Amazon's Spotify-for-books: THE TRUTH

Re: Heavy readers

That was my first thought, but then I factored in the audio books, which I consume at a prodigious rate whilst commuting. That might swing it, for me.

GJC

Re: What about the authors?

This is from one of the Independent author loops I hang out in. To the best of my ability to assess, the update is factually correct:

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This program requires that independent authors... remove their books from all sites other than Amazon (except for special privileges granted to a few bestsellers). That would mean abandoning hundreds of readers who use other platforms.

In addition, with other subscription-based services, such as Scribd and Oyster, the author is guaranteed his or her regular royalty rate. With Amazon Kindle Unlimited, the more people borrow books, the less money authors get (per copy), with no guaranteed minimum. Indie authors get a flat fee per book no matter the cover price or length. (They offer much better terms for publishers with clout, of course. Their books get full royalties—at least for now.)

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I'd rather not, if I may be permitted the liberty, re-open the 'Indie/ Self Published Authors aren't 'Real Authors'' debate. But, at least in respect of some Authors, this may not be a Good Thing.

It is, of course, the Reader's right to choose as they see fit :-).

Re: What about the authors?

"Only heavy readers are likely to spend more than $10/month on books. "

1) If that's true, then those heavy readers may be keeping the publishing industry, and thus writing, afloat. Allow them to pay $10 only and both may sink.

2) I spend about $100 a month on books, and don't consider myself a heavy reader. But I am a student.

Re: Support your local library by using it

@phil dude:

"The problem is we are all living in a post-scarcity era"

Last time I checked, the number of actual authors able to make a bloody living from writing was still relatively low. All that's happened is that the 'scarcity' has shifted to the content creators, rather than the content itself.

Authors aren't "gouging" anyone. Hell, Amazon actually offer a very good deal for authors who publish directly through them, or one of their in-house imprints.

Not only that, but they make it astonishingly easy to do. Compared to some of their rivals, publishing through Amazon directly is an absolute dream. They really do *grok* good design in the same way Apple do. And they don't limit the process solely to their customer-facing components either. Authors get the same attention to detail, and get published *within hours*, whereas a Big Publisher will sit on a manuscript for anywhere up to 18 *months* before publishing it.

I can do my own PR and marketing—Big Publishing only do a big splash if you're already a big name; I can hire a freelance editor myself; I don't need a massive advance that may, or may not, actually be paid...

... and I don't need to decipher some of the world's most creative accounting to work out why my "#1 New York Times Bestseller" has apparently not turned a penny in profit for me, while netting my publisher hundreds of thousands. Amazon, Apple and their peers pay *much* better than any of the traditional publishers. And they won't try and fleece you through onerous contracts that effectively assign your copyright to them for life.

It's Big Publishing who are screwing up on a massive scale. Simon & Shyster, Hatchet, and their ilk, can get stuffed. All of them. They dropped the ball many years ago and they're just flailing about in desperation now.

As for Amazon's dominance: it would *really* help if people stopped treating design like the unwanted ginger stepchild of software development. Anyone who's ever fought their way through Kobo's system will welcome Amazon's far easier system with open arms. Kobo's site is truly, truly awful. I'm sure they mean well, but it's easy to see why they've struggled to make any kind of impact.

It's a shame Steve Jobs' 'smoking gun' email caused Apple so much damage as they're Amazon's only real competition here. And for the same reason: they go out of their way to make extracting cash from customers as simple, easy and painless as possible. Their rivals seem to be hell-bent on making it as hard as possible for anyone to buy their products, or sell products through their marketplaces.

Amazon and Apple got where they are today by offering people what they wanted. Their rivals have had their clear, obvious lessons right in front of their faces for well over a decade now, so they have only themselves to blame for their own failure to learn from them.