Canadian Book Launches Through iBookstore Before Hardcover

Is it a sign of the times? Or just a decision made based on the topic of the novel? Skyfisher, a book about the world's first Internet religion, is the first Canadian novel to launch through the Apple iBookstore before it's actually printed as a hardcover.

Written by Toronto, ON-based Dan Dowhal, the book is described as a "frighteningly exciting" look at what would happen if the Internet's power were used to virally spread malicious ideas and information based on a new world religion called Phasmatia. The book is published by Blue Butterfly Books.

Dowhal is intimately familiar with the technology industry, having worked for several years at IBM, and currently owning a computer-related business with his brother.

The availability of a book title digitally before it's actually printed could become a more common reality going forward; especially when it comes to up and coming authors who don't already have a loyal following of fans. Skyfisher, for example, is Dowhal's first novel.

Could this method become a way to test the waters before book publishers spend large sums of money to print copies that end up in a bargain bin? Will only major name novelists find their works made available through print? It's tough to tell what the implications of such a change could be. As with music, offering books digitally online versus through a put-together CD (or book) allows for much greater exposure and easier access, especially if it's offered for free or at a minimal price. Customers can become acquainted with a book while sitting on the couch versus having to locate it among shelves and shelves full of titles in the store. But as an online library can effectively be limitless in size versus a physical store that's limited by square footage, it means sifting through much more information than one would be used to. And an avid reader might not be willing to do that.

Then again, you run into the ability to do things like recommend titles that the reader might like; or that friends and family have also read; or that, as in an actual bookstore, have been listed on the top-10 lists.

Nevertheless, the decision to launch Skyfisher through iBookstore before actually creating a physical copy of the novel poses some interesting questions for the print book publishing business.