tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001434439078518468.post708438213150810344..comments2024-01-08T13:43:58.220-05:00Comments on Brillig: Royal TeaseThe Brillig Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07886394602447693115noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001434439078518468.post-65604806679090250312010-02-07T01:37:02.616-05:002010-02-07T01:37:02.616-05:00Some good points from Scott Nicholson.
In fairnes...Some good points from Scott Nicholson.<br /><br />In fairness to publishers, figuring out how you transition your business from an old technology to a new one is a sticky thing for any business. I'd argue that book publishers have so far done a better job of doing it than the music industry or the newspaper industry. But Scott's entirely correct that the value added aspect of traditional publishing will be revisited in the e-book age, and publishers aren't yet close to figuring out that part.<br /><br />Is Amazon dumb, or dumb like a fox? Hmmm. If we just look at that book-wise, I think we'll know in 24 months if the Kindle has leveraged its early start to thrive against heightened competition. Regardless of that, Amazon is so much more than just books these days that it might not matter if they're dumb on the e-book question, or dumb like a fox. I've ordered items as diverse as books, greeting cards, toner, and air filters from Amazon in the past year.The Brillig Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07886394602447693115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001434439078518468.post-83348958435227266642010-02-06T23:56:48.582-05:002010-02-06T23:56:48.582-05:00Many people are confining their focus on the top-e...Many people are confining their focus on the top-end ebooks or new hardcover bestsellers, but that is only a small fraction of the ebook market. Spend just a little time at Amazon and you'll see tremendous activity in backlist and indie author purchases, all of which Amazon presumably is making money on. That doesn't change the net/flat royalty issue, since those are percentages, but Amazon is dumb like a fox.<br /><br />They have basically planted an ebook value of $9.99 in the public's mind. With their dominance of the ebook field, which I've seen claimed as anything from 50 to 90 percent of ebooks sold, losing money on one class of books was brilliant. Publishers should have been developing their own ebook stores and pursuing ideas like "Netflix-type" libraries instead of focusing primarily on protecting hardcover sales. I don't see how publishers can make up the lost ground, and what they'll really be doing for their authors to justify taking 75 percent of net proceeds or 85 percent of cover cost on ebooks.Author Scott Nicholsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09778999586794284457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001434439078518468.post-35227833074187502182010-02-06T19:21:20.384-05:002010-02-06T19:21:20.384-05:00Tim Akers is correct, but not entirely. Amazon is...Tim Akers is correct, but not entirely. Amazon is losing money on the $9.99 new release e-books it sells. It is not losing money when somebody buys a $6.29 priced e-book of a book available as a $7.99 paperback. But that's still a lot of e-books where Amazon is losing money every time out, the exact opposite of the Gillette model, and no, that has never seemed to me a very sustainable model.The Brillig Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07886394602447693115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001434439078518468.post-958306854412152282010-02-06T09:34:09.701-05:002010-02-06T09:34:09.701-05:00So, if I'm reading this correctly, Amazon is l...So, if I'm reading this correctly, Amazon is losing money on each book sold and is counting on its margin from the kindle itself. That's stupid. It's exactly backwards.<br /><br />The loss leader should be the console itself, and the profit point should be the units that follow. Give away the razor to sell the blade. This is how gaming consoles work, and that seems to be going okay. Amazon then either directly sells the books at a profit (however that needs to work) or they license the formatting of their ebook software to publishers, then collect a commission per book sold in that format.<br /><br />The only way to truly shake out the 40 or so ereaders is to gain overwhelming market penetration. And the best way to do that is to give the damn things away.Tim Akershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01749644135364065658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3001434439078518468.post-34993292272228319572010-02-05T11:00:29.439-05:002010-02-05T11:00:29.439-05:00If they are going to an "agency" model a...If they are going to an "agency" model anyway, why not just sell directly from the publisher site? The big name authors could certainly do well in that scene. Sure some of the unknowns might not sell best there, but with electronic versions all the reasons not to become a direct seller (well, okay most of the reasons--being in competition with your resellers is always a hard thing to manage) go away.<br /><br />What I'm not seeing here that I think I should be seeing is embracing of the technology. Obviously I'm immersed in ebooks on a daily basis, much more so than the average person--but I can't tell you the number of times there are posts on kindleboards and amazon forums, and mobileread forums...about "I wanted this book and it isn't in ebook." This lack of taking advantage of demand is disheartening. <br /><br />If I had to guess only half (or possibly less if you take into account library and used copies) go on to buy a print copy when they can't get the book they want in ebook form. <br /><br /><br />Then take into account the fact that I can't recommend entire SERIES on these forums because the first book isn't out in ebook form (yes, John Levitt, I'm looking at Dog Days here) or the series is hit and miss (Yes, Carol O'Connell, I'm looking at you)...demand, recommendations...missed opportunities.Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11234907275906877802noreply@blogger.com