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Earlier this morning, Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com unveiled Kindle, an odd-looking, expensive eBook reader that wirelessly connects to Amazon.com. Now when I say wirelessly, I'm not talking about Wi-fi -- I'm talking about cellular. The Kindle device magically connects to Amazon.com, where you can browse and buy right on the device. The book is immediately downloaded to you, and you start reading. There's no connection fees, monthly plans, or other such costly beasts- you only buy the device, and then you start buying books. Huh. How about that? So when I look at this as a young forward thinking small press publisher-type, I wonder what this means for paper books. What it means for publishers, if this actually catches on, is another source of revenue that no longer requires print runs, storage, shipping, and all those other fun physical cost centers. Is this an inevitable eventuality? Never mind web publishing--the Kindle is a secure method of delivery that, if it actually works, could revolutionize what we as publishers do. Some of you know my love and admiration of Neil Gaiman's writing, and he did a video promoting it, which of course catches my attention. But Toni Morrison also raved about it. Hmmm. But Amazon's cut for each sale is 65% of the list price. Publishers only get a 35% cut. Sheesh. But with a lot of the big boys jumping on the bandwagon, can even the smallest publishing outfit (say, like Relief) afford to remain purists? Or does this level the playing field for greater competition, in which content becomes king? Or, worst case scenario, does this open the door for every wannabe writer to self-publish like crazy and clog the literary landscape? Didn't we as consumers reject eBooks back in the dot-bomb era? Will Kindle create brand new channels, or die a long horrible death at the hands of the paper mills? So what do you think? Go get the skinny, and then tell me your thoughts in the comments. Your friendly neighborhood tech-head
Coach
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