Quote:
Originally Posted by notimp
Publishers have lost this ability under the new Amazon paradigm as well. Its actually the distributer that now has the sole ability to "create a book" ("the master copy").
The idea is, that as long as you leave this ability to be at least "somewhat known" and "distributed" - you cant inflict structural powerplays as in "this is my format - and I tell you how to...". We are talking about books for gods sake - do I really have to tell you how the "walled garden model" usually goes for those?
Also - the ability for users themselves to "edit" books is still as vital as ever - because Amazon didn't put any quality checks for formated text into the publishing workflow - an as a result they are now combating a low quality distributions segment within their publishing ecosystem. With negative labeling - btw. Ask any developer how well that usually goes.. 
Also I am not exactly sure if I am sad to see people actually having obtained this ability. Its one of the cornerstones of the argument we make for using Calibre, btw. |
Only if I choose to sell through Amazon and even then I still own the master copy.
I really don't care what format they send it in and they use several depending on the device as long as the person buying my book can read it.
Heck if they want to put it on a stone tablet they can.
Long as my customer can read it.
Nook and Kobo do the same thing. It isn't just a plain epub.
And even at that, the only way Amazon has any control over MY book and what formats it is in is if I choose Select and go exclusively with them.
I am still not seeing the big deal.
As an author or a reader, I am not locked into Amazon. Although yes I expect them to send me a readable on my device file.
Ps: I think this discussion would fit better in Amazon Kindle forum since it concerns readers and authors.