Good Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Your E-Book Is Reading You By Alexandra Alter Essay Example

In her article “Your E-Book Is Reading You” Alexandra Alter discusses the new possibilities that e-books and their programs provide for the readers, authors and for their publishers. Thus, the author of the article claims that digital books help the publishers to gather significant information such as: what types of books people usually read, how much time they need to finish the book, how far they are getting in it. Such data may be useful for both the readers and the publishers. Thus, the authors would have a chance to understand what kinds of books do their readers like and in such a way they would be able to customize their books to reader’s taste. At this rate it is possible to say that the Alter managed to convince the readers of e-books benefits.
Furthermore, in order to support the idea that an extensive use of e-books and e-reading data may be beneficial for readers and publishers the author employs statistics and data. Thus, Alter claims that it is hard to measure consumer’s taste, especially when it comes to literature. For example, TV producers can test their shows using different focus groups, movie studios can also test their films and change them depending on viewer’s reaction. What concerns literature, before the appearance of digital books the only way it was possible to measure the success of a book was to examine the sales data as well as the reviews. It was always hard to understand how people got engaged with different kind of books. It is true that publishers never had an ability to receive these data beforehand. That is why the appearance of e-books and e-readers such as Nook has changed the existing situation dramatically. Thus, publishing houses using these programs, started to study digital reader’s behavior. For example, the author states that data that is gathered from Nook may reveal what kinds of books people prefer to read, how long does it takes them to do it and other important information. Alter believes that such information may become truly useful for the publishers as it will help them to “create books that better hold people’s attention” (Alter). Then the author includes in her article statistics that verifies the importance of such services as Nook. Alter mentions that the stakes of the company are quite high and she continues saying that “sales of Nook devices rose 45% this fiscal year, and e-book sales for the Nook rose 119%” (Alter). This statistics serves evidence that such services are of great help and may put publishing on a new level. It is also important to mention that Alter names some companies that track readers’ information about what kinds of books they like as well as the companies’ achievements in this field. For instance, Amazon can identify which books are read most of all, which passages of e-books are highlighted most frequently. Therefore, having this information it is easier to understand what kind of literature a common reader prefers. Kobo, a company that creates digital reading devices, made a research that helped to understand how people get engaged with certain book or genre.
It is also worth mentioning that the author provides counterargument saying that some people worry about consumer’s rights and privacy. Alter claims that some privacy watchdogs believe that users of digital books should protect their rights and not to let their personal information be recorded. At this event the author places the opinion of Bruce Schneier who is considered to be a cyber-security and author. Thus, Alter claims that Schneier worries that “readers may steer clear of digital books on sensitive subjects such as health, sexuality and security out of fear that their reading is being tracked” (Alter). The main argument of all these people who stand against tracking software lies in the fact that there are a lot of different things in the world which people read and which they hope will stay private. That is why it is possible to say that for these people and organizations privacy is the main concern.
It is also possible to notice that the targeted auditory of the article “Your E-Book Is Reading You” are publishers and their authors as well as the readers of digital books. Thus, Alter claims that reading data that is provided by reading apps and devices is truly important for publisher. Knowing what kind of books people usually choose, for how long do they read them as well as what parts of book they skip will help publishers to understand readers’ preferences. This information may be also useful for the authors who may learn what plots are the most intriguing, what setting is the most impressive and what characters are the most interesting for a common reader. Thus, Mr. Hilt, the president of Barnes & Noble says that “if we can help authors create even better books than they create today, it’s a win for everybody” (Alter). Moreover, according to the author, digital movement contributed to the appearance of programs that can help readers to customize the plot and characters. Thus, Coliloquy company makes use of such programs and sends the readers’ answers to the authors so that they would know what plot and characters sound most interesting to the readers. Jen Doll agrees with the author and in her article “What Does Your E-Reader Know About You?; The Book That Disappears” states that with the ability to track what kinds of books e-readers prefer publishers finally found a way “to measure consumer tastes and habits like there is in most of the rest of the world of entertainment—and the publishing industry has a lot more information available to help them create more books that people want to read” (Doll).
Moreover, the ability to track all the stuff that people read on their e-books brings a lot of benefits for them as well. It is true that many people got used to the idea that reading was always a private act, something that belonged only to them. And the appearance of digital books has greatly changed the idea. Some people are still not sure whether they want to be tracked and to let other people learn about their tastes. But at the same time they understand that they will receive much more benefits if the authors try to adopt their new books to consumer’s taste. Moreover, the understanding that they participate in the creation of another literary masterpiece may bring some additional pleasure to the readers. That is why it is possible to say that the ability to track the readers’ tastes is beneficial not only for authors and their publishers but also for the readers.

Works cited

Alter, Alexandra. “Your E-Book Is Reading You”. The Wall Street Journal. 19 Jul. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2015
Doll, Jane. “What Does Your E-Reader Know About You?; The Book That Disappears”. The Wire. 29 Jun. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2015