How do we make books sexy in the modern world?

Do you remember when Amazon launched the Kindle?

Believe it or not, it was 10 years ago.

That first model proved wildly popular, with the first batch selling out in less than six hours.

I recall some people going as far as wiping their shelves clean of books and dropping them to charity shops for resale. Books were out; e-books were in.

But I felt quietly sad.

I love the look of a new book, the smell of the page.

I like to immerse myself in the story, with no distractions, turn pages, mark my place and read without fear the battery will die and leave me in literary limbo.

It turns out there were a lot of people like me after all, and we kept buying hard copy books.

But, despite the good turnout at Writers & Readers week at the New Zealand Festival last week, our breed could still be under threat.

It’s hard to get a good read (excuse the pun) on book vs e-book sales.

Some research shows e-book sales are now declining as print grows again; other studies say digital reading is on the up.

But the innovative device and other digital developments made a massive difference to reading habits.

In fact, arguably the most dramatic change has not been the invention of the Kindle but the increase in reading on all devices: tablets, phones, laptops and desktops.

Probably because of convenience, they have been more popular than e-readers.

At the moment, these devices will never beat a paperback for a reading experience; they are full of distractions, with eye-wrecking backlighting, and try and read on one while in the bath.

But there are threats on the way for the old fashioned book – both technological and social.

Amazon and other e-book manufacturers are already at the prototype phase of working towards digital devices that look, feel and act more like a hard copy book but still connect to the Internet.

They can be folded and dogeared, just like real books.

If they can crack that – and all predictions are that they will – the next e-books will be even more disruptive to the traditional book.

But there’s potentially a way bigger threat to books and that’s the social issue – people are reading less, so the market itself is withering.

According to the New Zealand Book Council, over 400,000 people didn’t open a book (or an e-book) last year and 40 per cent of New Zealanders are not literate enough to read a book or even a form.

Looking at current trends, our literacy levels are declining.

Futurist and author Kevin Kelly says if you want to connect with the next generation, you need to do it by video.

If people are not reading, that has serious implications for all sorts of things, including our economy.

So who will even be interested in buying books?

Seems to me, whether you’re a book seller, a Kindle seller or an author, someone – or all of them – needs a dramatic rethink of their business model to come up with some smart marketing that makes reading sexier.

Maybe the answer does lie in technology, which offers so much opportunity for readers to flip between the written word and video, where we can read or be read to by our virtual personal assistant, or where characters can come to life.

While traditional readers might shudder at the thought, it might be what is needed to keep reading alive.

Reading helps grow the mind, it makes us all smarter.

If people are not reading, that has serious implications for all sorts of things including our economy.

If developments in technology help promote authors and gets our next generation back into reading again – I say, bring it on.