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Originally Posted by VaporPunk
I do think that there is a place for interactive content. For an e-book, it doesn't have to be flashy and intrusive. An easy one-button option that allows you to quickly go to maps or the cast of characters, for example. (Yes, X-Ray allows you to do some of these things, some of the times) Ever wonder how to pronounce a characters name? Highlight it and hear the author say it as he intends. These are features I would pay extra for.
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That sort of un-intrusive interactivity I could really appreciate, but unfortunately all the articles calling for more interactive books never seem to ask for this type of feature. They all seem to want to turn e-books into apps.
Interestingly, an update has been added to the article:
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The New York Times has a story today that shows just how fraught with ridiculousness (in terms of sensible business practice) the ebooks game currently is. Author Buzz Bissinger recently had a shock when Starbucks chose to promote his $2.99 book "After Friday Night Lights" as a Pick of The Week promotion via Apple's iTunes. Customers taking part in the promotion got the book for free, but Bissinger still got $1.50 in royalties from the loss-leading promo. But Amazon then automatically slashed his book price to $0 in reaction to the promotion. And that prompted his publishers, Byline, to pull the title from Amazon because it would've lost money, and because it thought it would damage the author's reputation (Byliner noted it was to "protect the author's interest".) Amazon have since responded, saying their price deal protects consumers when a price is lower elsewhere, but it still doesn't seem fair to gamble with a writer's income in this way.
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It's worth noting that the publisher knew that Amazon's price bots might reduce the price to zero, but decided to take the chance:
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Originally Posted by NY Times
Mr. Bryant said that when the company told Amazon about the promotion, before it began, Byliner was warned the price might drop to zero. But, he said, “we hoped that wouldn’t happen.” It did.
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It may not be fair to "gamble with a writer's income in this way", but it should be noted that the publisher was doing the gambling.