3 Ways Pottermore Could Change Book Publishing

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by stonetools

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.

Although I agree with the flow of your logic, I consider your starting place to be potentially false. I already know a few average consumers in real life who are annoyed at the forced side-loading that the Pottermore store will create.

If the Pottermore people care about the average consumer, they will also eventually offer their books through major retailers. Instead, I suspect they're more interested in retaining absolute control over the property. (I.e., Amazon support "DRM-Free" publishing, but not "DRM-Trace-via-Watermarks" publishing. Amazon also demands a cut of sales. Etc. )

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by stonetools

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.

I agree they care more about the average consumer than what ebook fanatics think is the "best format."

I suspect this means we'll see watermarked PDFs, locked against casual editing & printing, not multiple formats. That way, they can claim that "everyone gets to read the book the same way."

Mobi can't support the layouts in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Epub can, but only on those machines that have the right kind of CSS support, which I suspect is not many of them.

From Rowling's past comments, I expect she wants as much control as possible of people's reading experiences, and that includes fonts, art layouts, and page sizes. The fact that that approach is incompatible with e-readers hasn't clicked yet for her; she has a Kindle but hasn't realized that books on a Kindle look different from the same books on a different e-reader. And probably hasn't spent any time trying to read PDFs on the Kindle.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DMB

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.

Amazon can do things the way Sony did. Amazon can support AZW, Topaz and ePub and switch all the eBooks they sell in AZW to ePub. The user will get whatever format the eBook is currently in be it AZW, Topaz or ePub. There is no reason to just drop AZW. Sony didn't drop BBeB in the reader firmware. They just dropped selling eBook in LRX. Amazon's not stupid. They won't just say "OK, we have ePub now" all your Mobipocket eBooks are now useless.". Amazon would migrate if they did swap.

[JSWolf]

I do think that if the Potter ePub is really better then the Mobipocket, then we'll see all kinds of articles from all kinds of papers/blogs pointing this out. And I do think people are going to take notice if this does happen.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I agree they care more about the average consumer than what ebook fanatics think is the "best format."

I suspect this means we'll see watermarked PDFs, locked against casual editing & printing, not multiple formats. That way, they can claim that "everyone gets to read the book the same way."

Mobi can't support the layouts in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Epub can, but only on those machines that have the right kind of CSS support, which I suspect is not many of them.

From Rowling's past comments, I expect she wants as much control as possible of people's reading experiences, and that includes fonts, art layouts, and page sizes. The fact that that approach is incompatible with e-readers hasn't clicked yet for her; she has a Kindle but hasn't realized that books on a Kindle look different from the same books on a different e-reader. And probably hasn't spent any time trying to read PDFs on the Kindle.

This is the impression I receive as well. There have been several comments from Pottermore about controlling the user experience, although not phrased in that manner, of course.

The thing with eReaders, is that the beauty is that you can have a CUSTOM experience. Don't like the publisher's font? Change it. Don't like their margin settings? Rip 'em out. Want the text sized differently and don't care if the resizing messes up the poetic verse or aesthetic layout? Go for it.

I know Pottermore has said ePubs, but I just don't see that working out in the long run to fulfill their stated goals, not the least of which because the images and page layouts are going to be tricky. (How did the pirate versions manage? Are they all PDFs? I'm curious.)

Seems to me that they're either going to have to go with PDF (which will still not meet their stated goal because different readers read PDF differently), or they'll have to lock down the epub to prevent the watermark/margins/font removal, or they'll have to give up on controlling all readers everywhere into having the exact same experience with a book as everyone else. Which is a stupid goal anyway, imho tyvm.

If they DO go with PDF, the partnership with Sony readers makes more sense (best PDF reader on the market imho), but I don't think the fans will be happy.

[Phogg]

Here's something that is going to come into play, and soon. almost a foregon conclusion within the next four years:

Rowling is 46. She is an author who spends hours upon hours reading, writing, and revising text.

Her eyes are about to start having problems. Maybe suddenl;y, maybe gradually. Maybe worse in the morning or worse in the evening.

Fairly soon she will have an unrelenting motivation to explore changing text size through out her day.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Rowling is 46. She is an author who spends hours upon hours reading, writing, and revising text.

Her eyes are about to start having problems. Maybe suddenl;y, maybe gradually. Maybe worse in the morning or worse in the evening.

She'll just cast a spell, and it'll all be better. No worries.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I agree they care more about the average consumer than what ebook fanatics think is the "best format."

I suspect this means we'll see watermarked PDFs, locked against casual editing & printing, not multiple formats. That way, they can claim that "everyone gets to read the book the same way."

Mobi can't support the layouts in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Epub can, but only on those machines that have the right kind of CSS support, which I suspect is not many of them.

From Rowling's past comments, I expect she wants as much control as possible of people's reading experiences, and that includes fonts, art layouts, and page sizes. The fact that that approach is incompatible with e-readers hasn't clicked yet for her; she has a Kindle but hasn't realized that books on a Kindle look different from the same books on a different e-reader. And probably hasn't spent any time trying to read PDFs on the Kindle.

