2017 Book Industry Predictions: Intrigue and Angst amid Boundless Opportunity - Smashwords

Panzer was shaken from his nap by loud noises coming from the Catosphere. Stumbling to the Panzermobile, our sleepy kitty followed all the crying and yowling to the Smashwords blog site. There he found Mark Coker's predictions for indie publishing for the coming year.

Back to my nap.

Mark Coker's post begins with a 10 year retrospective of indie publishing. This is followed by Mr. Coker's 10 predictions for indie publishing in 2017. The predictions range from indie authors developing a greater market share, an even bigger growth of the glut of ebooks in the market, and an Amazon anti-trust investigation. The final section is a wrap-up of the other two. A lot of the post is an indictment of Amazon's business practices and Kindle Unlimited and Select.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Most of the predictions don't paint a very good picture for indie authors. ... But ... Cats never pay any attention to what our humans say anyway."

Note: This is a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g post. Bring a thermos of tea and a dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Smashwords: 2017 Book Industry Predictions: Intrigue and Angs...

Kindle Unlimited Expands to Canada

Expanding again?

Panzer was over at The Bookseller site today. He discovered that, according to a post by Felicity Wood, Amazon's Kindle Unlimited (KU) is ready to launch in Canada.

KU was begun to be in direct competition with ebook subscription services like Oyster and Scribd. Readers pay a monthly fee for unlimited reading. Amazon has been slowly expanding the reach of KU from the US to the UK and other countries.

There are currently 175,000 ebooks enrolled in KU. When authors enter their ebooks into the Amazon Select program, they are automatically also entered in KU.

Panzer says, "Always read the fine print in the Terms of Service."

To read the post, tootle over to Kindle Unlimited

Smashwords: Is Kindle Unlimited Bad for Authors?

This doesn't look good to me.

 Panzer was interested to find this post by Mark Coker at the Smashwords blog about the new Amazon Unlimited service.


My bad boy already knew he wasn't going to join the Amazon Unlimited service. You have to be part of the Amazon Select Program and agree not to sell (or offer free) your ebooks anywhere except in the Amazon store. He never joined the Program because he wanted to be able to offer his adventures to everyone: Nook, Kobo, iTunes, Scribd, Oyster, etc. Turns out Mr. Coker agrees.

If you're thinking of joining the new Amazon Unlimited or just want more information, you should tootle over to Smashwords: Is Kindle Unlimited Bad for Authors?: Amazon today unveiled Kindle Unlimited, following in the footsteps of Smashwords partners Scribd and Oyster. When I first heard of Kindl...

Amazon Is About To Throttle Free Books

N-O-O-O-O!

Well, the Catosphere is full of yowling following Amazon's announcement of a change to their affiliate program terms.

Amazon has changed the rules and payments to sites that promote FREE ebooks.

Panzer says, "Oh, n-o-o-o! Say it isn't so!"

Will this be the end of our favorite free ebook sites? What about the Kindle Select Program?

You can read Ed Robertson's opinions on these questions and more at Amazon To Throttle Free Books?

Smashwords: Amazon The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? Amazon Dou...

Panzer was over at Smashwords today and he found an interesting post. Everybody here knows we love Amazon and our Kindle, but the big guy on the block (Amazon) might be getting just a little overbearing with the competition this Christmas season. Amazon plans to add more money to the pot to get authors to leave other ebook sellers and join the exclusive Select program for the Christmas ebook buying season.

Panzer and I have heard stories from indie authors who've managed to have very successful promotions using the Select program. And, we've heard from other authors that their time in Select was a bust. So, I have no opinion about Select. But, I do think locking your book up with only Amazon during the Christmas buying season might be a mistake.

Spend some time exploring your options, then tootle on over to Smashwords: Amazon The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? Amazon Dou...: Will Amazon be the grinch who steals Christmas from thousands of indie authors this holiday season? Last year, a mere three weeks before...