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Originally Posted by DuckieTigger
I didn't mean that the publishers should adopt and also create their own unlimited subscription model - but they do need to find ways to stay competitive if they want to compete for customers that KU appeals to.
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I'm not sure that people that KU appeals to are really publisher's true customers anyway, any more than people who only read books they got from the library, or from the 2nd hand book dealers are. The publishers market to customers who buy new books. Of course, many people start at libraries and then move on to buy books, but there are many people who have never bought a book in their life and never will.
There is no doubt that publishers will need to continue to change and evolve. I've said before that I expect that we will see a resurgence of small niche publishers who are focused on specific niche markets and who provide value to authors with regards to editing and handling the business side of the book business.
As Tim O'Reilly wrote way back in 2002, when many artists were stressing over piracy, "Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy."
http://www.openp2p.com/lpt/a/3015
(btw, it's a pretty interesting piece on piracy and online distribution written back in 2002. It's well worth reading. O'Reily runs an online computer ebook store that runs on a yearly/monthly subscription which was in place long before KI . I've subscribed to that store since around 2006. It's perfect for the problem of computer books that quickly become obsolete. You also get monthly download credits that allow you to download and keep ebooks. So, I'm not opposed to using a subscription service if it has books that I am interested in. I use netflix as well. )
Getting back to my point, the biggest issue that most authors face is obscurity. With the exception of a lucky few, I think that indie publishing makes it very difficult for an author to find enough of an audience to escape that fate. A good publisher helps to publicize an author. Go back and read Corriea's essay on why he likes his publisher (Baen books). To a great extent, that is what Baen's monthly bundles was started to do, get new authors in front of Baen's readership. (btw, this is why I think that niche publishers are on the way back. It allows authors of a specific genre to find readers of that genre).