Tell us your thoughts on e-reading and win a Kobo Arc tablet, plus a signed copy of award-winning author Margaret Drabble's latest novel The Pure Gold Baby

When starting to write a book do you set an outline for the main character an work out a plot plan?

I sometimes would like to try a tablet, but reluctant to let go of the emotions of reading a book.

The smell of new pages, the special feeling of stroking the book when I have reluctantly finished it, and the pleasure of lovingly putting it on display in the bookshelf, like a photogragh of a loved one !!

Maybe I will change my mind once I have tried an e-book , but it is hard letting go of sentimentality !

I never thought that I would like an e-reader but, having had one bought for for my birthday,I love it! I can get sooooooo many excellent books on it and save a lot of weight in my suitcase. I used to take 8 books on holiday with me and this is so much better. I can read it anywhere without the weight or bulk of it in my bag. Whoever thought of these deserves a medal for the ease of using them and the ease of taking them to wherever you want. I love reading books on mine and can thoroughly recommend them. My grandchildren keep asking me when are they getting one of their own!

Avid, long time reader but have never tried e-reading. would love to!

I like a good old fashioned book. With technology today, its already everywhere. I have tried 3 ebooks and didn't like the fact I could be interrupted by a text, notification etc. Reading is my personal haven. On the other hand, storing all my books on a small device sounds brilliant, I am sure that would please my husband too!

I like the Idea of eReading but I like the feel of a paper book, and with traditional books I can borrow them from the library, or buy them from the charity shop. So still on the need convincing list at the moment

I have a kindle and e-books are handy to read when travelling, but for me, they only work for very straightforward books. Anything with lots of different characters and intricate plots is very hard to follow if you can't flick back and forwards in the book easily, as you can with print books.

I really love e reading. It makes reading at bedtime so easy, and you can also carry your whole library around with you. It also makes reading more affordable

I love e- reading mostly because I like to read in bed and could never get comfortable with a book in my hands. Having an e-reader really does make it so much easier and I am now able to drift off comfortably.....usually with th e-reader still in my hand.

I have nothing against e-books as such but I do just like the feel of a real book and turning the page.

I have never really had the time to sit reading, always been too busy so now i have retired here is my chance.

ereading is great -, need longer batteries and/or travel battery back ups

I think there is nothing nicer than a bookshop it is my favourite place. I love picking up a book feeling the weight the touch and then flirtatiously moving on to another.
That said I also enjoy borrowing my daughter's kindle. It is so easy to read and I can change the font to suit my needs at the time. Its also so much easier to read in bed or on the train.
I think there is still room for both at present.

I havent used an E Reader yet. I like the feel of a book, but the weight issue may be a clincher plus all the books you can get for free is a bonus too. Id like to ask Margaret Drabble if she notices a difference in her reader demographic with this new group of e-readers?

I have a basic Kindle now and though I enjoy using it I find it very restricted in that all ebooks for it have to be bought from Amazon. So with this tablet is it possible to link up to the local library and take advantage of their vast selection of ebooks? Apart from that I'd love to read some of Margaret Drabble's books, they sound very interesting.

I like reading ebooks, especially in bed as the are so easy to handle. They are great for taking on holiday because they take up little space and no one needs to know how trashy the book you are reading is.

I do still love "real" books, I often browse bookshops and buy the e version.

Although I love the feel of a book in my hand, I have found reading ebooks on a reader just as easy to do. I thought that it would be complicated, but it really isn't. I would recommended that you keep an open mind until you have given the ebooks a go :D

wouldn't want to leave an e-reader on my sunbed while I went for a swim. don't care about a £5.99 paperback though, so its paperbacks for holidays and e-reader for at home!

I am one of the converted after swearing I would never swap the feel of an actual printed book to an e-reader. My husband was given as a present and whilst on holiday I quickly ran out of the few paperback books I was able to put in my luggage whilst he was able to read to his heart's content having downloaded a couple of dozen books before we went. Boy was I jealous and having used his since can't wait to get one.

I would love to try ebooks. I would always read normal books, but I feel we must move with the times and try new stuff. After all, it was not too long ago a few of us had not got used to the computer and mobile phones.
Dont lets get left behind!

I always thought I'd stick to 'proper books' until a I saw a friend using hers. They're brill, I can't believe how many books my ereader can hold. Sharing is difficult though.

e-books are good if space is limited and you want a selection of books, but do not have the same feel as a physical book, and are more difficult to flick around. Also, the level of choice can encourage multi-booking (having a number of books open and dipping into each) which I find makes it difficult to keep track of each one. They are good for reference books, where the text search is absolutely marvellous.

I'd agree with glannamy and partly with nutunit - I love 'real' books and can't imagine not buying another, especially for our little granddaughter. It's important to start early to encourage a love of books and reading for pleasure. And it would be awful if real bookshops were to disappear. They are such a pleasure to be in. They transport you to wonderful worlds of discovery.
However...and I never thought I'd say it, but I've recently discovered Kindle on my smartphone and found it so easy to download books onto it. I'm still a bit of a wobbly beginner with it, but it's a great bonus not to go on holiday with bags of books to read (which often end up dog-eared after being lugged about everywhere). It's lovely to have self-help books on Kindle to refer to when I need to and I'm looking forward to reading a few good novels on it this summer.
In another life, I'd have loved to have been a writer - in my dreamworld where I can do anything I set out to do - rather than the occasional scribbler of a few embarrassingly bad and angsty poems....

I am quite converted to e books having been skeptical when I first heard about them. It is so quick and easy to find what you want in the store and start reading straightaway. The page turning is easy and I like the way it saves your place for you. I can keep it in my bag and read it on planes and public transport switching between downloaded books if I wish without having to carry them all around. And I can even do all this when abroad! But if I can manage this kind of technology I still need an engineering degree to set up and dismantle a baby stroller...

I'd like to try an ereader butI'm old fashioned so I'd probably prefer an actual book.