Shelf Life, Books, and Oreos

Stealing Jake released in print on August 1^st!!! I'm so excited, probably even more than normal because my debut—which has only been available as ebook—is now in print!

Which brings me to the subject of today’s post in a strange, round-about way.

My cowboys are sticklers about the dates on food--which is odd, if you think about it. I thought rough-and-tough cowboys would eat anything! If the date is expired on a can of vegetables, they won’t eat them. 

Expired ketchup? Fuh-get-about-it! But don’t expect them to actually search out and open the oldest ketchup bottle first. Oh no! That would be way too much trouble. Salsa? Chips? Canned goods? If I don’t want to throw it out, I make every effort to arrange the pantry with the oldest dates to the front. Or at the very least dispose of the can/jar without their knowledge. Ahem. And don't even get me started on the expiration date on the milk.

Pretty much anything you can think of has a shelf life, and modern technology has extended that life.

Preservatives have been used since prehistoric times. Some cavewoman probably fell asleep with a hunk of woolly mammoth spitted over the fire, and when she woke up she realized that the smoked, charred shell preserved the meat longer than normal. Eureka! Smoked meat was discovered.

Before canning and freezers, dried vegetables and cool, dry root cellars provided ways to preserve some vegetables to a certain extent. But still, starvation might be eminent before the Spring thaw. The use of preservatives other than traditional oils, salts, etc. in food began in the late 19th century, but was not widespread until the 20th century.

Even in this day and age, the use of food preservatives varies depending on the country. Many developing countries without strong governments to regulate food additives face either harmful levels of preservatives in foods, or a complete avoidance of foods that are considered unnatural or foreign. In urban slums of highly populated countries the knowledge about contents of food tends to be extremely low, despite consumption of these imported foods. And, let's be honest: when your family is starving, you're not going to throw anything out if it's edible.

But books are the topic here, so let’s narrow our focus to books. Print books can have a long, healthy shelf life if properly taken care of, but they do age after time. The pages become brittle, the binding loose, the spines stiff. Hardback books have a longer shelf life than paperbacks, but still they don’t last for ever. So, yeah, sad to say, but print books do have a shelf life.

Ebooks have burst on the scene in the last few years, so it will be interesting to see what kind of shelf life they have. They won’t face the same decaying forces of humidity, dry (or damp) air, or neglect that cause print books to decay, but they will encounter changes in software and hardware that might make them obsolete over time. Looking at it from this side of the fence, it looks like ebooks will have a long and productive shelf life.

It’s exciting to know that our stories can continue to thrive and draw new readers even after the new release excitement of our print books has waned. Because, let’s face it—it’s a lot easier for an online retailer to “stock” ebook inventory for an extended amount of time than it is to warehouse thousands of copies of an author’s backlist.

And even more exciting is how a story can morph from one format to another, kind of like Oreos. Speaking of Oreos, did you know there are over FORTY different kinds of Oreos? Who knew??? Watermelon Oreos? Ewww! Gingerbread Oreos. Pumpkin Spice Oreos. Personally, I’m a plain, original, traditional Oreos kind of gal. But Cookie Dough Oreos sound mighty tasty, though...

[About Oreos: Oreo has become the best-selling cookie in the United States since its introduction in 1912. The origin of the name Oreo is unknown, but there are many theories, including derivations from the French word 'Or', meaning gold (as early packaging was gold), or the Greek word 'Oreo', meaning beautiful, nice or well done. Others believe that the cookie was named Oreo because it was short and easy to pronounce.]

Sorry, Oreo-Rabbit trail.... Where was I? Oh, yes, books, or more accurately, stories. 

A story is the same—has the same ingredients, if you will—regardless of the format it’s in. So, the shelf life of a story is … is… just …infinite.

Whoa! That’s what I’m talking about!

So, there you go. Stealing Jake released as an ebook in July 2011. FOUR years later, it’s getting a new lease on life in print form, plus the ebook version is still happily clicking along entertaining readers.

Conclusion #1: I submit that stories – unlike Oreos – do not have a shelf life. 

Conclusion #2: Come to think of it, Oreos don’t have much of a shelf life at my house either. Just sayin’ 

Are you an Oreo fan? Classic or one of those newfangled flavors? And books: print or E, or somewhere in between?

Giveaway: In honor of milk and cookies and fresh off the press books everywhere, I'm giving away a print copy of Stealing Jake today. So, throw your name in the hat (that means leave a comment! :) if you want to be included in the drawing.

STEALING JAKE by Pam Hillman. When Livy O’Brien spies a young boy jostling a man walking along the boardwalk, she recognizes the act for what it is. After all, she used to be known as Light-Fingered Livy. But that was before she put her past behind her and moved to the growing town of Chestnut, Illinois, where she’s helping to run an orphanage. Now she’ll do almost anything to protect the street kids like herself. Sheriff’s deputy Jake Russell had no idea what he was in for when he ran into Livy―literally while chasing down a pickpocket. With a rash of robberies and a growing number of street kids in town―as well as a loan on the family farm that needs to be paid off―Jake doesn’t have time to pursue a girl. Still, he can’t seem to get Livy out of his mind. He wants to get to know her better . . . but Livy isn’t willing to trust any man, especially not a lawman.

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn't afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn't mind raking. Raking hay doesn't take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that's the kind of life every girl should dream of. www.pamhillman.com