To counter Preston et al., Amazon posted an open letter to the world rehashing many of the points made in its July 29 posting. It also suggests e-books fill the ecological niche abandoned by the extinct mass-market paperback, an observation I’ve long shared. Still, I have to confess they should’ve quit before the final grafs wherein they beg readers to hassle Hachette on their behalf, complete with bulleted talking points. It strikes me as grasping and gross. Just because I’m rooting for Godzilla versus King Ghidorah doesn’t mean I’m going to pick up a kitchen knife and stab a kaiju in the toe. You’re so big and tough, use your radioactive breath or something. Jeez.
One worthwhile criticism I’ve read of Amazon is the question of whether monolithically pricing e-book editions of traditionally published books at $9.99 will hurt independent publishers, who (allegedly) price their e-books lower than the big houses as an advantage. I would imagine indy publishers are not competing on price alone; and yet, what if they are? The History Press prices their e-books (which I believe are now published concurrently with the print editions without any staggering) at $9.99 and holds firm at that price without discounts, a strategy I approve of. But if $9.99 becomes the norm, will sales drop? Which would perhaps lead to discounting to regain the advantage? I would be interested in hearing opinions on the matter, yea or nay.
And oh — this week Chaosium started offering a few of their latest fiction releases as epubs, mobis, and prcs. Onward and upward.
