3 Ways Pottermore Could Change Book Publishing

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One might look at it the other way around and say that, given the Kindle's domination of the market, Ms Rowling would be crazy not to sell Mobi versions of the books. She needs Amazon more than amazon need her, to my mind.

The woman's a billionaire; she doesn't "need" Amazon. She's already decided she doesn't need access to their sales charts; it's reasonable to assume that the majority of Kindle owners who will buy books away from Amazon at all, will be willing to convert them.

She avoided selling ebooks for years because she thought they were the wrong kind of book "experience;" I expect she's going with ePub because she can put custom fonts & CSS layout details in it. (Which, of course, none of her formatting department is going to tell her won't work the same on all ereaders.)

The concept that the books will be "readable on all devices" may well mean "because you can throw them into Calibre and get a mobi version."

(However, I expect Amazon to be frantically working to get access to her ebooks, whether that's by opening the Kindle to ePub or allowing it as one of the filetypes that can be sent to be converted & delivered by Whispernet.)

[carld]

The e-books will be released in October, and will be available only on the Pottermore website, but will be compatible across a range of devices, including Amazon's Kindle

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/co...e-website.html

the books downloaded from Pottermore will be compatible with ebook devices, like the Amazon Kindle.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_1...83-501465.html

Rowling has bypassed established online retailers such as Amazon, though her e-books will be compatible with popular e-readers, including Amazon's Kindle

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/...ry?id=13913091

the creators of "Pottermore" say the books will be compatible with popular e-readers including Amazon's Kindle,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_882754.html

[carld]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The concept that the books will be "readable on all devices" may well mean "because you can throw them into Calibre and get a mobi version."

I'd say there's about a zero percent chance that that's what they mean.

[AnemicOak]

The e-books will be released in October, and will be available only on the Pottermore website, but will be compatible across a range of devices, including Amazon's Kindle.

With the e-books' availability, Henwood (Pottermore CEO) said: "We want to make sure anyone who buys it, can read it on any device, we are talking to the Kindles, the Apples, the Googles, Barnes & Noble to make sure they are compatible. We set the pricing, we maintain the policy of making them available to as many readers as possible."

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/co...e-website.html

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/co...e-website.html

OverDrive's involvement was revealed today at the UK press conference by Pottermore c.e.o Rod Henwood. Henwood said: "Overdrive are providing the platform for the e-books."

Hmm. Does that mean people have to install Overdrive software to get them? Or does the site host just do that, and people can download without installing anything? (I have no idea how Overdrive library books work; I don't deal with DRM. Overdrive has just recently announced it'll be supporting books w/o DRM.)

Rowling has written extensive new material - 18,000 words - about the characters, places and objects in the much-loved stories

The top-20 highest word count Harry Potter stories at AO3 fall just short of four million words. I am underwhelmed by an announcement of a quantity of new content that would fit in a single LiveJournal post.

It's nice that she'll be giving out outline info and bits of character background that never made it into the stories. But it's not a quantity of info that should impress anyone who understands word counts.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Hmm. Does that mean people have to install Overdrive software to get them? Or does the site host just do that, and people can download without installing anything? (I have no idea how Overdrive library books work; I don't deal with DRM. Overdrive has just recently announced it'll be supporting books w/o DRM.)

Overdrive's software isn't required for DRM ebooks or ebooks at all for that matter (it's used for audiobooks, and possibly videos). Adobe Digital Editions is needed if the books have DRM, but if they are DRM free (like Carina Press books, they use Overdrive) then no added software is needed.

[Ryvyan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One might look at it the other way around and say that, given the Kindle's domination of the market, Ms Rowling would be crazy not to sell Mobi versions of the books. She needs Amazon more than amazon need her, to my mind.

To my mind, the lady could use her pocket change to buy over Amazon.

On a serious note, I would think Amazon needs her fans to be profitable in the long run. The ones who have not succumbed to a e-reader, and those who simply have been reading only free books gotten elsewhere, would be an incredible market to tap on.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Ryvyan

To my mind, the lady could use her pocket change to buy over Amazon.

Unless she has about $90 billion in pocket change, I doubt it.

[ficbot]

Well, we'll see The issue, I think, will be how many authors with her kind of pull don't have their own ebook rights. If people like King, Grisham etc. are locked into publisher contracts, then whatever Rowling does will be a one-shot deal. And new authors who might go 'wait a minute, didn't Rowling kick butt on her own?' may find that the new contracts publishers expect them to sign do not offer the no e-rights loophole that Rowling is exploiting...

