Best Seller Authors

Book Marketing, Publishing, Author Resources

Your Readers Demand a Kindle Version of Your Book

I’ve been telling you that you MUST have your book available in Kindle format for years. It was only a matter of time till this report for the Wall Street Journal

The online retailing giant says that for the first time, it has sold more electronic copies of books than actual print editions. Since April 1, Amazon has sold 105 Kindle books for every 100 print books sold. The company has sold more than three times as many Kindle books so far this year as it did at the same time a year ago.

And that’s just Amazon and the Kindle version!

Would you read a book with ads?

With e-reader prices dropping like a stone and major tech players jumping into the book retail business, what room is left for publishers’ profits? The surprising answer: ads. They’re coming soon to a book near you.

To understand why this is inevitable, consider the past few years. The historically staid and technology-averse publishing ecosystem has been ripped apart and transformed.

Take the first seven months of 2010 alone: In April, Apple came out with the iPad and quickly sold over three million units. Apple also launched its own proprietary bookstore, iBooks. In June, Barnes & Noble lowered the price of …

More at Wall Street Journal

A Touch Screen for Your Kindle?

kindle amazon touch screen material
Coming to the Kindel?

The New York Times reported

Touchco uses a technology called interpolating force-sensitive resistance, which it puts into displays that can be completely transparent and could cost as little as $10 a square foot. The capacitive touch screens used in the iPad and iPhone are considerably more expensive. Unlike those screens, the Touchco screens can also detect an unlimited number of simultaneous touch points.

The e-ink technology used in today’s Kindle products is much easier on the eyes than the lighted displays of most devices but we know that on screen viewing will continue to improve.

Do you need color on your book reading app?

Who Controls What Price You Get For a Book?

Reading more on the Amazon/Macmillin dispute and the old school bullying tactics both are using in the fight.

I’ve stated in previous posts my position.. I think the consumer (readers) will ultimately control what price we can sell a book for.

Amazon is letting the market decide.

Dear Customers:

Macmillan, one of the “big six” publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan’s terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it’s reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don’t believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!

Thank you for being a customer

What do you think?