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Originally Posted by anamardoll
Well...maybe. I mean, I hope so. But as Elfwreck has very intelligently pointed out, it's more complicated than that. In terms of "back list" items, I'm having a hard enough time buying what I want to read now (because of abandonware issues). And in terms of bestsellers, good luck finding Rowling at the local elibrary, eh?
Over the next few years, it's unclear whether the authors and publishers will FINALLY drag themselves into this century, or if they're going to keep kicking and screaming and whining about their buggy-whip formats. And if the books we would want to subscribe to read aren't available in ebook format, they're not going to be available in subscription format.
A subscription campaign for reading that offers a selection comparable to, say, the Free Library of Philadelphia is going to have to offer their selection at or less than said FLoP. And that's not a very profitable model.
And a subscription campaign for buying is going to have to offer a discount beyond what Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc. offers, and at least for Agency books, I don't reckon that's possible.
In short, it's a good idea, but FAR from a foregone conclusion, I think.
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Audible has a subscription model that works NOW.
Analog/Isaac Asimov's has an electronic subscription model that works NOW.
Baen has has a subscription model that works NOW
There are a bunch of magazines that offer electronic subscriptions through Itunes and elsewhere.
Just looking at those existing models and ignoring the Netflix movies-video model, its pretty clear that ebook subscription models have a future. The only question is which model will be most attractive to the public.