When I finished my first novel, The Lock, I little suspected that it was about to become part of publishing's digital revolution. Over the next two years it would appear first as an e-book, then as a digitally printed paperback, writes Frank Egerton

Frank Egerton's book The Lock, which features the old beam lock on the Oxford Canal, was first published as an e-book

The Lock is a contemporary story about an Oxford don who is having an affair with a young graduate student. It explores the effects of his infidelity on him and his family.

The first publisher I approached was Smaller Sky Books, which is based in Oxford and North Wales. I did so because I had read a piece about its founder, Will Wain, in The Sunday Times. I was attracted by the idea of a local, independent publishing house. In addition, Will was the son of one of my favourite novelists, the late John Wain. It seemed appropriate to be sending him a manuscript that featured locations such as Osney Island and the Waterman's Arms, which had also appeared in his dad's powerful Oxford Trilogy.

Will's suggestion that The Lock should come out as an e-book was a surprise, but a couple of years ago this seemed a valid way forward: dotcoms were booming.

To find out more, I attended an e-publishing seminar where I met the european marketing director of Gemstar, which manufactured the best selling e-book reading device in the US. Will subsequently negotiated a deal with the company whereby Smaller Sky titles would be sold in Gemstar's format alongside those from larger publishers when the device was launched in the UK.

Then came the dotcom crash and the indefinite postponement of the launch. This setback was not the end of The Lock's digital life, however, because Will decided to publish the e-book through Smaller Sky's website and market it for use on ordinary PCs.

The novel was edited and the art work for the virtual cover was designed. The e-book was built from an ordinary word-processing document using proprietary software which converted it into the required formats, Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Reader. Visitors to a publisher's website like that of Smaller Sky buy an e-book by credit card and it is either delivered to them by e-mail or downloaded automatically. They will also be directed to sites where the programmes needed to open and read the e-book can be downloaded free. Such programmes have special features, including tools for highlighting and annotating the text. Each e-book is likely to be encrypted to prevent unauthorised copying.

Given the relatively low cost of producing and distributing e-books, it is unsurprising that publishers are keen on them. In the US, the major houses have had e-publishing divisions since the late nineties. The larger UK companies, such as Penguin, were somewhat slow to follow, but are beginning to catch up.

The big problem is that readers are less enthusiastic about e-books than publishers. Smaller Sky's follow-up analysis of its market produced typical results. While people were prepared to try out an e-book, only those who owned a lap-top or hand-held computer found reading it to be a pleasant experience. There are signs in the US that e-book buying is on the increase, but the general view is that it will be several years before the market's full potential is realised.

Nevertheless, the e-book version of The Lock did have its benefits. Last November, it reached the finals of the US Independent e-Book Awards in Santa Barbara.

The resulting publicity in magazines such as Publishing News undoubtedly helped the Smaller Sky paperback, which came out in February and received good national reviews.

The paperback is printed by Antony Rowe, a company specialising in another new technology called digital printing, which makes it economically viable to manufacture books as they are required rather than in print runs.

By using this process, small publishing firms and larger ones, including Oxford University Press, can eliminate warehousing costs and release capital for other purposes such as promotion. Digital printing is also encouraging independent publishers to commission exciting new books for niche and local markets.

Both e-publishing and digital printing are changing the ways that books are made and read. But I have to confess that the excitement of seeing my novel published as an e-book could not match the thrill of holding the paperback for the first time.

The Lock by Frank Egerton is published by Smaller Sky Books at £8.99 and as an e-book in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Reader formats: ISBN 1-903100-10-0, £5.99. Smaller Sky Books' web address is www.smallersky.com and my website is www.frankegerton.com