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pwalker8 · 10-02-2017, 07:52 AM

To repeat myself, slush pile refers to an unsifted group of manuscripts, it doesn't refer to the quality of the manuscripts. The reason that publishes have slush piles and have people who actually read through them is because there are sometimes quality manuscripts buried in there. I also have read some very good indie authors. I've also read some very bad indie authors.

I read a combination of fiction and non-fiction. Most of my fiction is SF/F mixed in with some mystery and adventure. I read a lot more fiction than non fiction.

The idea that books are commodities is something that I strongly disagree with. Commodity means that one is the same as the next. If I buy a bar of gold, there is no difference between one bar and the next. In general, there is little difference between a 8 gig memory chips.

People don't buy and read generic books. They buy and read the latest Harry Potter book by the millions and millions, but Joe Blow's Harry Potter knock off is only read by his mother and a few friends, even if he puts it up on Amazon's books store. This is the driving force behind the general publishers business model. Name authors make millions.

Certainly the kindle app works fine on iOS and Android, but so would any reading app. The point of the actual kindle device was to lock the reader into the Amazon ecosystem. In 2014, some 32% of adults in the US owned a dedicated e-reader device. In 2016, that number had fallen to 19%, a very big drop, yet ebook sales and revenue continues to grow. That means more and more people are reading on tablets and phones.

Several years ago, one of the issues that other ebook stores had was how can I get this ebook on my kindle. That isn't as big of an issue anymore. Certainly Amazon has the best ebook store out there right now in terms of selection and discoverability. My point is that I think that discoverability might be the wedge that could make a customer go to another ebooks store rather than Amazon, if that ebook store is a significantly better experience. Amazon's ebook store is remarkably similar to what it looked like when it was first rolled out. Lack of competition will do that.

10-02-2017, 07:52 AM	#126
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	To repeat myself, slush pile refers to an unsifted group of manuscripts, it doesn't refer to the quality of the manuscripts. The reason that publishes have slush piles and have people who actually read through them is because there are sometimes quality manuscripts buried in there. I also have read some very good indie authors. I've also read some very bad indie authors. I read a combination of fiction and non-fiction. Most of my fiction is SF/F mixed in with some mystery and adventure. I read a lot more fiction than non fiction. The idea that books are commodities is something that I strongly disagree with. Commodity means that one is the same as the next. If I buy a bar of gold, there is no difference between one bar and the next. In general, there is little difference between a 8 gig memory chips. People don't buy and read generic books. They buy and read the latest Harry Potter book by the millions and millions, but Joe Blow's Harry Potter knock off is only read by his mother and a few friends, even if he puts it up on Amazon's books store. This is the driving force behind the general publishers business model. Name authors make millions. Certainly the kindle app works fine on iOS and Android, but so would any reading app. The point of the actual kindle device was to lock the reader into the Amazon ecosystem. In 2014, some 32% of adults in the US owned a dedicated e-reader device. In 2016, that number had fallen to 19%, a very big drop, yet ebook sales and revenue continues to grow. That means more and more people are reading on tablets and phones. Several years ago, one of the issues that other ebook stores had was how can I get this ebook on my kindle. That isn't as big of an issue anymore. Certainly Amazon has the best ebook store out there right now in terms of selection and discoverability. My point is that I think that discoverability might be the wedge that could make a customer go to another ebooks store rather than Amazon, if that ebook store is a significantly better experience. Amazon's ebook store is remarkably similar to what it looked like when it was first rolled out. Lack of competition will do that.