Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
I'm already seeing that with Audible, though I'm not so sure that it will be a boom. Now that Amazon has taken over Audible, I'm seeing the same basic issue that I see with the kindle section of Amazon, i.e. having to wade through page after page of stuff that I have no interest in to find the new books that I might be interested in.
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I know they verify audio quality, but not necessarily content. Authors who have gone audio are finding it is adding to their income--Amazon often chooses indie books and marks them down to a very affordable price (under 5 dollars). Unlike Kindle ebooks, Amazon controls pricing of audio and Amazon takes a larger cut. The most an author can get is 40 percent--IF they go exclusive for 7 years. They get 35 percent if they don't go exclusive, but they may have to do a royalty split with the actors/recording. (You can pay upfront for the reading or, if the actor agrees, you can do a royalty split.)
This issue is that I'm not sure that trad publishers will see indies as a threat--and if they don't they won't lower prices. That worked for ebooks until the collusion. Now I see that it no longer really works or doesn't work as well. Most trad books are back up to 12 and 13 dollars. For the first time in years when I did my "what was the best book you read this past year" there was only one indie on the list--and every other book was 10 dollars or more (if I recall correctly--there might have been an 8.99 one). Granted, many reading my blog are indie-centric since I'm indie, but that is why I found it so ... interesting. The books now being noticed by readers are back to best sellers and those being advertised by the big guys.
IMO, indies have definitely fallen out of vogue.