Will GoodReads change as Amazon Kindle grows?

[Larry]

A Citigroup analyst predicts Kindle sales will be 10 percent of Amazon sales in 2012, up from 7.2 percent in 2010. According to Mark Mahaney, last year Kindle revenues (which include eBooks and devices) were $2.5 billion, or 7.2 percent of Amazon’s total. The analyst is predicting that Kindle revenues will hit $3.8 billion this year which would be 8 percent of revenues, and $6.1 billion in 2012, which would be a total of 9.9 percent.
MediaBistro.com says “while Amazon is notoriously tight lipped about how many Kindles and Kindle books they actually sell, recently the company has said that they now sell more eBooks than print books and more authors join the company’s “Kindle Million Club” (a group of authors that have sold more than a million Kindle books) everyday.”

[Elaine]

I would like to see a Goodreads discussion on the ebook readers--not only the Kindle, but the Sony, the NOOKcolor tablet, iPad, Samsung Galaxy tablet and others, in color or not.

Barnes and Noble sells their ebooks for about the same price as the paperback versions, and Kindle books are about the same price, as a rule.

How long, do you think, it will be before paper books are obsolete? Will the ereaders make more people into readers? Or, will they cause the demise of the book?

Do any of you have an ereader? What is your experience with it? If you don't have one, have you tried reading on one?

[Larry]

Elaine, are you aware you can find out for yourself by downloading either Kindle for PC or Nook for PC software from the respective websites. Then you get all the functionality of those readers on your PC, including buying books or downloading free classics no longer under copyright protection. I found some old friends like James Fenimore Cooper and Samuel Clemens. Also some ancient like Homer and his Odyssey and Iliad. Hope that helps. ;-)
Personally, I like the concept. some definite advantages over printed books, including cost, storage, readability and compactness.

[Elaine]

I have both Kindle aand NOOKccolor apps on my computers and iPhone, and have had them for a long time. I also have a NOOKcolor tablet with over 80 books and several magazine subscriptions on it.

I like that you can look up a word in the dictionary by touching it as you read, and can even google something as you read. Another handy feature is to search for a name (or event) if it is mentioned and you've forgotten who it is.

I think that there are a lot of issues that need discussing relative to literaacy, artistic freedom, and even politics and censorship. The mars of ebooks can control what books they won't sell, for instance, paving the way for censorship, especialy if the government gets into the act as they did with the FCC and the telephone, radio, movie, and television monopolies.

Had you thought about how ereaders will affect publishing houses?

I did set up a discussion group under the Groups tab which you might want to find and provide input to.

Your statistics are very interesting and important. I think with all the new devices coming on the market, ereaders are clearly being perceived as a hot item. Staples offers at least 6 and they don't include the iPad or Samsung Galaxy.

[Larry]

Elaine wrote: "I have both Kindle aand NOOKccolor apps on my computers and iPhone, and have had them for a long time. I also have a NOOKcolor tablet with over 80 books and several magazine subscriptions on it.

..."

Thank you for the very nice posting. Having been in the business for 45 years as a journalist, publicist and author, I'm just trying to help others benefit from my knowledge and expereinces.
I'd be happy to post to the group you mentioned. Can you give me the URL string so I don't go to the wrong forum?
Also, unclear about your meaning re: "The mars of ebooks can control what books they won't sell."
Best,

[Elaine]

That was a typo. I meant that the manufacturers of ereaders potentially can control what books we get to read. Amazon completely controls what you read on their Kindle. NOOKcolor does allow you to download ebooks from libraries and other sources besides their bookstore. So far, neither company seems to be censoring, but the potential is there. Have you read Timothy Wu's The Master Switch, which shows how much censorship there was in radio, TV, and movies? He shows that Americans were victims of censorship as severe as that in Stalin's and Hitler's regimes.

I feel a bit foolish, but I don't know the URL to the discussion topic I set up, and I didn't write down the exact name, so I guess it's a no-go.

How much do you charge for publicity? I have one book written that I could use a publicist for and I'm writing a second that should be big--it's about dogs and their co-evolution with humans. (I've written 3 other books, too.)

[Ralph Gallagher]

Elaine: You can purchase books in Kindle format from other sites like Fictionwise, AllRomanceeBooks, and Smashwords. You're not limited just to Amazon like some people seem to think.

[Elaine]

So far as I can see each e-reader has its virtues. Some do more than others, but you may not need or want those extras. I don't diss Kindle although I have a NOOKcolor. I just wanted color for my magazines. Kindle is excellent for syncing and going to a particular page, now that they're using page numbers.

What I wanted to discuss with Goodreads members is what the phenomenon of ereaders is going to do, not which device is better or worse than another.

[Larry]

Elaine wrote: "That was a typo. I meant that the manufacturers of ereaders potentially can control what books we get to read. Amazon completely controls what you read on their Kindle. NOOKcolor does allow you t..."

Wow, "how much do you charge for publicity" is a tough question to answer off the top of one's head. There are so many variables and I'm trying twork on books. I have some health issues that limit the amount of energy and time I can spend on projects - I tire easily these days. If you wish, you can email me at LarryMonizBooks@Yahoo.com and we can discuss further offline.