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One might look at it the other way around and say that, given the Kindle's domination of the market, Ms Rowling would be crazy not to sell Mobi versions of the books. She needs Amazon more than amazon need her, to my mind.

Harry, as I understand it, Amazon's Kindle is dominant only in the United States, not worldwide. If true, then Rowling has the clout.

More importantly, I think, is that Rowling could probably create a whole new format and sell the ebooks only in that format and it wouldn't be long before most devices supported that format. There are too many potential sales for outfits like Kobo, B&N, and Amazon to not comply with Rowling's wishes. How many authors can you name who became billionaires from a relatively short list of books like Rowling did? Stephen King, James patterson, Dan Brown -- none of them as far as I know are billionaires, let alone billionaires as the result of selling 7 novels.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Harry, as I understand it, Amazon's Kindle is dominant only in the United States, not worldwide. If true, then Rowling has the clout.

It's dominant in the US, and even more dominant in the UK. Together, those two markets probably account for at least 90% of world-wide eBook sales, so I'd say it's pretty significant.

More importantly, I think, is that Rowling could probably create a whole new format and sell the ebooks only in that format and it wouldn't be long before most devices supported that format. There are too many potential sales for outfits like Kobo, B&N, and Amazon to not comply with Rowling's wishes. How many authors can you name who became billionaires from a relatively short list of books like Rowling did? Stephen King, James patterson, Dan Brown -- none of them as far as I know are billionaires, let alone billionaires as the result of selling 7 novels.

I'm afraid I don't agree with you. The eBooks will sell very well, I'm sure - they'll probably be the best ever selling eBooks, but in the overall scheme of things they are, as you say, only 7 novels (plus a few other odds and ends). I can't see Amazon (or anyone else) changing their business practices simply to accommodate her.

I may of course be entirely wrong. Time will tell!

BTW, purely as a side-note, Ms. Rowling is apparently not actually a billionaire. The most recent "Sunday Times Rich List" (the semi-official "who's got most money in Britain" list) rated her wealth at £519.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The concept that the books will be "readable on all devices" may well mean "because you can throw them into Calibre and get a mobi version."

Being a cynical old git, "readable on all devices" says to me that it's an online/streamed read rather than something you download and keep. Google books used similar phrases.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Reread it. They did not claim it was available for Kindle. It's going to come out in one format. One format that can be read across devices. She wants to get away from the Kindle & B&N & Apple model of specific formats for specific devices only.

Those guys, Kindle & B&N & Apple, will have to get with the program and make sure their devices can read what their users will want in the format it's going to be in - epub. I think it's a great option myself. And JK Rowling certainly has the clout & power behind her to be able to do it.

The nook can read ePub sans DRM. So no problem with B&N. The iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch can also handle DRM free eBooks. Now I don't know if they will be compatible enough with iBooks, but one can get Bluefire or txtr and be fully compatible on an iOS device.

The Kindle is the only one left out in the cold at the moment. If Amazon doesn't get with ePub (properly, not like iBooks), they will be left out and big time left out.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

One might look at it the other way around and say that, given the Kindle's domination of the market, Ms Rowling would be crazy not to sell Mobi versions of the books. She needs Amazon more than amazon need her, to my mind.

I disagree. Amazon needs her more then she needs them. People without a reader will get one that can handle the eBooks. And if Sony has a new Reader that's not too expensive and comes in an HP themed version with all the eBooks pre-loaded, then Sony will sell well. Remember, Rowling is NOT American and thus doesn't need to kow-tow to Amazon. Amazon will either give-in or get trounced. Remember, outside the USA, ePub capable devices sell better then the Kindle. And I for one think it's high time someone told Amazon that Mobipocket is not good enough. Maybe she wants to make a reading experience similar to the books and she cannot do that with a Kindle. But she can do that with ePub. The HP books use a number of different fonts and you cannot recreate that with Mobipocket. ePub yes. So really, even though you can convert to use on the Kindle, it won't be nearly as good if she's gone all out like I hope she has.

So really, Amazon is the one that's going to have to change. Rowling doesn't need Amazon. Amazon needs her.

[JSWolf]

With the e-books' availability, Henwood (Pottermore CEO) said: "We want to make sure anyone who buys it, can read it on any device, we are talking to the Kindles, the Apples, the Googles, Barnes & Noble to make sure they are compatible. We set the pricing, we maintain the policy of making them available to as many readers as possible."

Maybe this means they are trying to talk Amazon into going ePub because the reading experience Rowling wants cannot be duplicated with AZW.