Amazon moves to corner the short story market: authors say 'yes please'

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 10:34 AM

Another reason why Amazon not supporting epud is no big deal. When publishers want to reach the core group of people with e-book readers, they go with the Kindle. I suspect it will be very hard to ever change this.

Quote:

Let the iTunes-ization of short fiction begin.

Starting on Monday, Amazon will sell two stories, one by Christopher Buckley and the other by Edna O’Brien, through its Kindle store.

Quote:

Priced at $3.99 each, the stories, which will bear the Atlantic logo, are exclusively available on the Kindle, Amazon’s electronic reader, and will not appear in the print version of the magazine. The Atlantic’s editors plan to offer about two Kindle stories every month.

Quote:

Although the authors may at some point obtain the rights to republish the stories as part of a collection or in another magazine, the stories cannot appear in any other e-reader format.

On amazon.com, readers who search for the authors’ books will also be shown links to the Atlantic-branded short stories.

Mr. Grandinetti said Amazon was keen to do other similar deals, either with magazines, publishers or authors directly.

Quote:

For authors who sign with The Atlantic for the Kindle deal, their contracted work is limited to that one format, since those who don’t own a Kindle won’t be able to read it. But Curtis Sittenfeld, the author of the novels “Prep” and “American Wife,” who sold a short story to The Atlantic that will be offered for the Kindle in January, said that had she sold it to a small academic journal, it would have had “limited distribution anyway.”

I'd note that anyone with a PC would have access to these stories as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/bo...nt&tntemail1=y

Moejoe · 12-05-2009, 10:36 AM

$3.99 for a short story? Are they insane? Oh, and great, now they're digitally locking in authors to one device (because you know that...Er...works)

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moejoe

$3.99 for a short story? Are they insane?

15,000 words.

Quote:

(because you know that...Er...works)

"Amazon.com said Monday that the Kindle is having its best month ever. "

"The Kindle wasn’t the first e-reader on the market, but it came with a built-in advantage: a wireless connection to Amazon’s vast online bookstore. Today, when we think of e-readers, the Kindle comes readily to mind."

wsj.com
nytimes.com

HarryT · 12-05-2009, 10:48 AM

I'm not entirely convinced that selling two short stories precisely constitutes "cornering the market"...

xianfox · 12-05-2009, 10:52 AM

I for one am happy I still have Fictionwise.

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm not entirely convinced that selling two short stories precisely constitutes "cornering the market"...

Thus...'moves to'.

They have sales lined up several months into the future, and are putting a system into place to make the authors want to come to them.

HarryT · 12-05-2009, 10:55 AM

Exclusive publishing deals are not exactly unknown; I don't see that as anything significant, myself.

Moejoe · 12-05-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocean

15,000 words.

"Amazon.com said Monday that the Kindle is having its best month ever. "

"The Kindle wasn’t the first e-reader on the market, but it came with a built-in advantage: a wireless connection to Amazon’s vast online bookstore. Today, when we think of e-readers, the Kindle comes readily to mind."

wsj.com
nytimes.com

Well 15,000 words is a novella not a short story (and I still wouldn't pay $3.99). And my allusion was to the short story Er by Stephen King which, despite Amazon protection and lock in, ended up on the sharing networks shortly after.

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 11:03 AM

Teleread: http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/05/l...short-stories/

"In fact, yes, the New York Times uses the phrase “exclusively available on the Kindle.” Normally shorts are available in PDF, HTML and, via e-mail, TXT. But the NYT piece says: “Although the authors may at some point obtain the rights to republish the stories as part of a collection or in another magazine, the stories cannot appear in any other e-reader format.” Ugly stuff. I hope that the Atlantic reconsiders. Shame on both it and Amazon if the current arrangements arrange. Do we really want to balkanize the short story market? Or standardize on one company’s technology? If the Authors Guild really cares about its members, maybe it should worry less about text to speech and more about this."

jasonkchapman · 12-05-2009, 11:07 AM

The headline should really read "The Atlantic Works to Save Its Short Fiction Market". Considering how many other short fiction markets have dried up, this is probably a good thing, even if it means locking themselves in to a single distributor.

