Guest blogger John Klawitter on visual imagery in e-books.
We’re all aware our audience increasingly devours everything from novels to e-zines on small, hand-held screens. And now it seems e-books are moving beyond words and in the direction of visual imagery. With formats like Kindle, Smashwords and CreateSpace we can add images in the text of our work.
Fifteen years ago, when I wrote Headslap, a sports bio about the life and times of Deacon Jones, the publisher grudgingly included a group of pictures in one section in the center of the book. That used to be the way they did it, an awkward section not all that convenient to refer to. Today you can sprinkle photos and drawings throughout your book at little or no extra cost. But that’s just one current step in the trend.
Today’s writers are linking to video imagery within the body of the text. I myself am working on a how-to book meant to inspire writers who want to venture into storytelling videos, and I’m imbedding links to YouTube and Vimeo to give readers the opportunity to experience short video examples of exactly what I’m talking about.
