Critical Linking: February 25, 2012
“I was unable to convince the Barnes & Noble in my neighborhood to have an ebook event, despite the fact that it might have meant sales of both devices and books. You know who did? WORD, an indie in Greenpoint. I’m hoping to give them much of my freed-up ebook business (when it doesn’t make more sense to buy direct from the publisher; I’m still working this out). Kobo works fine with Google eBooks, plus the folks at Kobo and Canadians in general (my publisher is in Toronto) have been very good to me and my book. Loyalty in, loyalty out, you might say.”
Interesting story. Can’t help but notice that “loyalty” only kicked in when he was kicked out.
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“I see no good reason to haul someone out of obscurity only to announce to the world that their first book was crap.”
Apart from sport, I suppose.
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“It is probable Kickstarter will distribute more money this year than the NEA.”
Suggested subtitle: “How Ayn Rand Would Fund the Arts.”
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“So J K Rowling will do well from this but in an environment where free cash is limited the likelihood is that the book will simply change purchasing patterns in the book trade rather than expand the market. Rowling’s big name will attract money and books released around the same time will do less well than they might have with the overall impact being neutral to moderately positive rather than massive.”
I think there are people who will read this new Rowling that wouldn’t be reading a book otherwise. And that’s good, no matter how you slice it.
