It is the Worst of Times for Reading EBooks

[leebase]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Kind a moot point, really. There isn't a major publisher out there who would even WANT to stop selling their books via Amazon (or B&N, or Waterstones, or Powell's, or W.H. Smith's). It's not as if the advantages of selling your books via Amazon are a one-way street. They WANT Amazon (and all the others) to be wildly successful at selling their books. They just want to be able to dictate pricing.

A publisher who couldn't sell via Amazon would be crippled....far more than any other single seller.

Ergo, Amazon's past actions of pulling all of a publisher's books off of Amazon is still a overhanging threat.

And the future is simply more for Amazon as other retailers' businesses continue to decline

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by leebase

A publisher who couldn't sell via Amazon would be crippled....far more than any other single seller.

Sorry. Still not buying it. There is absolutely no point in worrying about not being able to avoid using a reseller that you have no intention of ever trying to avoid using.

Originally Posted by leebase

Ergo, Amazon's past actions of pulling all of a publisher's books off of Amazon is still a overhanging threat.

One that I'm sure would be heavily scrutinized if it were happening for any reason other than the one it previously did.

Originally Posted by leebase

And the future is simply more for Amazon as other retailers' businesses continue to decline

Way of the business world. Do better or die.

[John F]

When I think of a Publisher, I think of editors, cover design, layout, slush piles, ... Do Amazon imprints provide these services?

[Nausicaa]

Why is this a big deal with publishers? Fiction books are usually valued at a dime a dozen. Textbooks are unsuitable for ebook readers. Selling quantity at lower prices helps drive higher sales. https://digit.hbs.org/submission/bez...shington-post/

It worked for WP. And like the users say, there is NO reason not to sell on amazon. Natural monopolies (not forced by the government) don't last long usually.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Nausicaa

It worked for WP. And like the users say, there is NO reason not to sell on amazon. Natural monopolies (not forced by the government) don't last long usually.

I agree that a monopoly ultimately can't sustain itself for an indefinite period. Eventually things get too complicated and when you have a weakness somewhere in the system things break down again into smaller parts. You see it in history again and again in terms of governments. The Roman Empire, the British Empire, etc. When things get out of balance somewhere in any system it breaks down. Even in nature. If animals get too specialized and something happens to change the environment too quickly you get extinctions. I can't see a business model doing anything different. It's even happened with the net itself. Back when I started coming online I used dial up. After a time there were so many people on the same dial up lines that it led to slowdowns and dropped connections. The system couldn't handle everything it was being asked to handle. Enter DSL and then Cable internet. There always comes a time when change is not only expected but necessary in order for things to keep going. My local clinic is even changing. At one time they used paper files, then it went to computers. Now they are part of a system that isn't centered in my town's clinic but is just on a server system. The old model of books has to change just like everything else. Those who are unable or unwilling to change with the times will wither away. For a time it may be a bit monopolistic but then will probably break down again into smaller parts.

[mitford13]

Originally Posted by John F

When I think of a Publisher, I think of editors, cover design, layout, slush piles, ... Do Amazon imprints provide these services?

Sure they do, it’s a big operation! If you click on leebase’s link there’s a lot of info on their editors and their professional creds. Their submissions process is a bit opaque, which I’ve seen a lot of self-pubbers moan about - most don’t take unsolicited manuscripts, presumably done via agents and Amazon KDP reps (some of the big self-pubs get assigned Amazon reps.) A lot of the KU titles you see on the monthly/daily specials listings are from the imprints, as are the monthly Kindle First items. The James Bond reissues are from one of the imprints.
Having said all that, most of their stuff doesn’t appeal to me, too middle of the road, kinda...blah? But that’s my highly subjective opinion—I am impressed (and maybe slightly puzzled) by their success and appreciate their appeal to other readers.

Good article on the rise of Amazon Crossing and history of the imprints:

https://newrepublic.com/article/1231...slation-amazon

[John F]

Originally Posted by mitford13

Sure they do, it’s a big operation! ...

Thank you.

My apologies for asking essentially the same question twice. I had a senior moment.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Nausicaa

I don't like a device like an ebook reader because of its constant delays. Its way too slow for me to enjoy reading. I don't really like eink I found out after years of using it. I would have a bad experience with it and buy another one thinking that it would be better for me and it would be, but not enough for me to use it.

Monochrome displays have done what eink has done for many years (my iPod mini was notably visible in the sunlight) but with worse battery life. Since I don't read that much, its not a big deal to charge something when I am charging other stuff too. What I think OP and I expected was cooler devices. We have slightly higher refresh rates with higher resolution, same battery life and same price so its really a boring field.

What delays are you experiencing? While my Kobo Aura H2O is slower then my iPad or iPhone, it's not too slow. When I turn the page, the next page is ready for me to read by the time my eyes are at the top of the screen. The only time it's slower is when the page I am turning to has high resolution graphics.

