Scribd takes aim at Amazon by bringing subscription ebook app to the Kindle Fire

thenextweb.com

26 points·lowglow··2 comments

Interesting how Scribd is focused on the needs of readers and publishers, but hardly a peep about authors, whose hard work is the foundation of Scribd's product offering. For instance:

building up the kind of catalog that draws in new users requires publisher support.

It requires the support of authors, too. And aside from the nice deal that Smashwords cut for its premium catalog (authors get 60% of list once 20% of the title is read [1]) it's not clear how much authors will be compensated. And it's not certain how long the Smashword terms can be sustained, if subscribers read too many books and the author payout>subscriber revenue.

As an author and small publisher, I'm very concerned that subscription plans like Scribd and Oyster will eventually be forced into a Spotify-like model (2) in which audiences get a great deal, platform owners and other middlemen take their cut, and the content creators get crumbs.

1. http://blog.smashwords.com/2013/12/smashwords-signs-distribu...

2. http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/09/26/161758720/how-...

What about authors using it as advertising (first of a series, short story, etc) and then only sell books through higher income sources? That is assuming it does turn into that much of an issue.

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