UK Ebook startup calls on publishers to "do a Pottermore" - Page 3

stonetools · 05-15-2012, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

If they could do it at all. It's not *easy* to do what Amazon does; it's very hard. That's one reason there's not a lot of competition.

And look at Pottermore - they are only offering 7 books, but even so the website was delayed and delayed and delayed.

The " DRM free" bingo answer to this would be BAEN!

They offer DRM free books from their website, they offer multiple books, and they haven't gone out of business yet.
I'm saying it half tongue in cheek, because Random House doing it would be a whole nother league from what Baen is currently doing, but it is an example of a publisher also being its own online bookstore.

stonetools · 05-15-2012, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I would argue that buying from Kobo or BN or whatever e-bookstore you by from is easier. Amazon is simply one books store. I don't want to have to go looking at 6 or more different stores to buy my books. I don't want to have to worry about getting those books into my Amazon account so I can read them easily on my Kindle. I don't want to have 6 accounts and 6 more people with information that they can use to spam my email account. I am going to guess that most Nook and Kobo readers feel the same way and that most of them buy the majority of their books from BN and Kobo, just like Kindle readers tend to buy their books from Amazon.

And there are plenty of non-Kindle owners who shop at Amazon and simply remove the DRM and convert the files. Why do they shop at Amazon? Because Amazon tends to have what they are looking for and they don't want to have to search a number of different stores to find what they want to read.

Point being, many folks are not going to want to search 6 different stores to find a book to read. Most people like the convience of one stop shopping and will be annoyed if the BPH open their own bookstores and operate like Pottermore.

I did not like Pottermore and was very annoyed that I had to go that route. It was inconvient and annoying.

They would only have to do one Google search for the book title. No DRM would mean not have to fiddle around with a possibly illegal process known only to the techie 1 percent . Assimilation wouldn't have to be that difficult, have a cuppa.

Andrew H. · 05-15-2012, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonetools

They may be willing to to do that as a way of diluting Amazon's power. Heck, its the ONLY reason why they would want to risk going DRM free

The publishers are the ones who are insisting on DRM now; I'd be happy if they changed their minds, but I don't see how Pottermore would help with this. Amazon already sells DRM-free books; I'm sure they would be happy to sell more.

ProfCrash · 05-15-2012, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonetools

They would only have to do one Google search for the book title. No DRM would mean not have to fiddle around with a possibly illegal process known only to the techie 1 percent . Assimilation wouldn't have to be that difficult, have a cuppa.

I don't know what book I want to buy many times. I go to check out lists, find recommendations, and see what others are reading.

Even if I know the name of the book, I don't want to have to do a search to find it.

When I wanted a book before I had my e-book reader, I went to the book store and I found it. I did not have to go to a Penguin store, a Random House store, a Macmillan store, ect... I went to the store.

If the Publishers had no problem with Barnes and Nobles and Borders putting financial pressure on the Independent bookstores and driving them out of business, I fail to see why they should have problems selling their books through Amazon, BN, Kobo, and Sony.

If they want to aim to make the market more competitive, remove the DRM and allow the stores to offer bundles and discounts that might make me want to shop at BN for my Mobi releases.

But I will be pissed if I have to go to 6 or more bookstores to find something to read.

NightGeometry · 05-19-2012, 11:44 AM

If people need to use Google to find where to get the book they want, I suspect in most cases it won't be the publisher's site they get it from...

andreabc · 05-19-2012, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

When I wanted a book before I had my e-book reader, I went to the book store and I found it. I did not have to go to a Penguin store, a Random House store, a Macmillan store, ect... I went to the store.

I'm kind of conflicted about this. It used to be that when I wanted to buy a plane ticket, I'd go to a travel agent. Now, most of the time I investigate a bit on Kayak or similar sites and then purchase on the airline's website...
Things could change for ebooks too...

stonetools · 05-19-2012, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andreabc

I'm kind of conflicted about this. It used to be that when I wanted to buy a plane ticket, I'd go to a travel agent. Now, most of the time I investigate a bit on Kayak or similar sites and then purchase on the airline's website...
Things could change for ebooks too...

Well, books ain't tickets but it does go to show that this model has been done, and quite successfully, in other contexts.

stonetools · 05-19-2012, 01:05 PM

Quote:

If the Publishers had no problem with Barnes and Nobles and Borders putting financial pressure on the Independent bookstores and driving them out of business, I fail to see why they should have problems selling their books through Amazon, BN, Kobo, and Sony.

They DID have a problem with this but couldn't do much about it. The publishers prefer a marketplace with many retailers who compete among themselves to buy their product.With Amazon, they face the reality of one buyer who can tell them , "Either you sell your product to me at MY price and MY terms or you won't sell anything."
Not surprisingly, they want to change things. Your suggestions don't really help them with that.

stonetools · 05-19-2012, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightGeometry

If people need to use Google to find where to get the book they want, I suspect in most cases it won't be the publisher's site they get it from...

Anti-piracy legislation and LE will be the answer there. Yet another model -publisher apps-wouldn't depend on Google at all. There are a couple of different models out there

Again, I don't know that I would prefer any of this . But if Amazon can disrupt the traditional model, the publishers can play the disruption game too. They have the product: at some point, it makes good business sense for them to dis-intermediate the middleman, if the middleman grows too powerful.

Jean · 05-19-2012, 02:22 PM

I would find it very annoying to have to shop at 6 different websites for my books. I like the one stop shopping experience of Amazon (or BN or Kobo etc.). I occasionally purchase more than one ebook at a time, with Amazon I just need to check out once instead of visits to multiple websites and multiple checkouts. Much faster and easier for me.

