Quote:
Originally Posted by mr ploppy
That works out at $6.58 per book. How many indie writers are charging more than that for their books? I would suspect that most of those writers have only signed up so that they can list some of their work on Amazon for free as a form of promotion for their other books. That would be the only reason I would be interested, but even then I haven't really decided if that is worth what I would need to give up.
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Of course, that would not how it would work in the end. My model-the popular Netflix streaming plan- evolved considerably from a free add-on for Netflix's best DVD customers, and the process took several years.
How could an ebook subscription plan evolve out of the current set up? The first thing to remember is that it will only happen if there is something in it for Amazon, the authors and the publishers. We can then plot a way forward.
The first step would be for Amazon to offer the one free ebook per month plan to Kindle owners. Kindle owners are customers who have shown a commitment to Amazon by buying a dedicated device for the reading and consumption of Amazon books. The free ebook per month plan would be a way of rewarding the loyalty of such customers, as well as a way of enticing non-Kindle owners to take the plunge.
Once you get Kindle owners hooked on getting a free eBook per month, Amazon could offer a for-money subscription plan : for $79 per year ( or 7.99 per month) you get to select a book per week. Over a year that works out to $1.52 per book. THat's attractive to the heavy reader.
Now the pool would consist of mostly indie authors. What's in it for them ? Exposure to the universe of Kindle owners. The authors who have signed up for the program as now constituted have made the calculation that they have a much better chance of being noticed than otherwise. The subscription plan's audience would include not only Kindle Prime owners but the larger universe of Kindle owners.
Would the Big Six authors and publishers join in? Well, they aren't going to put their crown jewels ( full length work by best selling authors) into such a plan . It would be economically stupid of them to do so. However, I could see them putting Kindle Singles( short fiction by established authors, long form journalistic articles) into the pool. The idea would be that the subscription plan audience would then move on to buy the full length work by those writers ( the crown jewels).
Again , this is one path. There is probably more than one path, grasshoppers.
