3 Ways Pottermore Could Change Book Publishing

[DMB]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I would love for her not to sell mobi version. Would open some eyes...

This seems a bit mean towards all who have mobi readers. What good would it do you?

[hidari]

I am sure the Rowlings lemmings will buy it up lock stock and barrel. Met heaps of peopld who bought her books and never read them or barely read them. Hello Stephen Hawking and the Bible.


Hopefully some of them will learn to read books outside the lemming zone. The tipping point already happened....

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

Really interesting artilce on how JKR and Harry Potter could change the publishing world....again!

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-t...ok-publishing/

1 - could force Kindle to adopt new formats. (epub) "if any author could get Amazon to change its policy, it’s J. K. Rowling." "The Kindle has the largest market share of any e-reader in the U.S.—it’s believed to be between 60 and 65 percent—and it would be an incredibly dumb move for Amazon not to allow the Harry Potter e-books to be read on its device."

2 - pricing experiments (bundles, limited time offer sales, special editions, individual chapters)

3 - Most importantly, this could be a major tipping point for e-books.

"The first book Harry Potter book was published in 1997—over a decade ago. Kids who were too young for the books when they were first published—who were, say, four or five in 2007 when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series, was released—are just the right age for the e-book editions in 2011.

And, of course, the series has always exhibited massive crossover appeal between kids and adults. Adults who never read the books the first time around might try them as e-books, and audiences who’ve read them already may still want to own the digital versions, particularly since Rowling is writing new material for the e-books. A new generation of kids ready for Harry Potter, a group of adults who’ve never read the series before, and all the people who are fans already and want to read the books again in a new format—that is potentially a group of millions of buyers for the e-books on Pottermore.com. Combine that massive audience with falling e-reader prices and the release of the books near the holiday season and Pottermore.com could absolutely move the needle toward widespread e-reader adoption in a way that no other series possibly could."

Awesome!!

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by DMB

This seems a bit mean towards all who have mobi readers. What good would it do you?

Would be quite a blow against mobi. Amazon ditching it would benefit both kindle and non kindle customers.

[stonetools]

God save us from the techie format zealots

[EowynCarter]

Me techie zealots ? Nah, i'm a customer how feel like i should be able to go from amazon to sony to nook to bookeen and back to amazon, and to sony again.
All that without having to go though a lengthy process to keep my books.
Been there, done that, never again !

One format, no DRM, that just the way it should be.

[DiapDealer]

One format, no DRM, that just the way it should be.

It's a little early in the game for that kind of nirvana. We've got several good years of infighting left yet.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

Me techie zealots ? Nah, i'm a customer how feel like i should be able to go from amazon to sony to nook to bookeen and back to amazon, and to sony again.
All that without having to go though a lengthy process to keep my books.
Been there, done that, never again !

One format, no DRM, that just the way it should be.

Well, I wish for all kinds of things:
I wish that I could become independently wealthy
I wish that I could become irresistibly attractive to women
I wish that there could be regular spaceflight service to the Moon and back
I wish for world peace and that order, harmony, and good government be established everywhere.
Being realistic, I understand that most of these things won't happen soon, if at all.
To me, its much more important that people should be able to read their Harry Potter books in the format of their choice come October 31, than that some techie nirvana be achieved.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's a little early in the game for that kind of nirvana. We've got several good years of infighting left yet.

During the word processor format wars, people yearned for one format to triumph over all. We have now achieved this, with the success of Microsoft Word. Is everyone happy?

Thought not.
There is always be something, somewhere that some techie zealot will be mad about.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

One format, no DRM, that just the way it should be.

But the first means very little without the second, and even if Amazon switched to ePub, it is 99.9% certain they would go with their own DRM, so you still wouldn't be able to read their books on another reader unless your firmware was updated. And given how widely the changes to allow B&N books haven't been adopted by other readers, what is the actual difference to you?

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

But the first means very little without the second, and even if Amazon switched to ePub, it is 99.9% certain they would go with their own DRM, so you still wouldn't be able to read their books on another reader unless your firmware was updated. And given how widely the changes to allow B&N books haven't been adopted by other readers, what is the actual difference to you?

If they uses their own DRM none at first. Would still be a first step in the right direction. One half step is better than none at all.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by stonetools

During the word processor format wars, people yearned for one format to triumph over all. We have now achieved this, with the success of Microsoft Word. Is everyone happy?

Thought not.
There is always be something, somewhere that some techie zealot will be mad about.

I have absolutely no problem reading docx documents. OOo can use docx files, word reads odt files. Quite fine with that though I use odt when doing documents for myself.

I rather like word 2010, i use it at work. But i use word processor so little for no-work stuff i didn't though it useful to get a license.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DMB

This seems a bit mean towards all who have mobi readers. What good would it do you?

Actually, it may seem mean, but in the long run, it's better for everyone. If Mobi was to go away, we'd have ePub (which is a better format) only.

[DMB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, it may seem mean, but in the long run, it's better for everyone. If Mobi was to go away, we'd have ePub (which is a better format) only.

You forget that the millions of Kindle owners have invested something in mobi. That in no way stops you from enjoying the format of your choice.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by stonetools

During the word processor format wars, people yearned for one format to triumph over all. We have now achieved this, with the success of Microsoft Word. Is everyone happy?

Thought not.
There is always be something, somewhere that some techie zealot will be mad about.

Word didn't win in the long run.
It only won for a few years.

Now I am using various programs that output Epubs natively, and I am not in any way alone. I do not expect what I write to be read on paper, or even a full sized screen ergot - bye Word.

Epub won't hold the top of the hill forever either.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, it may seem mean, but in the long run, it's better for everyone. If Mobi was to go away, we'd have ePub (which is a better format) only.

The average consumer doesn't give a damn about format or DRM. Believe that.
On the other hand, they will care if they can't read their Harry Potter on their Kindles come October 31.
Since the folks running Pottermore care about the average consumer and not at all about techie format zealots, we can be sure that the Potter books will be available in various formats on the appointed day.