Also given the BPH's history I wouldn't expect the ebooks to be sold with no DRM. The prices would more than likely be terrible and the customer service non-existant.

Personally if the BPH went this route I would seldom if ever purchase anything from them. There are to many other options available to me.

stonetools · 05-19-2012, 03:29 PM

QUOTE]Also given the BPH's history I wouldn't expect the ebooks to be sold with no DRM. The prices would more than likely be terrible and the customer service non-existant.

Personally if the BPH went this route I would seldom if ever purchase anything from them. There are to many other options available to me.
[/QUOTE]

We don't really know how the publishers will do selling direct to consumers. They've never had to do so this before now, so it's not surprising that there are doubts. But then we didn't know how well Apple would do at B&M retail before they opened their Apple Stores or how well they would do at digital music before they did iTunes. We'll have to wait to see how the publishers do.
They may want to do a single mega site (Bookish) so you have to do only one login.
They may work something out with Amazon so that they accept your Amazon credentials at their website .
They may do the app model where you download an app that stores your credentials and CC number so that you can search for and buy any book from them with one click.
It may be ten years from now that buying a book from an ebook store may be as unusual as buying an airplane ticket from a travel agent.

Joshua.P · 05-20-2012, 04:11 AM

I don't even understand what's so good about pottermore. I mean we've been asking for Potter ebooks for years, and now that they've released their own website finally, we're supposed to thank them? Doesn't make sense. I mean JKR is a great author but I don't know why she has to be so different. I mean everyone else (basically) sells through Amazon direct.

murraypaul · 05-20-2012, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonetools

Again, I don't know that I would prefer any of this . But if Amazon can disrupt the traditional model, the publishers can play the disruption game too. They have the product: at some point, it makes good business sense for them to dis-intermediate the middleman, if the middleman grows too powerful.

Authors have the product, publishers are middlemen.
They have grown too powerful, and are being dis-intermediated as we speak.

BWinmill · 05-21-2012, 02:22 AM

Cripes, we are talking about spending 10 minutes to figure out who sells a particular book. It is not a big problem folks. Of course such arrangements would lead to even more price fixing by publishers, which is why I oppose them.

ProfCrash · 05-21-2012, 08:03 AM

Would you want to go to six different physical bookstores to find a paper book? What if they were in different parts of town and you had to get in your car six different times and drive to six different locations. And have to use six different credit cards to buy your book.

It is a stupid model.

If I don't know what I want to read, I have to browse six different stores?

No thanks.

05-19-2012, 03:29 PM	#41
stonetools Wizard Posts: 2,016 Karma: 2838487 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Washington, DC Device: Ipad, IPhone	QUOTE]Also given the BPH's history I wouldn't expect the ebooks to be sold with no DRM. The prices would more than likely be terrible and the customer service non-existant. Personally if the BPH went this route I would seldom if ever purchase anything from them. There are to many other options available to me. [/QUOTE] We don't really know how the publishers will do selling direct to consumers. They've never had to do so this before now, so it's not surprising that there are doubts. But then we didn't know how well Apple would do at B&M retail before they opened their Apple Stores or how well they would do at digital music before they did iTunes. We'll have to wait to see how the publishers do. They may want to do a single mega site (Bookish) so you have to do only one login. They may work something out with Amazon so that they accept your Amazon credentials at their website . They may do the app model where you download an app that stores your credentials and CC number so that you can search for and buy any book from them with one click. It may be ten years from now that buying a book from an ebook store may be as unusual as buying an airplane ticket from a travel agent. Last edited by stonetools; 05-19-2012 at 03:31 PM.

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05-19-2012, 11:44 AM	#35
NightGeometry Zealot Posts: 139 Karma: 1057240 Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brighton, England Device: Sony PRS-T1, Kindle 3G, Kindle DX	If people need to use Google to find where to get the book they want, I suspect in most cases it won't be the publisher's site they get it from...

05-19-2012, 02:22 PM	#40
Jean Zealot Posts: 109 Karma: 1069296 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Washington State Device: Kindle 1 / Kindle Fire / Kindle Paperwhite / Kobo Libra Colour	I would find it very annoying to have to shop at 6 different websites for my books. I like the one stop shopping experience of Amazon (or BN or Kobo etc.). I occasionally purchase more than one ebook at a time, with Amazon I just need to check out once instead of visits to multiple websites and multiple checkouts. Much faster and easier for me. Also given the BPH's history I wouldn't expect the ebooks to be sold with no DRM. The prices would more than likely be terrible and the customer service non-existant. Personally if the BPH went this route I would seldom if ever purchase anything from them. There are to many other options available to me.

05-20-2012, 04:11 AM	#42
Joshua.P The Dark Knight Posts: 97 Karma: 497090 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Kindle Keyboard	I don't even understand what's so good about pottermore. I mean we've been asking for Potter ebooks for years, and now that they've released their own website finally, we're supposed to thank them? Doesn't make sense. I mean JKR is a great author but I don't know why she has to be so different. I mean everyone else (basically) sells through Amazon direct.

05-21-2012, 02:22 AM	#44
BWinmill Nameless Being	Cripes, we are talking about spending 10 minutes to figure out who sells a particular book. It is not a big problem folks. Of course such arrangements would lead to even more price fixing by publishers, which is why I oppose them.

05-21-2012, 08:03 AM	#45
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	Would you want to go to six different physical bookstores to find a paper book? What if they were in different parts of town and you had to get in your car six different times and drive to six different locations. And have to use six different credit cards to buy your book. It is a stupid model. If I don't know what I want to read, I have to browse six different stores? No thanks.