Sorry folks. Here’s yesterday’s news that failed to post for some reason…
Here’s an Associated Press story about established authors doing what independents have been doing for years. Believe me, James Patterson’s not taking the same risk. I’m glad he’s taking the risk and adding his heft to the eBook Revolution, but his motivation is different from a new novelist on the road up.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and there are some risks involved for Patterson. But free offerings from his backlist can be used in this way to promote his new material.
It’s an entirely different concept for the independent novelist who has yet to build a readership and gives away his or her work.
And the idea that Amazon is supporting the ‘free’ market and low pricing is laughable. Amazon is being forced to comply by the demands of that market. They started off with, and still maintain, high prices for content and their machine (the Kindle) that reads them. They’re doing what they have to do to survive.
Make no mistake. The established publishing world is complying and adapting to an eBook market and business model that was established on the backs of independent authors who have been giving their work away for years.
