Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
The KU effort is a bit half-hearted on Amazon's part.
|
Half-hearted? Maybe.
More limited, definitely.
But I think it is more limited because Amazon's service seems coldly calibrated for sustainability. To ensure it outlives it's competitors. Or at least their current terms.
Their competitors pay 60% royalties so a subscriber can put them in the red just by reading $15 worth of ebooks. Which could be as little as two tradpub titles. How many of their subscribers are burning through 2-3 times that much?
It's a great deal for both sides, today, but what happens when the investor funds dry out? Do they cut royalties? Raise prices? Put ads between chapters? Run a kickstarter? Go belly up?
KU isn't for everybody but that is pretty clearly by design.
As they say in the IT business: "That isn't a bug--it's a feature."