“When does Amazon create the iPhone/Android app and the programme that will allow bookstores to receive a cut of every Kindle edition they sell?” asks an interesting post entitled The Future of Book Publishing Business Models at the Once More unto the Breach blog. “I scan the book’s in-store barcode with my smartphone, and I get the Kindle edition delivered, and the store gets its cut. Why is this different in concept than Borders on-line store being run on Amazon, or any of the independent book sellers that front through Amazon? It’s not the normal book mark-up, but people already browse bookstores and buy on Amazon. This is better than no revenue.”
Reminds me a bit of the idea I’ve promoted in the past for co-operative in-store bundling of Kindle and hardcopy editions. But it strikes me that this one would not have to wait for Amazon. I have no doubt that O’Reilly Digital Distribution could accomodate authors, publishers and bookstores by creating an app that would circumvent Amazon but still send a Kindle-formatted edition (or, for that matter, an iPad-formatted edition) directly to your ereading device of choice. So Amazon should jump on it! Jump or be jumped!
These ideas generally do not take shape because the various players see each other as enemies and have a dug-in ideological horror at the notion of working together. That, of course, is a big mistake.
Read the whole post here:
The Future of Book Publishing Business Models
And here are a few other recent tidbits from around the Kindlesphere:
NPR: No Ink, No Paper: What’s The Value Of An E-Book? by Lynn Neary
O’Reilly Digital Distribution Offers Multi-Venue eBook Publishing Service
“Crisis in Publishing” Series at Publetariat: People Who Publish Blog