Quote:
Originally Posted by Kumabjorn
How well has unlimited streaming like Spotify, Pandora Rdio etc, served musicians? Will unlimited streaming of books serve authors the same way?
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We'll find out pretty quickly.
But unlike musicians who are have no control over "airplay", the indie publishers can pull the titles that make up the bulk of the KU catalog at a moment's notice. That ensures that if the payout is not satisfactory they can limit the damage.
On the other hand, the indie publishers can choose what they put up and how it is packaged. Many offer up brand-building permafree and $0.99 titles anyway so those will likely stay and they may choose to unbundle anthologies or convert episodic novels into serials...
KU is an entirely different distribution channel than anything we've seen before because of the combination of pool payout and flat-fee consumer pricing. It will likely evolve its own dynamics and best practices for authors. Like, "don't put up your top seller", "don't put up omnibus editions or anthologies", "do put up prequel shorts".
Amazon controls the channel but the publishers control the books so their exposure to harm is limited.