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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Quantus on March 09, 2011, 07:58:22 PM
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I came across an interesting article about how Ebooks are in a position to reshape the consumption of literature, much in same the way dime novels once brought reading out of a niche market and into low-priced mass popularity. Here (http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/03/guest-post-by-john-locke.html)is an editorial from an author with a 99 cent book currently rated #1 on Amazon. And here (http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2011/03/99_cent_books.php)is one just taking a look at the math.
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And here's (http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/03/amanda-hocking-and-99-cent-kindle.html) one talking about the misperceived "differences" between e-book and print-book pricing.
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OK, Your link is definitely more informative :)
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OK, Your link is definitely more informative :)
It was good to find some actual numbers, collated and organized, to replace my purely individual, anecdotal evidence.
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What helps with the link Shecky posted is that the guy who posted it was a literary agent until maybe 3 or 4 months ago. And now he's also a published author. So he's in a good position to comment on it.
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He's pretty much in a unique, more-qualified-than-most-professionals position.
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meg_evonne started a thread about the changing face of publishing that is pretty interesting:
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,24658.0.html
One of the things that will probably have to be differentiated is ePub by a major house, versus ePub by a house in the middle sizes, versus small pub (bordering on vanity type publishing or the ebook equivalent)...
As you get smaller, the houses generally have less capability... This is actually following pretty closely with what the music industry has done over the last decade or so.
Artist/Writer Development - gone
Advances - reduced (and constrained)
Editors - reduced or eliminated in favor of self-editing.
Marketing - reduced unless there is some known market
Advertising - reduced/eliminated
And as you look at reducing (or eliminating) those overhead costs, you begin to look at the ability to sell the final product for *much* reduced price and still maintain good dollar volumes, and profit margins...
Not disagreeing with the numbers you've posted Shecky, but that model is now, and will continue to be, under severe competitive pressure. Especially as the overall epub business reaches a nominal operating model of its own. And eliminating overhead is *always* an approved method (even if it is done poorly, or in a shortsighted way.)
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E-business being what it is, whole industries are in flux and will only accelerate their changes as we move forward. So what applies today may not apply tomorrow, as what applied yesterday most definitely does NOT apply as much today. The point was that a lot of people are making off-the-cuff assumptions about the industry that are, simply put, off base.
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E-business being what it is, whole industries are in flux and will only accelerate their changes as we move forward. So what applies today may not apply tomorrow, as what applied yesterday most definitely does NOT apply as much today. The point was that a lot of people are making off-the-cuff assumptions about the industry that are, simply put, off base.
Yup.
(Interestingly, regarding the parallels in the music industry side vs the book side is there is a huge divergence in concert tours. While never intended to be *unprofitable* in the past, they are now very much intended to be *really* profitable. I sort of wish there were a corresponding book model...)
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Yup.
(Interestingly, regarding the parallels in the music industry side vs the book side is there is a huge divergence in concert tours. While never intended to be *unprofitable* in the past, they are now very much intended to be *really* profitable. I sort of wish there were a corresponding book model...)
That would be nice, yeah.
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I've actually read somewhere that the comparison to the music business is not really the best, and the comparison that should be made is to the changes in television. If I think about it at lunch time, I'll try to find the link to the blog.
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All right Shecky you finally got me convinced with that article, its good to see the actual numbers. Of course I'm not going to be changing my tune, I will be grumbling for cheap ebooks the same way people grumble for free beer. ;D
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Landing, would you like to become one of my minions?
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would you like to became one of mine? ;)
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So, does anybody have an idea if self-publishing on PubIt/B&N is better or worse than Kindle/amazon?
:-\
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I've actually read somewhere that the comparison to the music business is not really the best, and the comparison that should be made is to the changes in television. If I think about it at lunch time, I'll try to find the link to the blog.
Awesome - I'd like to read that, if for no other reason to see what their reasoning is.
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Awesome - I'd like to read that, if for no other reason to see what their reasoning is.
I always enjoy reading well-thought-out arguments with plenty of numerical support and solid evidence, even if I don't agree with them in a final emotional judgement.
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I'm pretty sure this is the right one--http://kriswrites.com/2010/10/21/the-business-rusch-changing-times-overview/ (http://kriswrites.com/2010/10/21/the-business-rusch-changing-times-overview/), though I only skimmed through it tonight.
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Good article. Thanks for posting the link.
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Great links. Much enjoyed, and very informative.
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Thank you veddy muchly Starbeam!
That was an enjoyable & interesting article. She made one serious factual error, and a couple of odd (to me!) assumptions, but in all some very good points.
I shall have to chew on it some more...