View Single Post
Old 03-15-2014, 08:43 AM   #33
latepaul
Wizard
latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.latepaul ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
latepaul's Avatar
 
Posts: 1,270
Karma: 10468300
Join Date: Dec 2011
Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)
More on the topic of this thread, it occurs to me that the so-called "ebook discovery problem" is only a problem for the publishers/authors. Readers don't have a problem finding books to read. It's true some paranoid types might lie awake worrying about the possible gems hidden in the various slush piles that comprise the lower ranks of the online retailers. However most of us realise that there's far more available to read in what is easily "discoverable" than we can ever get through.

And the retailers aren't really worried about discovery. If readers can figure out what they want to read - and they can, see above - then all the retailers need to do is put it in front of them, make the experience somewhat easy/pleasant/cheap and they should make money. From Amazon's point of view the "hidden gem" book is not a problem it's an asset. Because it's an ebook they can list it at virtually zero cost and if it should get discovered they can make some money off it, if not then there are plenty of others to sell instead.

But for the author and/or publisher it's very important to get discovered. For them it is getting harder to get noticed and that is a problem. But so much talk about "discovery" focuses on it as if it's a reader or retailer problem when it's not and there's really not much incentive for either of those two groups to care about it.
latepaul is offline   Reply With Quote