Quote:
Originally Posted by djulian
I wonder if Amazon has opened up a potential windfall for B&N with the MatchBook program. If B&N can find a way to match that,
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Big if.
First, they need publishers to sign up.
Amazon said that they had 10000 books when they announced--by the time the program opens they'll have a whole lot more. With 400000 Kindle-exclusive titles and CreateSpace POD they can grow that number ridiculously fast just from their indie publishers.
Second, any B&M bundling, whether by B&N or indie bookstores, hinges on people going to the bookstore. Aside from the fact that not everybody has a bookstore close by, there is the matter of ebook buyers having different shopping habits.
The thing to remember here is that MatchBook is a Kindle program primarily intended to juice pbook sales among ebook readers. A secondary goal is to get pbook buyers who don't have Kindles to try ebooks on their phones and tablets.
Copying the program--a matter of time, really--will help Nook but do very little for the storefronts; B&N has already tried using "free" ebooks to goose storefront traffic and all they achieved was to annoy the customers. The truth is there is more synergy between ebooks and online pbook retailing than with B&M. And since online pbooks is where B&N is weakest...
MatchBook is just another example of Amazon playing to their strengths; in online pbook sales, in POD, and with indie publishers. All areas in which B&N is an also-ran.
I'll say this: B&N can at least aspire to play in this new game.
Apple, Sony, and Google can't even get off the bench; they don't have the pbooks! Kobo? I'm not sure if the numbers will add up for them.