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My apologies for having a podcast about something timely and then back-burner-ing it for other things. I still think it’s relevant, especially when we pull in the iPad discussion. If you haven’t followed the news, the Macmillan Amazon links are back up.
- 00:00:06 ISBW #141
- 00:00:39 GoTo Meeting Message
- 00:01:27 State of the Mur: Snow! Ice! Cabin Fever. Project Underground is ready for beta readers.
- 00:04:32 The Amazon/Macmillan kerfuffle. What do readers think? How should consumers (as well as creators) handle the market changes due to Kindle, iPad, and publisher competition?
- 00:17:10 Promo: Beware the Hairy Mango
- 00:18:23 Interview: Ursula Vernon, author-illustrator of: Digger, Nurk, Dragonbreath, and Dragonbreath 2: Attack of the Ninja Frogs. You can find her at UrsulaVernon.com or Red Wombat Studio and if you can’t decide right away, go to Metal & Magic and enjoy the awesomely cute drawings as you ponder which link to click. You can find her books at B&N, Borders, Powell’s, and your local indie bookseller.
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5 Responses to ISBW #141 – Amazon and iPad / Ursula Vernon Interview
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Hey! I’ve got that book sitting on my shelf here at work for the next time the kids come by (Monday). The 6yo was re-reading the first one for the third time yesterday.
By the way, you can make a free Apple account and download the full iPhone development software without cost. If you want to sell/distribute an app through iTunes, then you need to pay. So, although the system is secured in many ways, the initial work, learning and programing can be done for free.
I would TOTALLY subscribe to “ISBW After Dark”!!!
Hi Mur – I really enjoyed the interview with Ursula. I thought all kid’s writers were mostly flowers and bunnies, but she is clearly adult humour as well!
Thanks, Joanna
Mur,
I don’t know if you’ve been told this yet.. or if you found out.. but basically, Amazon subsidizes their books to maintain a $9.99 cost for the bestsellers. It was a big deal on their sales for the Kindle. So MacMillian makes $14.99 worth of royalties, no matter what. Amazon covers the difference.
MacMillian, as you now know, is part of Apple’s Ipad stuff. So.. Steve Jobs wants to sell books at $14.99. But Steve Jobs doesn’t want to drop the price down to $9.99. He won’t subsidize it as Amazon has. Therefore, it came down to this.. MacMillian DEMANDED that Amazon stop pricing their books at $9.99 , no matter what, because Apple won’t sell more Ipads (but will give a bigger royalty cut) if the books went for $14.99.
MacMillian is a bully here. Companies should be allowed to price items for whatever they want, when it is theirs to sell.