Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
To me it seems senseless for Amazon to start lending epubs unless they are also selling epubs.
I can imagine the accusations that would fly.
Lots of reasons have been speculated upon as to why they don't sell epubs and many make sense.
One very good one in my opinion is because kindle is synonymous to ereader to a great many people already and they want to keep it that way.
Helen
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Yes, of course you are right, however as long as the Big 5 insist on having Adept on their ePub books, they can lock Amazon out. On the other hand, Kindle Unlimited is a new service, it can be used to bring new customers to the Amazon bookstore. Amazon's ecosystem is its greatest advantage but people have to have a reason to go there or they will never see it.
The big barrier to Amazon selling ePub has always been Adapt DRM--they like the closed garden, no outside services, but since KU is an Amazon imprint the big 5 have no say and restricting ePub offerings to books without DRM keeps KU inside the Amazon ecosystem.
Publishing in both major formats should reassure authors who are reluctant to sign an exclusive contract. They will see advertising for KU on forums that appeal to ePub owners as well where links to KU speak to both formats in venues like Goodreads, Audible and elsewhere. The idea is to move Kindle Unlimited from being a niche for Kindle owners to a service offering ebooks and audiobooks, period.