One advantage I have with eInk is that I can read in daylight. I cannot easily read on my iPad or iPhone in daylight.

What is it you find you don't like with eInk? With most eInk Readers now, yo get 300DPI which is higher then you get from most tablets/phones. The new 2019 iPad Air is only 265DPI.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Meh. Given that agency survives so there's not a lot of price competition anyway, this has made things easier. I figure neither Kobo nor Kindle is on the ropes and I don't buy anywhere else. I buy from Kobo by preference and let the books download and only buy from Amazon when there's a significant price difference (in my laziness I can't be bothered with price-matching) and will either read on an app (I don't have a Kindle) or maybe download, convert and sideload if I'm motivated, but that's not a big percentage of my purchases. In both cases I'm not worried about being able to access unread books in the near to intermediate future and I don't care much about the read ones with rare exceptions. So on a practical level, the shakeout was a good thing - however, I suspect I'd have fallen into this pattern eventually anyway.

Before agency I did like shopping around. I did like the way Fictionwise and BooksOnBoard did business. I liked being able to get free eBooks because of the rewards. I felt I got a lot of bargains. Now the way it is, prices can be rather high. Sometimes more then the pBook. The pBook can be discounted but the eBook not.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Three letters: KFX

I've never been bothered with KFX. I can download KF8 no problem (unless the book in question is only available in mobi). What I find is a bother when I look under the hood of a KF8 and find it's ghastly. Most I can convert to ePub very easily, but some are really awful because whoever made it knows nothing about how to create an eBook.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Which amazon models have plastic backed screens? I do not know of any.

The Kindle Oasis 2 has a plastic backed screen.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

There is no such things as an EPUB3 "wrapper." An EPUB3, is an EPUB3, is an EPUB3. EPUB3 is not defined by "containing non-EPUB2 compatible content." It's not any-less EPUB3 because it doesn't contain any multimedia or because it chooses not to make use of all meta-data elements available to it.

Most EPUB2s don't contain every single type of content and metatdata that EPUB2s CAN contain. Does that make them any less EPUB2?? Of course not. That line of thinking would be silly. As silly as suggesting a text-only EPUB3 is somehow an EPUB2 in your imaginary "EPUB3 wrapper."

The EPUB3 spec is inherently backward compatible with EPUB2 reading systems (so long as an OPF is present -- and they always are in commercial EPUB3s).

Your 1% is meaningless, because your "EPUB3-specific" and your "EPUB3 wrapper" are equally meaningless terms. There is tons of content being sold commercially by epub vendors as EPUB3, and tons of Kindlebooks are created from EPUB3s. The notion that they are "fringe" is not even a little bit accurate. Not any more. Get over your irrational and imaginary aversion to all things EPUB3 already. It's tired.

It's easier to make ePub 2 eBooks and there is no need for ePub3 unless the eBook uses some feature not supported by ePub2 that's needed for the eBook. ePub3 is a mess and ePub2 was rushed. Take most ePub3 eBooks and convert them to ePub2 and you lose no functionality at all. So why bother to make ePub3? all you get is more code that you don't need.

True ePub3 may never take off because most reading software doesn't support it. And yes, these ePub3 are just ePub2 in an ePub3 wrapper.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by leebase

The features I and so many others liked had nothing to do with the file format. Just two should have made it long ago. The ability to adjust the screen brightness by swiping up or down the screen (verses having to bring up a menu).

The ability to have both the left and right side touch areas of the screen page forward.

With a Kobo Reader, you can swipe up & down to change the frontlight's brightness (or turn it off). As for both left/right sides going forward, bad idea (IMHO). I much prefer swiping for going forward/back. It means I can change the page with my thumb just about anyplace on the screen.

Stanza was very poor for reading. It was buggy and never fixed properly. Before adding lots of features, get the reading correct. It didn't do that and was never all that good.

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Kindle Oasis 2 has a plastic backed screen.

Do you mean the Oasis 3? I've seen rumors both ways (Mobius vs Carta), but nothing definitive?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

True ePub3 may never take off because most reading software doesn't support it. And yes, these ePub3 are just ePub2 in an ePub3 wrapper.

There is only one kind of EPUB3, and it has already "taken off." All EPUB3 books are "true" EPUB3s. And once again... no. There is no such thing as an EPUB3 "wrapper." You're showing your ignorance by suggesting there is. EPUB2 must be converted to EPUB3. Not wrapped. Whether there's any multimedia or not, EPUB3 is a different beast altogether. Different html version, different css version, different opf specifications, different metadata, and different structure. You CANNOT take an EPUB2, slip a sweater on it and call it an EPUB3.

When you go to respond to this in a week or so, please consider just accepting the fact that you're woefully uninformed in this area.