C. Gockel's Blog, page 48
August 20, 2015
Is Amazon an eBook Monopoly?
This is stemming from a conversation over on Konrath’s blog, in which Konrath is debunking some things regarding Amazon in lue of all the bad press and Authors Guild BS floating around lately.
I’ve been doing this whole publishing thing for close to five years now. I’ve seen the changes happening at all the vendors, experienced the updates and slow deaths, and I can see why the concept that Amazon is an evil monopoly may be an easy thing for some to jump onboard with. This seems especially so from those who are either brand new to the game (welcome to the fun!) or to those who have fossilized and are now blaming everyone else for their lack of evolution in a changing publishing environment (Authors Guild) and feel the best recourse is to throw meaningless petitions and angry posts around like rejection letters.
Disclaimer - This post is a bit long, so grab a coffee.
I am a self-published author of over 30 titles ranging from romance to science fiction, under the pen name C.E. Kilgore.
I am not an Amazon fanboy. Anyone who has ever read any of my numerous blog posts on the subject knows this. Amazon has many (many many many) issues. But, they also do many things right for both authors and readers. They are not saints, but they are also not the devil. They are a company. Period.But, is Amazon an eBook monopoly? No. Could they become one? Yes. Would it be by their own doing? No.
The problem isn’t with Amazon. The problem is with the competition.
Let’s face it - no one does eBooks like Amazon.
Nook is dying.
Kobo has always been the ‘Meh, I guess since it’s there…’ choice,
Smashwords is behind the times,
Google Play is developmentally challenged (I’ve never seen someone make loading an eBook so unnecessarily complicated nor have the worst sales tracking from a company that invented Google Analytics…),
and iBooks is awesome but you need either a Mac or an aggregate to get onboard.
Then there’s the small potatoes like Scribd, Oyster, etc…The thing is - No one makes it as easy to upload your book, distribute your book or advertise your book than Amazon, and you simply have to give them major props for that.
The aggregate Draft2Digital is about as good a comparison for easy upload as you can find - but they are just the aggregate that tries to save you headaches from Kobo, iBooks, and Nook individual dashboards (which are so painfully frustrating) And they don’t have access to Google yet (probably because Google has no idea what they are doing…)
I am totally against Amazon Exclusivity and it being a requirement of KU - but I also have a couple of my books in KU right now because it works. I make money.
Yes, I make money at all those other places, but when you combine them all together, I am still making significantly less than I do at Amazon (10% vs 70% (& 20% from AllRomance). And it’s not because Amazon is a bully, or cornering the market or putting its thumb over Nook or iBooks. It’s because the competition sucks for ebooks.
Seriously.
iBooks shows the most promise (with Kobo at least trying to improve while Nook slowly cuts off its limbs one by one in some sort of horror show).
Is Amazon perfect? Heck no, but they’re doing many things right.
Amazon’s Scout program makes it easy for newbies to give the whole trad-pub contract thing a whirl and has a far-higher conversion and success rates than others, like the now-defunct Harper Collins Authonomy.
Amazon’s Marketplace Ads (which has its bugs, trust me) is able to leverage Amazon’s already powerful marketing niches.
Amazon’s KU program (while lacking in big names because of Exclusivity) is still more successful than Oyster and Scribd, who have been doing it far longer and without exclusivity but still lack a large audience.
Amazon’s Kindle has always been a good, affordable eReader, with decent (but not awesome) aps for any device.
Amazon KDP - It is by far the easiest uploader of them all, and you can convert directly from MS Word into a beautiful eBook format (it’s how I do all mine now). There are some issues with changes device-to-device (like from Paperwhite to Fire, especially with Image Size) but their customer service is quick. And you have DRM choice (something other vendors have stopped giving you).
Amazon’s website. No one has mastered book searching, highlighting and product placement like Amazon. It makes it so easy to find both trad and indi published books when compared to Nook, iBooks and Kobo that don’t really seem to know how to market, search or categorize eBooks. They don’t understand how to build a powerful web shopping experience.(Small side note on All Romance eBooks - I derive about 20% of my income from them per month. But, their non-romance counterpart, Omnilit, has far less revenue. It’s great for Romance writers, and has been a mainstay in the Romance reading world for a very long time. Do I expect them to be around forever? I hope so, but they need some updating (which they are working on!))
Should we fault Amazon for doing so many things right when the competition keeps doing so many things wrong? No. Does having sucky competition in the eBook market make Amazon a monopoly? No. Does it make it a hard thing to compete with? Yes. Do I wish there was more competition? I…don’t know, to be honest.
As an independent author, it’s already a lot to manage. I’d love to have more time to actually, you know, write.
