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I have decided to stop selling my ebook The Writer’s iPad from my own store. The ebook’s still available from other retailers though, so it’s not discontinued or anything.
The reason for this change are the new VAT rules when selling services, including digital goods, to other EU countries. They’re basically great, because they lets us sell within EU on equal terms.
The Telegraph has the weirdest piece on the decline of Kindle at Waterstones book stores.
This:
Waterstones has admitted that sales of Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader had “disappeared” after seeing higher demand for physical books.
And this:
Kindle sales had “disappeared to all intents and purposes”, Waterstones said.
Along with a 5% rise in print sales, these things are made out as proof of the ebook’s decline. It’s obviously ridiculous, because they’re talking about sales of Kindle e-readers, not actual books. First of all, you don’t buy a lot of e-readers, do you? Decline in sales doesn’t necessarily mean a thing, especially not from a bookstore where the audience is more likely to buy books, digital or otherwise.
Second, there’s no doubt a decline in e-readers, in terms of (often e-ink based) dedicated reading devices, is happening. That doesn’t mean a thing, because today your smartphone is an e-reader, and you’ve got Kindle on it in an app. The only thing that the story actually tells us, is that e-readers aren’t selling as much as they used to at bookstores. It has nothing to do with ebooks, and everything to do with a product that’s been marginalized thanks to smartphones.
The feud over ebook pricing between publisher Hachette, and Amazon, is over. Recode:
On the surface, the deal appears to be a win for Hachette, which will set prices for its electronic books sold through Amazon. But Amazon is offering “financial incentives for Hachette to deliver lower prices,” Kindle exec David Naggar said in a statement.
The whole thing was weird to begin with, and the feud points to two things.
Consumers and authors are caught in the crossfire.
I love books. I love the look and feel of a nice hardcover, I love to sit down in an armchair and read for hours, and I love to see a great book when I pass my bookshelf. Books are an addiction for some, collect your favorite ones (or possibly everything you’ve read, which I find to be a bit much), and display them for all to see, or for your private pleasure.
Books are part of the interior for a lot of people, and they will continue to be.
I read a lot, and I probably buy ten books every month. All of them are ebooks these days, with the odd hardcover found in a vintage store.
I love books and music, and every now and then I watch movie. These three types of products belong to markets being disrupted right now, which means there’s a lot of moaning and whining and fear mongering going on, as well as a lot of problems when it comes to adapting.
Pricing is one of these problems.
The system works then? Nope, because the pricing is way off.
Amazon finally unveiled its tablet, and it is not an iPad competitor. That doesn’t mean it will fail, on the contrary – I think the $199 Kindle Fire will sell like crazy because there is a market for a cheaper device. At least in the US where Amazon’s various content services are things people actually can swear by, how the company intends to conquer the rest of the world I have no idea, it isn’t happening yet that’s for sure.
Since I’m in the publishing business, writing books and whatnot, I figured I’d share my thoughts on the new Kindles. (more…)
If you’re following me on Facebook you saw this a few weeks ago, but I figured I’d put myself under some additional pressure by publishing my book writing goals for 2010 2011 here as well.
I’m going to write four books this year.
I’ll also see to it that four books get published this year. (more…)