Happy Holidays and a Brief Hiatus

Just so you know, this blogger will take a brief hiatus from updating here during the holidays. However, before I call it quits do so, I wanted to pass along a couple of quick news items for you.

First, looks like someone's backpedaling like crazy.

Okay, so fight apps with apps. I get your point. Why didn't you say so in the first place? Besides, I'm just a techno-idiot with a really dumb phone. I couldn't care less, frankly. There's more at stake here than just financial considerations. I'm also concerned about the effect of online selling on the ability of humans to connect face to face. Capiche? (sp?)

Second, well ... I'm not touching this with a ten-foot pole. No pun intended. Really!

So, see you next year!

PS: I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. And this is why I love the Internet. :)

And as a holiday gift, here's a video adaptation of a popular book.



Enjoy! :)

Quotation for the Week of December 18

"No one has ever had an idea in a dress suit."
-- Sir Frederick G. Banting

 

The Continuing Conundrums of Amazon

So ... Amazon has been awesome for indie authors, right? Most of my own income has come from sales of books through Amazon, so they've been good for me.

However, it's also true that Amazon has recently engaged in practices that seem to be geared toward vanquishing their brick and mortar retail competition.

Or, to put it more mildly, in the words of Scott Turow, "A retailer is not expected to serve as a warming station for the homeless or a site for band practice. So it's worth wondering whether it's lawful for Amazon to encourage people to enter a store for the purpose of gathering pricing information for Amazon and buying from the Internet giant, rather than the retailer. Lawful or not, it's an example of Amazon's bare-knuckles approach."

Frankly, this lawyer is inclined to agree.

Now, as a business owner, I will continue to list my books with Amazon.

However, I will not back off from my position of supporting other retailers, because I think competition is important and indie bookstores serve a purpose other than simply selling books.

Oh, and here's another blog post about that controversial Amazon app thingy. Just another point of view worth considering.

And speaking of contradictory feelings, here's the latest review from the NY Times of the Kindle Fire.

And the Department of Justice is investigating who???? Seriously?

Finally, what on earth is this guy's major malfunction?

Quotation for the Week of December 11

"Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box."
-- Italian Proverb

Amazon: Predator or Godsend?

Once upon a time, there was an indie author who wrote this post about Amazon.

Then, time went by and things changed, and the author wrote this post.

Today, Amazon has announced the launch of a new program for KDP authors. According to Publishers Lunch:


Amazon now made official what we reported was in the works last month in Publishers Lunch Deluxe: Authors who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing exclusively have the option of putting their titles into the Kindle Owner's Lending Library, compensated through pro-rated shares of a fund "expected to be at least" $6 million for all of 2012 (beginning with $500,000 allocated for the month of December). Titles must be exclusive to the Kindle store for a minimum of 90 days (which is a reduction from the 180 days Amazon initially sought from some authors). If books are currently available through multiple retailers, authors must withdraw the titles from competitors and restore exclusivity to Amazon in order to participate. VP of Kindle Content Russ Grandinetti claims that the "short 90-day commitment allows authors and publishers to experiment at very low risk." Experimenters should note that in the terms sheet we were shown, participation rolls over automatically until cancelled. Amazon says that 31 of the top 50 KDP authors have been persuaded to participate, enrolling 129 titles.

As we reported earlier, participating authors will also be allowed to promote their books for free without jeopardizing their high-royalty status, for up to 5 days each 90-day period. (This allows those authors to try to boost their visibility and ranking within the Kindle store.) There are no "rollover days" from one 90-day period to the next; it's use-it-or-lose-it, according to Amazon documents shared with us.

The monthly royalty payment for each KDP Select book is based on that book's share of the total number of borrows of all participating KDP books in the Lending Library. Amazon cites a representative example of 100,000 total borrows in a month of all KDP Select titles. If an author's book is borrowed 1,500 times - or 1.5 percent of the total - then the author would earn $7,500 from the pool of $500,000. (If your book is not borrowed, you do not share in the pool; but in this example, a single borrow earns $5.)


One important point of ambiguity--in both the press release, and the Amazon terms and conditions shown to us--is that the actual size of the cash "fund" that Amazon makes available appears to be up their discretion entirely. They have consistently talked about $500,000 a month and $6 million for the coming year, but the terms sheet we have seen only states "we will establish a fund on a monthly basis." They use the example of "if the fund for a particular month is $500,000...." Presumably authors might cancel their participation if the funding does not meet or exceed expectations.

Here's a link to the Amazon press release, which mentions some (but not all) of the authors in the program.

And here's a post about the program on the official blog for Smashwords. Just a bit of food for thought, so to speak.

Quotation for the Week of December 4

"It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man."
-- H.L. Mencken

All Sorts of Big Doings

First, Amazon has launched a Spanish Kindle Store. Finally.

Wait! Amazon has launched Spanish and Italian Kindle Stores, okay?

And, according to a recent announcement, indie authors who publish through Amazon KDP can sell to customers living in Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Spain, and Andorra and will qualify for the 70% royalty on titles enrolled in the 70% royalty option.

I wonder if the Pope likes hardboiled mysteries? :)

PS: Welcome to new world of publishing, Ray Bradbury! :)

PPS: So much for the Domino Theory ... ;)

PPPS: Here's a (slightly dated) article of possible interest to indie authors who publish through Amazon's KDP.