Would it be easier if Amazon became >the< place for eBooks? Heck yeah, and one can argue they already are. If I didn’t have readers who have asked me to have my books available outside of Amazon, I probably wouldn’t. I’d probably be all in KU. It’s easier for me, the author, and it would be better for my readers who could chow down on all my titles for 10$/month. Would that make me less money and is KU’s subscription service viable (with the new per-page thing)? I think the jury’s still out on that.
Awesome post on Amazon.
August 19, 2015
caph3us:
movie:
More movie news
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT...
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY FOR INDIAN KIDS LIKE MYSELF WHO GREW UP/ ARE GROWING UP OUTSIDE INDIA. A lot of these kids grow ashamed of their religion bc it isn’t “”“"conventional”“”“ and this representation will open doors and break down barriers and show whites kids that this is still a religion and shouldn’t be mocked I’m just SO HAPPY. ALSO MAYBE THEN WILL THE WHITE UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HINDI AND HINDU
Can’t wait!
The first three books in the Emperor’s Edge are on sale today...
The first three books in the Emperor’s Edge are on sale today for only 99¢! This series is loads of fun … you can’t go wrong with them (well, unless you don’t like Steampunk with magic, assassins, and KRACKENS!) I have no idea how long this will last, so go forth my pretty’s–get them on the ‘Zon.
August 18, 2015
cgockel:
Lupita Nyong’o … she’s got to play the Heroine of my...
Lupita Nyong’o … she’s got to play the Heroine of my next trilogy, Archangel Down. This is EXACTLY the facial expression she has in the holo James Sinclair remembers her from. Sign up to my mailing list to hear when Archangel is released.
August 15, 2015
sceithailm:
Freyja by SceithAilm
Loki spake:“Be silent,...
Freyja by SceithAilm
Loki spake:
“Be silent, Freyja!
for fully I know thee,
Sinless thou art not thyself;
Of the gods and elves
who are gathered here,
Each one as thy lover has lain.”
Freyja spake back, “What’s your point? If you can’t lay ‘em slay ‘em. Are you telling me that’s sin?”*
*not really part of the Lokesenna, but it should be.
GREAT BOOK ALERT : The Paladin of Soulsby Lois McMaster BujoldI...
GREAT BOOK ALERT : The Paladin of Souls
by Lois McMaster Bujold
I am on a total Lois McMaster Bujold kick. There are reasons this woman won a Nebula award. I reviewed The Curse of Chalion a few weeks ago. I dived into The Paladin of Souls right afterwards. Sooooooo good.
The Paladin stars an unusual heroine, the Dowager Rowina Ista, I’ll translate: widow of the last king, mother of the new queen. Ista is in her 40s, which is refreshing (at least, as a 42 year old person I think so!)
Ista spent her younger years trying to do best by her family and country, being obedient and (mostly) meek, and she’s suffered for it. She’s also done *horrible* things for her country and to save the lives of her children–and she feels guilt, too. She is a complex, layered person, not a caricature of good or evil. Now that she is no longer of childbearing age, she is expected to spend the rest of her life in quiet, respectable, seclusion.
A chance encounter on the road with pilgrims gives Ista a glimpse of the only sort of freedom her rank and sex might allow her–a pilgrimage. Bujold’s world is not Earth, but it is based on Europe’s Middle Ages. I found myself wondering how many “devout” female pilgrims in the Middle Ages did so out of a sense of adventure, and how many women today of restrictive traditions do likewise.
The pilgrimage doesn’t go as planned–Ista actually goes wanting nothing to do with the Five Gods of Chalion … Unfortunately, they have need of her. In Bujold’s world the Five Gods are the Daughter of Spring, Mother of Summer, Son of Fall, Father of Winter and, my favorite, The Bastard–the god of forsaken souls, and last chances. The other gods/goddesses are for the respectable folk. Ista, as a respectable mother to a queen should naturally gravitate to the Mother of Summer … but it’s the Bastard whose attention she gets.
Paladin has a faster pace than the Curse of Chalion. But it still manages to be intellectually satisfying–raising questions of what “salvation” and “damnation” really mean–and I don’t think you have to be religious to appreciate those questions, at least not as they are presented here.
It’s also emotionally satisfying. So much of middle age is about being overlooked, even in our times. Although I’ve had a wonderful exciting life: traveling independently, going to college, having an interesting career–it was still easy for me to identify with a woman who felt the prime of her life had passed her by in a time that doesn’t give her the opportunities I’ve had. I was rooting for her to find her adventure, and also sad for her when the man she finds herself drawn to isn’t who he seems. She does get the better guy in the end though–but more importantly–she escapes her cloistered life and finds a calling.
Anyway, lots of great action, lots of great feels, terrific prose, and a great god in an incredibly immersive world. I highly recommend The Paladin of Souls. I don’t know if you need to read The Curse of Chalion to enjoy it.
In addition to Amazon, the Curse of Chalion and The Paladin of Souls are available at Scribd in ebook and audio-format, and most likely at your local library too.
