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A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Pottermore—When Disintermediation Goes Awry

While it's interesting to see the affiliate script flipped on Amazon, with their redirecting traffic to purchase the ebooks (surely with a nice cut of the revenue), the user experience leaves a lot to be desired, especially if you're used to purchasing your ebooks via the Kindle itself and/or the apps. The whole setup seems to be targeting hardcore fans—most of whom have probably already downloaded the ebooks for free via a torrent site—while asking the more casual reader to jump through hoops Amazon and B&N, in particular, have worked hard to eliminate.

Continue ReadingPottermore—When Disintermediation Goes Awry
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

If Not Readers…?

Amazon has always understood that readers are the most relevant market and that's why they're in the position of power they're currently enjoying. Do they wield their big stick aggressively? Definitely. And so did B&N and Borders before them, and presumably whomever the boogeyman was prior to them were guilty of the same thing.

Continue ReadingIf Not Readers…?
Vertical Speed Indicator by Barnaby Kerr Photography

The Myth of “Verticalization” — Community Ain’t Easy

As anyone who's actually worked within a "vertical" knows, whether from a niche consumer or business-to-business angle (or, heaven help them, for a non-profit organization or political campaign), just because a subset of people share a common passion doesn't mean they're a single-minded group that can be engaged in one templated way. Every vertical that presents a viable business opportunity is going to have its own sub-communities and overlapping layers, with some often in direct opposition to others.

Continue ReadingThe Myth of “Verticalization” — Community Ain’t Easy
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

On the Appeal of Indie Bookstores

There are a number of challenges indie booksellers face—a shit economy being the biggest of them—and there are many that won't succeed, not because Amazon put them out of business but because THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS TO MOST BUSINESSES. There are many neighborhoods that simply can't (or won't) support a local bookstore, and that's perfectly normal, too.

Continue ReadingOn the Appeal of Indie Bookstores
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Are Inexpensive Self-published Ebooks the New Blogs?

It reminds me of 2003, the year I started blogging, and how some people were able to attract large audiences for their writing, and the mainstream media scoffed that they would ever be taken seriously. Fast-forward, many of those early bloggers are now considered "real" journalists, some because they went to work for traditional media brands, others because they attracted a significant enough audience on their own that they couldn't be ignored.

Continue ReadingAre Inexpensive Self-published Ebooks the New Blogs?

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