Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

This is a HUGE development in Publishing and a strong retort from Amazon to Publishers’ latest attempt to hobble eBooks (the grand 4 month delay).

Stephen R. Covey, author of numerous bestselling business and self-help books, has granted exclusive eBook rights for two of his books to Amazon. Amazon in turn plan to aggressively promote these on the Kindle.

The books are -

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. 
2. Principle-Centered Leadership.

New York Times has the details of the Amazon-Covey deal and points out that Publishers’ fears are coming true -

Ever since electronic books emerged as a major growth market, New York’s largest publishing houses have worried …

… that big-name authors might sign deals directly with e-book retailers or other new ventures, bypassing traditional publishers entirely.

Publishers might come to regret all those years of not making things better for readers.

Mr. Covey will gradually make other eBooks available exclusively to Amazon. He will also self-publish two books straight to the Kindle.

Why would Stephen Covey agree to an exclusive Kindle book deal?

A Bigger Cut for Mr. Covey

Firstly, it’s the fact that he’ll get a bigger cut – much more than the 25% of net proceeds that Publishers currently offer. 

Arthur Klebanoff, chief executive of RosettaBooks, said that Mr. Covey would receive more than half of the net proceeds that RosettaBooks took in from Amazon on these e-book sales.

RosettaBooks CEO Arthur Klebanoff points out the obvious -

“There are superstars, and superstars are entitled to more,”

If the Amazon and RosettaBooks combination starts offering superstar authors a larger share a lot more of them will move eBook rights to Amazon.

Heavy Promotion of Covey eBooks

Secondly, Amazon plans to heavily promote the eBook editions of both Covey Books.

That has to be a consideration since most Publishers are conflicted i.e.

1. They would rather sell physical books than eBooks.  
2. They want eBooks to fail.
3. They want Amazon to fail. 
4. They don’t have big marketing budgets for eBooks and couldn’t match Amazon’s power in eBooks anyways.  

You can be sure that Amazon will do a ton to make sure Mr. Covey sees a lot of sales and other superstar authors get to see what they could tap into.

The Whole eBook Rights Vs Physical Book Rights issue

We’ve looked at the importance of eBook rights of older books and how Random House sued RosettaBooks in the past over eBook rights of older titles (settled out of court).

The Courts have shown that they’re leaning in the direction of giving authors eBook rights despite Publisher claims that eBooks are covered in their contracts.

That means Authors could choose to assign eBook rights to Amazon while having traditional publishers handle the hardcovers and paperbacks.

1. It makes sense as Amazon has domain expertise and the Kindle Store channel.  
2. Traditional Publishers can keep promoting the physical books.
3. Authors get the best of both worlds.

Things are going to get very, very interesting.

The multi-dimensional chess match

New York Times call it ‘a larger multi-dimensional chess match’ and they’re right.

• All the claims about doing the right thing for books are nonsense.
• It’s about control and money.
• It’s about time that the company that does the best job for customers and for authors gets to win.

In my opinion everyone except authors and readers are middle-men. If a company wants to be the platform and get a 10% cut – that’s fine. However, wanting control and the lion’s share of profits is just greed and stupidity.

Listen to this little bit of delusion from Simon & Schuster -

The notion that we have done anything other than wholeheartedly embrace the digital revolution, whether it be for e-books, new formats, reaching out to our readers wherever they may be, and every other opportunity provided in the new digital era, is patently absurd.

Are you kidding me? You are the same company that just delayed eBook releases by 4 whole months.

Publishers are so intent on killing eReaders and eBooks that they are doing a disservice to both readers and authors.

What happens next with eBook rights?

Every exclusive deal that Amazon gets has multiple repercussions -

1. Gives the Kindle an advantage over every other eReader.
2. Gives the Kindle Store an advantage over every other eBook store.
3. Weakens Publishers.
4. Increases profit for Authors.
5. Increases profit for Amazon.
6. Results in free publicity for Amazon and for the Kindle.

eReaders are going in the direction of video game consoles – We might end up in a scenario where there are eReader exclusives and you choose an eReader based on what eBooks are available on it.

Amazon finally flexes its power

Amazon might not have many other options -

1. Publishers are hitting eBooks with 4 month delays. 
2. Sony and Google and Adobe and Nook are clubbing together to attack Amazon. 
3. Apple looms on the horizon.

Amazon needs to leverage its advantages - signing an exclusive deal is as good an option as any.

The large Kindle user base, the lower costs, the channels of good intent (Kindle Store, Kindle for iPhone, Kindle for PC), the free marketing muscle – Amazon gets to use most of its core strengths.

Publishers have started all-out war and they might not be ready for what Amazon and the Kindle have waiting for them.

Filed under: publishing Tagged: | ebook rights, kindle vs publishers