy to use is one of the great strengths of Logos Bible Software.
Why wouldn't one create an electric version of a text?