On dark and stormy nights, you struggled with the words, thousands of them, sculpting every phrase to beyond perfection.

        You worked through your differences with your editor and your computer, resisting an occasional urge to cry.

        You waited patiently for the printouts.

Author Marla Morris, on the computer screen, is selling her latest book, Lavender Blue, on the Internet. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Finally, your rhetoric was a manuscript ready to be mailed — a task you tackled eagerly because you couldn't wait for those publishers to come begging, which they almost certainly would.

        Which they didn't.

        Which is at least one reason why Al Gore created the Internet and the capability for electronic and print-on-demand publishing.

        Quick and easy publishing. Quick and easy reading. It's Napster to consumers' ears.

        In the same way computer technology and the World Wide Web redefined and re-enlivened mail, it is giving us a new, plugged-in version of the library. Not since Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press has there been such a visible change in the way we read — or the way we're about to read.

        Since the e-book concept was introduced two years ago, the number of offerings has grown from 100 to more than 5,000. And that number could grow to 50,000 in two more years, experts predict.

        “In the same way that we take televisions and telephones for granted, we will think nothing of carrying around (electronic) pocket readers,” said Oren Teicher. chief operating officer of the American Booksellers Association.

        “Any publisher who is reluctant to get into this business does so at his own peril,” said Adam Rothberg, spokesman for publisher Simon & Schuster. “Right now, electronic books are a very small piece of the business. But there's no question that it's going to take hold. ... It's a matter of aggressively positioning ourselves to be ready.”

        Which is all good news to the Hemingway wannabes waiting for their big breaks. Everybody can write (or so we believe), and now, it's easier for just about everybody to publish or be published.
       

Many get a chance

        Publishers estimate that, for every book printed traditionally, at least 100 manuscripts are rejected. Because it's cheaper and easier for publishers to dump digitized books on the Internet, more aspiring writers get to call themselves published authors.

        Marlene Morris (aka Marla Morris), of Blue Ash, is among thousands of authors writing with more confidence, sure their books will be published — in some form — and sold, to some extent. She liked her debut so much that she came back to her e-publisher with a second romance novel. And third.

        “Online publishing is going to grow,” she said. “There are a lot of good books out there that aren't published — something like 4 percent of all manuscripts get published. ... A lot of us who have not had good luck with mainstream publishers are certainly going to go to the Internet.”

        Now, traditional print houses are hurrying to get their books online. One of the nation's biggest publishers, Random House, plans to digitize 20,000 titles by the end of next year. Barnes & Noble Inc., the country's biggest bookstore chain, could triple its e-book titles on a Web site by Christmas.

        Catering to a market of rejection-letter collectors, there has long been a “vanity press,” publishers willing to print almost anything — for a fee and, usually, the bulk of retail revenues.

        One of those publishers, Vantage Press Inc. of New York, charges a minimum $6,000 fee for a 500-book press run; more for larger, more difficult-to-print books.
       

Cheaper alternative

        The e-publishing concept cuts costs considerably. By putting books on the Web or printing books as they are ordered, it eliminates the nightmares of warehouse inventories and the complications of book-store returns.

        With online publishing, a customer can see a book on his computer screen, complete with a cover design, and read a synopsis in a rundown of new releases. If he is looking for books by a particular author, he can type in that author's name.

        If it's a new author, or the customer is unsure about the book itself, he can read a few pages — or chapters — before ordering the book.

        The system allows publishers to print books as they are needed, instead of financing press runs of thousands of books.

        One online publisher, iUniverse.com, offers various programs for various writers, with initial fees from $100 to $350.

        Marlene Morris is one of its clients. Another is Terry Shannon, of Anderson Township, who self-published his second book, a science-fiction thriller, this summer. He pays Silhouette Books about $30 a year to keep What Happened to the Indians on its online inventory.

        “I make about $3 a book,” he chuckles. The rest goes to bookstores and the distributor. List price is $17.99.

        Although bookstores are sup posed to order titles for customers and get bound, paper books within two days, the system isn't that smooth, Mr. Shannon suggests.

        “The bookstores just aren't into it yet,” he says. “From what I've seen, bookstores have been indifferent to relatively adverse so far.

        “I've called every bookstore in the city acting like a customer, and they can't find it. But if you get the manager of the store, he knows about it.”

        And, “It's more like a week or two” on the delivery schedule.
       

Stores see little interest

        Although local bookstore operators say they've seen little interest in electronic books so far, Microsoft Corp. predicts that, by 2020, nine out of 10 books sold will be electronic, not paper.

        At the moment, only 1 percent of the $20 billion book industry is online.

        “Our customers are really into books,” said Audrey Seitz, vice president of merchandising and marketing at Joseph Beth Booksellers. “They love books. They're certainly not anxious to make the leap ... to carry 20 novels in their Palm Pilots.

        “There's something about sitting and reading off a computer screen that's just not compelling to people.”

        As she sees it, the “brightest future” for online publishing is in the area of textbooks and large reference books.

        Overall, Mr. Shannon likes his online arrangement.

        “There's not that much of a downside,” he said. “If I can sell 5,000 of these books at this profit margin, that's probably as much or more than any publisher would give a first-time writer.”

        (Already, he has sold 1,000 copies, but most of them through traditional marketing efforts.)

        “And I still own the thing (book rights). This doesn't preclude me from selling to another publisher.”

        “It's been an incredible experience to be a part of the revolution in the publishing industry,” Ms. Morris said. “I wasn't really gung ho on it at first, because I wasn't familiar with it.

        “But I looked into it ... researched publishing houses and became especially intrigued with the possibility of offering my manuscript to an online publisher.
       

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