What the Kindle 2 Price Reduction Means for Authors
July 9, 2009 at 1:48 pm 1000chimps Leave a comment
Yesterday, Amazon dropped the selling price of their Kindle 2 by $60 to sell below $300. There is much speculation as to the various factors driving that decision. Some feel that the production cost is getting lower and that Amazon is passing the savings on to us. Others have suggested that Amazon is feeling the heat of increasing pressure from competitors such as the Sony Reader or any number of iPhone apps and digital options and is bracing to maintain the lead in the market. There is also talk of in-book advertising being implemented in the near-future.
But I believe that there is another aspect at play that is worth mentioning. I agree with the forward-thinkers who aim at a potential future with a single device that can handle all of our electronic needs from Tweets to e-books, from e-mail to multimedia and telecommunications. There is clearly a long-term limit on the success of any devices that are compartmentalized to one segment of our wi-fi society.
For authors who are writing and marketing in this environment, there will be a strong benefit to maintaining a presence and awareness. The trends are not too difficult to spot, so find a way to be involved. If people are constantly talking about Twitter, then find a way to get your story out to them on Twitter. If Kindle is the thing, start an account at dtp.amazon.com where you can upload your writing for sale on the Kindle store. Do a search on your favorite browser every once in a while to find out what the new trends are or where the most eyes are pointing, and get your book or idea in front of those eyes.
And don’t limit yourself to just industry related trends, because the media is hungry for stories. Once a leading story is released on any major event, there are opportunities for others to get in on that attention. Consider the example of the two Chinese writers who worked together to crank out a book about Michael Jackson within 48 hours of the news of his death. These writers acted quickly after hot-topic event, and they are now gaining global attention.
Altogether, in the battle of apps, e-readers and everything in between, I think we are simply experiencing the natural progression of a developing market. There are different ways of looking at it and different ways of trying to make any subject more news-worthy than it would initially seem to be.
The important aspect to remember amid these changes is that people are still reading. There are doors opening in this limited economic environment, so stay vigilant and keep writing. Regardless of whether someone buys a $299 Kindle or a $4 iPhone app, these machines are only as good as content created for them.
-1000 Chimps
Entry filed under: In the News, Marketing. Tags: book market trends, e-book, e-reader, ebook, Kindle 2, Online Marketing.
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed