Some People Just Need To Be Kicked In The 'Nads
It's the 'e-book vs. real book' thing again, only some tit has gone and made a deal with Amazon to sell all of the books he represents on nothing but kindle. Naturally, this has the publishers annoyed, especially since it cuts them right out of everything to do with the money involved. It also has me annoyed, because I don't want a Kindle and I doubt I ever shall. Apart from all of the other pros and cons...magnets can't erase words printed on a page.
Still...I don't think it's the death knell for paper publishing, as the article suggests. There will always be a market for paper books, amongst those with their heads screwed on straight. I do wish they'd come up with more sustainable sources for paper, though.
Oh...and this can count as this week's discussion question >:D
2 comments:
Oh, you multitasking genius.
What a twit. Still, this is my rather impotent RAGE speaking. Logistically, it's a good move - and now I'm wondering how much Amazon paid him. Because, honestly, for him it's not going to be a terribly good deal, since he's only selling to rich kids and geeks who just have to have the latest gadget. However, for Amazon, it's increasing their sales as well as starting a format war, which they know the Kindle will win, since our very modernist attitudes demand progress to technology if only for the sake of progress to technology. I never thought I'd agree with Dolores Jane Umbridge, but progress for the sake of progress ought to be discouraged. Like, for example, this.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of this idea, myself.
I think this guy is doing something good for himself and good for Amazon, but terrible for his clients and for the industry as a whole.
Now, as a company, I like Amazon. I'm impressed with their policies, and with the fact that whenever I have a question, I get a quick and courteous response - and they are a business, after all, so I can't really fault them for doing what is in their own financial best interests...
But I have to wonder if they or Agent (whose name I have already forgotten) are giving any thought whatsoever to what they're actually doing. Essentially, they are saying, "If you can't afford a Kindle, you cannot read these books".
Right now, it probably isn't many books. Right now, many of them are probably in print and still available - but what about later? What if more agents do what buddy has done, and only sell their writers to Amazon?
Basically, wide spread, this would force a class distinction on the modern world: those who can afford to read new books and those who can't.
It can't be good for the authors, either. As E points out, not that many people have Kindles. I'm sure that that fact is part of what spawned this idea, but really, it doesn't matter how many books get put on Kindle, the odds of me being able to afford one in the foreseeable future are slim to none, and I'm sure many people are in the same situation.
I could go on about the ridiculousness that this will cause, re: agents selling all of their authors works, regardless of quality, and the dilution of an already diluted definition of literature, but I fear I'd break the record for longest, most rambling comment on DevCo., so for right now, I say adieu.
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