Here’s a long list of the different measures Publishers are taking -
- Not converting their books into ebooks.
- Trying to sell ebooks for the same prices as hardcovers.
- Trying to delay ebooks by 4 months.
- Fighting the Kindle’s Text to Speech feature.
- Limiting the Nook’s LendMe feature a lot – just one loan-out of an ebook.
- Limiting the Nook’s In-Store browsing feature to 1 hr per 24 hr time period (perhaps even opting out).
The way everyone is interpreting it is -
Publishers are stupid.
They don’t realize the opportunity in ebooks.
What if Publishers are infinitely smart?
Perhaps they do see what’s happening and perhaps what they’re really trying to do is sabotage eReaders.
Publishers are focused on Control
There are a lot of benefits Publishers get from publishing i.e.
- Opportunity to work in an area they love.
- The ability to make profits.
- Lots of prestige and power.
- Ability to influence what people read and the direction of the Books Industry.
- The role of the gatekeepers.
In a way all of this stems from the role of the gatekeepers - Publishers control what gets published and they get to take most of the profits when books are hits.
With eReaders and eBooks they begin to lose all that power.
The Logical Step for Publishers would be to secretly attack eReaders
They obviously can’t say that they want to keep their position of power and will kill any threat to it.
It’s just not appropriate to appear so overtly ruthless.
They can however do a few other things -
- Get authors to write odes to the wonder of physical books.
- Get their friends in the newspaper publishing business to attack eReaders on various fronts.
- Beg and Plead about how eReaders lead to unsustainable prices and delay progress.
- Slow down eBook conversion plans and slow down the growth of eReaders.
And, if they were indeed doing this, it would make perfect sense for them to seem naive and clueless about the opportunity in eBooks and eReaders.
What would you classify Publishers as?
Are they clueless and unable to grasp how big of a change eReaders and eBooks will cause?
Or is it that they are extremely smart and want to find a way to still control Publishing?
Read between the lines of the ‘Hardcover – eBook – Paperback’ staggered release window argument and it’s hard not to see Publishers telling Amazon -
You can’t have the throne.
However, we will let you take a bigger, better seat at the royal table.
Filed under: publishing Tagged: | lack thereof, publishers large heartedness
If publishers are trying to kill ereaders, then publishers are just stupid. Customers ARE going to switch (at least largely) to ebooks and ereaders, it is only a matter of how quickly. Publishers have a choice: they can figure out how to be an involved, profitable participant in the business, or they can be slowly forced out of business as their customers all leave for their competitors from whom they can buy ebooks on their terms.
No, that would require coordinated efforts. Right now they are more bumbling efforts that are not well coordinated.
[...] Publishers couldn’t fight the $9.99 price point so they’re trying other ways to kill eReaders. [...]
I’ve found a way to circumvent the publishers: I only buy ebooks. If it’s not available as an ebook, I have the self-discipline not to pine away. I just don’t buy it.
Not to say my Amazon wish list isn’t big enough to choke a mule as a result, but Mysteria emails me when a digital copy of anything there comes available… Meanwhile, my To Be Read file is big enough to choke a team of mules, so it works out just fine.
[...] a small list from my Are Publishers just trying to kill eReaders? post [...]