Amazon Publishing Acquires Avalon Books

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Xoanon

You are talking about third-party game publishers. Amazon is more like a hardware manufacturer such as Microsoft or Nintendo that not only makes the consoles but also own a number of first-party publishers that release games exclusively on their system.

And to good effect, usually.

NINTENDO makes virtually all the money they need from their own titles. Their attitude is very Apple-like: if you want to make money off *their* customers they won't get in the way but they will charge a toll.

SONY likewise depends primarily on their First Party exclusives. Especially in the current generation where they don't get any "default exclusives" from independent publishers as with the PS2 generation.

MICROSOFT is the one that most relies on third-part multiplatform content but their strategy is stronger on time-limited exclusives for DLC and other special promos. Plus, given their larger install base, superior online support, and easier-to-develop-for system, the XBOX tends to be the lead platform for most high profile third-party games, anyway. For them it is more about being "second-to-none" than tallying up exclusives at all costs. So they don't *have* to own as many captive studios as SONY (for one) has. They also make more money off hardware and services than either of their competitors so they can afford to get by with a handful of high-prestige first party titles to steer buyers to XBOX over the other systems.

The consensus appears to be that if you run a walled garden content system you need at least *some* compelling exclusives but not enough to annoy the third-party vendors too much. In gaming, Activision and EA, among others, regularly whine that a single universal development platform would be best. For them. Of course, they would rather somebody else bear the expense of developing, deploying, and subsidizing the first 5 million units or so of said universal platform.
So far they've found no takers so the walled gardens endure.

When it comes to the ebook walled gardens all four players are already playing the exclusivity game so don't expect Amazon or Apple or B&N or Kobo stop trying to sign up as many exclusives as they can get their hands on. So don't expect anybody to stop signing up as many as they can, especially backlist titles. There's gold in those backlists! (Less risk, lower cost, only slightly lower retail price, when done right.)

From what I've seen the AVALON deal is a win-win-win-win all the way around for Amazon, the old Avalon owners, the *authors* and the readers; 3000 well-regarded books are going to be readily available in ebook editions and actively promoted.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That's so easy to fix --- buy a Kindle

Cheaper: befriend Alf.

[ProfCrash]

Download one of the many apps

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I believe that I have made that very point on many an occassion.

I still would prefer that they sell ebooks to all the various stores so that others can enjoy them.

That would be the smart thing to do, however, if they don't, we all know that they will eventually end up on the dark net.

[Top100EbooksRank]

When ebooks go DRM-free, you can buy an Amazon imprints ebooks on Kindle and read it on a Nook or KOBO etc...And vice versa (buying it on B&N and read it on a Kindle).

With TOR going DRM-free, I expect the tide is turning. If all 6 Big Publishers go DRM-Free, Amazon imprints will have to. Think of the negative publicity if Amazon by its action, hanging on to DRM with its imprints.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Can someone just let me know if the sky is falling or not? The dearth of Chicken Littles responding to this news doesn't give me enough data to decide.

That's probably because I ate him (I had a little craving for chicken).

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What Amazon is doing is taking eBooks from people who do not have a use for Amazon's format(s) and keeping them away from these people. That's not good at all. There are a lot of people who read eBooks do not have a Kindle, do not use a Kindle app, do not strip DRM and do not convert.

Wait. The press release said Amazon Publishing is going to publish Avalon's backlist. So Amazon's going to digitize books that would otherwise be unavailable or available only in paper. As I read it, Amazon is not keeping books away from people, they're allowing more people access to the books.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Wait. The press release said Amazon Publishing is going to publish Avalon's backlist. So Amazon's going to digitize books that would otherwise be unavailable or available only in paper. As I read it, Amazon is not keeping books away from people, they're allowing more people access to the books.

Correct.
What I heard was that in recent times AVALON titles were only available in limited numbers, to libraries mostly, and generating essentialy zero income beyond the advance to at least some (most?) of their authors. (I heard it from one of the authors, who was ecstatic.)

That is one reason why the question of whether Amazon will change the royalty terms or hold authors to the existing contract terms. As ebooks, those titles are now likely to generate significant revenue even under the archaic legacy contracts. Which is why the deal is a 4-way win; more books getting to more readers than before is hardly a step backwards.

[JSWolf]

delete post

[Lemurion]

I used to love the old Avalon SF books that our library had when I was growing up. I'd love to see some of those books made available on Kindle at a decent price.