Quote:
Originally Posted by khalleron
Penguin's actions don't make any sense on the surface - there must be something we're missing.
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As the largest publisher, Penguin probably has good sales data. That's what we're missing.
When Kindle availability was added to the US Overdrive EPUB program on September 21, there probably was an impact on total corporate revenue. And it sounds like it was negative.
Book publishers today are where newspapers were about ten years ago -- still highly profitable, but with a disruptive technology taking off. Publishers must be looking at what the free internet news model did to newspapers, and are being cautious.
At least Penguin, unlike such publishers as Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, is giving the Overdrive model a try.
I wonder if a model where print was released first, eBooks for individual reader purchase came out a little later, and there was Overdrive availability a year or so after that would work. By allowing older books to stay with Overdrive, but holding off the latest titles, Penguin is doing a partial experiment along those lines right now.