Book news was a little lopsided this week with the Kindle Fire release, so I had to include at least a couple of Amazon articles. I’m still holding out for news on the other color readers before plunking down cash for a Fire. In the coming weeks, if you find something interesting you think everyone should read, drop me a line via the contact form and let me know, or just post it below. Let’s get started:
1) Kindle Fire Released: Engadget takes a deeper look at the Kindle Fire
2) Authors Guild Weighs in on Amazon Lending Library: Hmmm…So Amazon is letting Prime customers “borrow” books for free, and paying the publisher full price for every copy borrowed. I’m failing to see the problem here. Is another revenue stream not good? I’m confused why this has authors and publishers so upset. Is it just the fact that they listed the books without asking? Why would they even have to ask when they are paying for every single copy? If anyone on the publishers’ side of things can enlighten me, then please do.
3) Apocalypse Calendar: The one with the Four Horsemen made me chuckle.
4) Skyrim Fan Fiction: I have very little free time anymore, especially with the new baby. What free time I have had lately has been spent playing this evil time-sucking game. Kataku is running a series of articles where fans write their own Skyrim tale.
5) NBC Has a New Genre Series: Grimm is a show that I was very skeptical about. It looked to me to be a cheap ploy to snag both CSI and Buffy fans in one show. However, it has quickly become my favorite show on television. I only watch a few things regularly, and this is now one of them. You should definitely check it out.
@2 – I think the problem is that Amazon is not actually paying for every single copy. In most cases, Amazon pays the publisher one flat fee for rights to lend a group of many books. I’m not sure what kind of usage statistics they provide as far as which books in each group got checked out how many times, which will pose a problem for determining what a fair author compensation should be. There’s also the issue that the contracts that most authors sign do not include provisions for lending like this. It’s a murky grey area right now, and I think authors have legitimate concerns about protecting themselves and their works.
I agree with Grimm. I couldn’t watch the whole episode of Once Upon A Time, but I’m now addicted to Grimm.