Off to NewYork and the RWA conference

Tomorrow I leave for New York and the RWA conference. Next week should be full of meetings and greetings. I also expect to learn quite a lot about what is currently happening in publishing. All next week, I will be updating the Pink Heart Society blog with my doings and various bits of gossip etc.
This conference is highly important for a number of reasons. The one being e-books and how they are dominating the growth of the industry.
There is a sea change going on with the advent of the e-reader taking a bigger proportion of sales.
In some ways it reminds me of what happened in the early 2000's with digital cameras.  Suddenly you go from needing film and processing to not need them very much.
Will print books ever truly go out? I don't think so and indeed most of the industry's sales still come from print. However,it is about economies of scale and how people purchase those books. The only place there is growth is in digital but that throws up a whole other set of problems. For example -- how much is cannibalisation and how much is new growth as people rediscover the joys of reading?
I have had my kindle for over a week now and really enjoy it. There is a feeling of wow, I can just get a book. The free sample bit is fantastic. It allows me to browse and try an author and a book before I buy. I know I have purchased several books that I might have just thought about getting before. Equally now I have a toy. It needs to be used.
But when you have a revolution or sea change, the entire world gets reshaped and remoulded. And so I shall be interested to hear what is happening.

So I shall report back here on the 4th with pictures and updates.

On a personal note: I get to see my sister whom I haven't seen for 5 years and my son whom I haven't seen for a year. They are travelling to New York and will be hanging about. I spoke to both of them last night and it is all terribly exciting. Will I get any sleep?