HarryT · 12-05-2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

The headline should really read "The Atlantic Works to Save Its Short Fiction Market". Considering how many other short fiction markets have dried up, this is probably a good thing, even if it means locking themselves in to a single distributor.

Is this the same magazine as the Atlantic Monthly that's been around since the mid 19th century? If so, it's good to see such a venerable publication embracing new technology in this way.

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

The headline should really read "The Atlantic Works to Save Its Short Fiction Market".

...except the article makes clear that Amazon is working to make sure that The Atlantic is just a start.

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Is this the same magazine as the Atlantic Monthly that's been around since the mid 19th century? If so, it's good to see such a venerable publication embracing new technology in this way.

Indeed it is.

Quote:

Scott Stossel, deputy editor of The Atlantic, said the new arrangement would allow the magazine to offer more stories than it can in its annual fiction issue, and to make a little extra money. The magazine, founded in 1857, stopped publishing monthly fiction in 2005.

Mr. Stossel said the new Kindle format would allow writers to experiment with work that was either too long for a magazine or too short for a traditional book. In the age of the Kindle, Mr. Stossel said, “you can do publishing that’s not constrained by the limitations and costs of the printed page.”

jasonkchapman · 12-05-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocean

...except the article makes clear that Amazon is working to make sure that The Atlantic is just a start.

We'll just have to wait and see if other pubs are silly enough to fall for it. Hopefully, not. I assume the next one they're after is The New Yorker.

Ocean · 12-05-2009, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

We'll just have to wait and see....I assume the next one they're after is The New Yorker.

Where should they take their short stories?

Remember -- they're businesses that need to maximize profit AND make it easy for the not-so-technical side of the audience that would be interested in these stories to gain access to them.

I see Amazon as filling that bill in a way no one else does.

Help me to see differently.

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12-05-2009, 10:36 AM	#2
Moejoe Banned Posts: 5,100 Karma: 72193 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South of the Border Device: Coffin	$3.99 for a short story? Are they insane? Oh, and great, now they're digitally locking in authors to one device (because you know that...Er...works)

12-05-2009, 10:48 AM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I'm not entirely convinced that selling two short stories precisely constitutes "cornering the market"...

12-05-2009, 10:52 AM	#5
xianfox Ebook Addict Posts: 225 Karma: 2136 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Appleton, Wisconsin, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	I for one am happy I still have Fictionwise.

12-05-2009, 10:55 AM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Exclusive publishing deals are not exactly unknown; I don't see that as anything significant, myself.

12-05-2009, 11:03 AM	#9
Ocean Banned Posts: 166 Karma: 666 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Proud G1 Kindle Owner	Teleread: http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/05/l...short-stories/ "In fact, yes, the New York Times uses the phrase “exclusively available on the Kindle.” Normally shorts are available in PDF, HTML and, via e-mail, TXT. But the NYT piece says: “Although the authors may at some point obtain the rights to republish the stories as part of a collection or in another magazine, the stories cannot appear in any other e-reader format.” Ugly stuff. I hope that the Atlantic reconsiders. Shame on both it and Amazon if the current arrangements arrange. Do we really want to balkanize the short story market? Or standardize on one company’s technology? If the Authors Guild really cares about its members, maybe it should worry less about text to speech and more about this."

12-05-2009, 11:07 AM	#10
jasonkchapman Guru Posts: 767 Karma: 2347 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NYC Device: Sony Reader, nook, Droid, nookColor, nookTablet	The headline should really read "The Atlantic Works to Save Its Short Fiction Market". Considering how many other short fiction markets have dried up, this is probably a good thing, even if it means locking themselves in to a single distributor.

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