Guys I really hope that this works out because I hate HATE *HATE* being super reliant on Amazon. If you're not sure what Amazon is up to, you need to watch this next: ua-cam.com/video/FRdUkz3s3Rk/v-deo.html
This is, as you said: HUUUUUGE!!! For our initial releases, my wife and I chose to use Ingram Spark for print, D2D for eBooks (But specifically using Amazon Author Central for eBook to Amazon), and Findaway voices for our Audiobooks. We missed the window for D2D’s beta. But this merger. It is such a good sign for growth. All the more reason for us to try out D2D on the next project. The pre-sale reports is such fantastic news! Thank you SO much for posting this. I had not heard about this merger yet, and your analyses was so spot on! I bet I come back with more thoughts. I’m still processing all of this….
Tell me about it!!! There's SO MUCH to process. Dale ended up getting a second interview with the two CEOs which he's just posted on his podcast channel. Re: the D2D beta, you can still sign up for it! There are some caveats there, in that author copies are only working in a limited number of countries (US, CA, UK and AU if I recall correctly, and the UK and AU is at the end of their testing process so they're only starting to make it available more widely). They are letting in small groups of people at a time, to make sure it can handle the scale.
Good news I guess. Indie-pubbing is always tauted as the option which gives authors more freedom and agency over their own work. But if your choice of platform is literally 1 then that freedom is limited to whatever political flatulence is stuck with mister Bezos that day.
It absolutely gives you more freedom and agency over your own work! All the successes are yours; so are all of the screw-ups. The choices of distribution platforms is the same regardless of whether you're self-published or traditionally published. No traditional publisher has the capital to both execute on its core business of publishing AND also compete in distribution, which is a whole different ballgame. All of them rely on distributors and distribution agreements between publishing houses and distributors are a very sore point. Case in point: the 2013 negotiations between Apple and HarperCollins: qz.com/87184/the-steve-jobs-emails-that-show-how-to-win-a-hard-nosed-negotiation/ Honestly, what's more likely to happen is Amazon just becomes ever more dominant. In addition to their marketplace dominance, they have their own publishing imprints: www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/08/amazons-plan-take-over-world-publishing/595630/ It's brilliant business strategy at its best: own the most difficult part of the supply chain first, then slowly work backwards until you've achieved complete vertical integration. If it weren't so scary for me, I'd be applauding.
Guys I really hope that this works out because I hate HATE *HATE* being super reliant on Amazon. If you're not sure what Amazon is up to, you need to watch this next: ua-cam.com/video/FRdUkz3s3Rk/v-deo.html
This is, as you said: HUUUUUGE!!! For our initial releases, my wife and I chose to use Ingram Spark for print, D2D for eBooks (But specifically using Amazon Author Central for eBook to Amazon), and Findaway voices for our Audiobooks. We missed the window for D2D’s beta.
But this merger. It is such a good sign for growth. All the more reason for us to try out D2D on the next project. The pre-sale reports is such fantastic news!
Thank you SO much for posting this. I had not heard about this merger yet, and your analyses was so spot on! I bet I come back with more thoughts. I’m still processing all of this….
Tell me about it!!! There's SO MUCH to process. Dale ended up getting a second interview with the two CEOs which he's just posted on his podcast channel.
Re: the D2D beta, you can still sign up for it! There are some caveats there, in that author copies are only working in a limited number of countries (US, CA, UK and AU if I recall correctly, and the UK and AU is at the end of their testing process so they're only starting to make it available more widely). They are letting in small groups of people at a time, to make sure it can handle the scale.
I love how emotional you are on this one, especially your aggravation.
just Found on your channel
Glad you did!
Good news I guess. Indie-pubbing is always tauted as the option which gives authors more freedom and agency over their own work.
But if your choice of platform is literally 1 then that freedom is limited to whatever political flatulence is stuck with mister Bezos that day.
It absolutely gives you more freedom and agency over your own work! All the successes are yours; so are all of the screw-ups.
The choices of distribution platforms is the same regardless of whether you're self-published or traditionally published. No traditional publisher has the capital to both execute on its core business of publishing AND also compete in distribution, which is a whole different ballgame. All of them rely on distributors and distribution agreements between publishing houses and distributors are a very sore point.
Case in point: the 2013 negotiations between Apple and HarperCollins: qz.com/87184/the-steve-jobs-emails-that-show-how-to-win-a-hard-nosed-negotiation/
Honestly, what's more likely to happen is Amazon just becomes ever more dominant. In addition to their marketplace dominance, they have their own publishing imprints: www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/08/amazons-plan-take-over-world-publishing/595630/
It's brilliant business strategy at its best: own the most difficult part of the supply chain first, then slowly work backwards until you've achieved complete vertical integration. If it weren't so scary for me, I'd be applauding.