You are over-thinking this. Pottermore will release the books in various formats ( mobi, epub, and pdf.). Techie bloggers will generate kilobytes of discussion comparing and contrasting the differences in style and layout between the three formats.
Outside the techie bubble, hardly a soul will notice.
The legions of non-techie Potter fans will be so glad to be reading their beloved books in e-book format, they'll overlook any layout issues. Some techies will grouse that some illustrations in the ebooks differ or even fail according to which formats they are rendered in, but they will be largely ignored. And life will go on.

[stonetools]

If the Pottermore people care about the average consumer, they will also eventually offer their books through major retailers. Instead, I suspect they're more interested in retaining absolute control over the property. (I.e., Amazon support "DRM-Free" publishing, but not "DRM-Trace-via-Watermarks" publishing. Amazon also demands a cut of sales. Etc. )

Amazon, BN and others will all do what they need to in order in share in the coming Potter bonanza. They may say various things in public, but they all have their kneeling pads ready.If it means supporting social DRM where they didn't do so before, so be it .

My guess is that they will handle the "side loading" through a simple procedure where clicking on a link at the website downloads and opens the book on your device. There are ways to make this pretty easy and user-friendly.

[Giggleton]

What I don't understand is why pottermore is bothering to create a website when it seems like a general purpose but able to be dedicated reading app would be more suited to eink, which is what we all prefer to read on right?

At any rate, if pottermore does indeed intend to release the harry potter collection in DRM free epub it could be interesting.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I know Pottermore has said ePubs, but I just don't see that working out in the long run to fulfill their stated goals,

*Has* Pottermore said ePubs? I remember seeing it somewhere that seemed official but can't find it again. Because I also thought they said "watermarked," and I've never heard of "watermarked" ePubs. (Not that it couldn't be done, but it's not what anyone calls them.)

not the least of which because the images and page layouts are going to be tricky. (How did the pirate versions manage? Are they all PDFs? I'm curious.)

Pirate editions of the image-heavy files like Beedle the Bard tend to be PDF; the others are available in pretty much every format, with "badly-OCR'd letter-sized no-text-formatting PDF" being the easiest to find. (Hmm. I should try to find out if the Carpet Edition is still available.)

The main announcement seems to only say the core 7 ebooks will be available; maybe they don't have plans for the Beedle, Quidditch & Monsters books. (I doubt this, though.) I don't expect them to be multiformat, because I don't expect them to devote any real site-space to explaining how ebook formats work. It'll be "click here to download your ebook" or "if you have a Kindle, click here to visit the convert-to-kindleformat page".

Seems to me that they're either going to have to go with PDF (which will still not meet their stated goal because different readers read PDF differently), or they'll have to lock down the epub to prevent the watermark/margins/font removal, or they'll have to give up on controlling all readers everywhere into having the exact same experience with a book as everyone else. Which is a stupid goal anyway, imho tyvm.

An ePub could easily have a "hidden watermark" metadata field that gave the buyer's name; bootleg copies could be searched for that. And it could also have a splash page with the buyer's name, to encourage people to buy legit copies.

Hopefully, she or her marketing team realizes that, with all the books currently widely available in torrents, they're already competing with free content, and DRM isn't going to help them.

If they DO go with PDF, the partnership with Sony readers makes more sense (best PDF reader on the market imho), but I don't think the fans will be happy.

It's just too much to hope for that they'll design PDFs to be read on 6" readers.

[EowynCarter]

The average consumer doesn't give a damn about format or DRM. Believe that.

Qutte true. I remember a discution like :
Can you plug the fnacbook to the PC ?
Sure, so you can put books from other place than the fnac ?
Ah, like amazon ?
Mmm, no, it's not the same format.

Avrage user don't care much about format until he try to buy a book and goes : Hey, why don't it work ?

[GreenMonkey]

The likelihood of not supporting the Kindle is highly unlikely. If nothing else that would drive non-technical people to torrents for "Kindle" versions. Never a good selling move.

Most likely is offering epub, mobi and pdf. Second most likely is the scenario Elfwreck asserted - watermarked pdfs only. The horror!

[carld]

It's possible that Rowling knows something we don't and Amazon will announce ePub support of some sort to coincide with the launch of Pottermore and library lending through Overdrive.

The future is unclear to me. Anyone have Sybill Trelawney's cell number?

[jilumasam]

As an owner of a brand new kindle and a Harry Potter fan I'm watching the publicity/news/discussions surrounding the imminent publication of the ebooks with interest.

I originally thought that the publishing of these ebooks by JKR herself would be a good move to avoid the issue with the publishing rights to different areas of the globe. As someone who has just run into that very same problem with another favourite author, this was my initial thoughts as to why she would publish/sell the books directly.

It never occurred to me it might be just a little more difficult than I thought to read these books on my kindle when they finally do get released.

I guess I'll be waiting with baited breath like the rest of you to see what happens