Law in the Internet Society

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MiaLeeFirstPaper 12 - 09 Dec 2011 - Main.MiaLee
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E-book Self-Publishing: Instant Gratification, at What Cost?

-- By MiaLee - 20 Oct 2011
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E-books are surging ahead as the preferred avenue for reading. In the first five months of 2011, U.S. consumers spent more on eBooks than they did on hardcover works. Borders shuttered after missing the e-book bandwagon, leaving Barnes and Noble scrambling to slow its losses as it throws more weight behind the Nook. Meanwhile, Amazon has captured the lion's share of proceeds, capitalizing on its first-to-market with the Kindle, its massive distribution network, and its recently launched self-publishing program.
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E-books are surging ahead as the preferred avenue for reading. In the first five months of 2011, U.S. consumers spent more on eBooks than they did on hardcover works. Borders shuttered after missing the e-book bandwagon, leaving Barnes and Noble scrambling to slow its losses as it throws more weight behind the Nook. Meanwhile, Amazon has captured the lion's share of proceeds, capitalizing on its first-to-market e-reader success, its massive distribution network, and its recently launched self-publishing program.
 
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This paper examines some of the promises and peril posed by the digitization of books.
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This paper examines some of the promises and peril posed by the for-profit digitization of books.
 

Empowered Authors, Embittered Publishers

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 Penguin also launched its own self-publishing platform last month, BookCountry? , which quickly garnered scathing reviews from Konrath and other authors. BookCountry imposes steep fees and meager revenue shares on literary hopefuls: joining requires a $99 to $549 outlay for formatting/design services, and rev shares drop 30% in comparison to Amazon's program because Penguin has re-inserted itself as an intermediary. Furthermore, Penguin restricts authors' DRM choices; whereas all Amazon self-publishers can choose to post their works DRM-free, BookCountry? prohibits DRM-free publishing for all works over $2.99 (which, incidentally, are the works that qualify for higher rev share).
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These "frenemy" maneuvers by Amazon and the Big Six prompt consideration of how authors would fare if they chose instead to manage the entire e-publishing cycle. In theory, authors could learn Photoshop or tag an artistic friend for design help, host their own websites through Weebly, and encode their own e-books with open source software such as Calibre. But in practice, I think few overstretched authors, especially those with limited tech backgrounds, would devote resources to creating their own book distribution networks when the alternative is paying a 20-30% convenience fee to access existing channels. Such channels have achieved a network effect that no emerging artist can replicate alone. No matter how well SEO-ed an author's Website might be, it won't bubble up to the first page of search results when would-be customers run a generic search for "books." The indie seller would miss out on Amazon shoppers "primed" to make 1-click purchases of cheap reads alongside their other goods. And if the seller tried to juggle both Amazon- and self-run distribution, she would be disciplined into not offering promos on her site that differ from Kindle prices; one author learned the hard way that Amazon's algorithm searches other sites for free versions -- even excerpts -- and drops the Kindle price to match.
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These "frenemy" maneuvers by Amazon and the Big Six prompt consideration of how authors would fare if they chose instead to manage their own e-publishing cycles. In theory, authors could learn Photoshop or tag an artistic friend for design help, host their own websites through Weebly, and encode their own e-books with open source software such as Calibre. But in practice, I think few overstretched authors, especially those with limited tech backgrounds, would devote resources to creating their own book distribution networks when the alternative is paying a 20-30% convenience fee to access existing channels. Such channels have achieved a network effect that no emerging artist can replicate alone. No matter how well SEO-ed an author's Website might be, it won't bubble up to the first page of search results when would-be customers run a generic search for "books." The indie seller would miss out on Amazon shoppers "primed" to make 1-click purchases of cheap reads alongside their other goods. And if the seller tried to juggle both Amazon- and self-run distribution, she would be disciplined into not offering promos on her site that differ from her Kindle prices; one author learned the hard way that Amazon's algorithm searches other sites for free versions of one's works -- even excerpts -- and drops the Kindle price to match.
 

Commoditized Consumers

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At best, dominant player Amazon offers aspiring authors an unprecedented chance to make a living from their creative talents; at worst, it and the Big Six are seeding writer dependence for their cartel's benefit. But how does the growing e-book market affect readers?
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At best, dominant player Amazon offers aspiring authors an unprecedented chance to make a living from their creative talents; at worst, it and the Big Six seed writer dependence for their cartel's benefit. But how does the growing e-book market affect readers?
 
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Kindle partnerships with libraries and schools can improve students' web-based reading comprehension and overall enthusiasm for literature in our tech gadget-obsessed society. As high school librarian Buffy Hamilton points out in the above article, the Kindle enables self-conscious teens to privately reading different books without incurring their friends' ridicule. (It's too bad this aversion to literature exists in our society, but at least the Kindle tries to help). Such partnerships would go even farther if Amazon would heed librarians' request to relax the six-device sharing limit imposed on Kindle files.
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Kindle partnerships with libraries and schools can improve students' web-based reading comprehension and overall enthusiasm for literature in our tech gadget-obsessed society. As high school librarian Buffy Hamilton points out in the above article, the Kindle enables self-conscious teens to privately read different books without incurring their friends' ridicule. (It's too bad this aversion to literature exists in our society, but at least the Kindle tries to help). Such partnerships would go even farther if Amazon would heed librarians' requests to relax the six-device sharing limit imposed on Kindle files.
 
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Over on the consumer side, critics bemoan the commoditization of literature. At the $.99 price point, books stop existing as cherished tomes, handpicked after an afternoon spent browsing curated titles at the local store, and assume new life as impulse purchases made because the cover art was flashy. The Kindle market place has been littered with spam, and with each additional purchase, the Web giant gains incremental knowledge of how to price discriminate among us. France and Germany have laws against selling books below cost to prevent this loss of local culture, meanwhile, Amazon hawks its discount-bundled, price scanning app in an effort to divert in-person purchases back to its site.
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More broadly speaking, critics bemoan the commoditization of literature. At the $.99 price point, books stop existing as cherished tomes, handpicked after an afternoon spent browsing curated titles at the local store, and assume new life as impulse purchases made because the cover art was flashy. The Kindle market place has been littered with spam, and with each additional purchase, the Web giant gains incremental knowledge of how to price discriminate among us. France and Germany have laws against selling books below cost to prevent this loss of local culture, meanwhile, Amazon hawks its discount-bundled, price scanning app in an effort to divert in-person purchases back to its site.
 

Conclusion


Revision 12r12 - 09 Dec 2011 - 01:53:30 - MiaLee
Revision 11r11 - 08 Dec 2011 - 10:02:25 - MiaLee
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