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Special Sauce: Converting Print books to Kindle

The Bookseller explains how Amazon's new tool converts print books to ebooks.

Amazon customers in the US can now convert their print titles into Kindle books with a software package called Kindle Convert.

Amazon & Hachette: What Happened

The New Yorker takes a look at what happened between Amazon and Hachette and what it may all mean in the longer run.

[T]his may not be the real reason for the majority of writers to be in favor of the deal. Royalty rates often don’t come into play for authors, because publishing houses typically pay advances against royalties, and most authors never make back their advances—perhaps eighty per cent do not, [he] estimates, based on his conversations with agents. In other words, authors tend to make their money from advances against royalties, not from sales themselves.

Amazon, Hachette Reach Agreement

And it is speculated that the terms are not much different than those Simon & Schuster obtained. The New York Times has the story.

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Amazon signs five-year pricing deal with Simon & Schuster

Kindle Scout: Readers as Editors, Readers as Salesmen

The Bookseller takes a look at Amazon's Kindle Scout, and is pessimistic.

What we do know is that when a reader-Scout-crowdist considers voting for a book, the author will have given Amazon a 45-day exclusivity period. During that 45 days -- and authors can submit only one MS at a time -- the programme will decide whether to offer readers a chance to vote on it. The previously unpublished manuscript must be in one of three genres: Romance, Romance, or Romance. Okay, I'm kidding. The three genres are Romance; Mystery and Thriller; Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Amazon Debuts Kindle Scout

The Digital Reader reports that Amazon's newest project, crowd sourced manuscript evaluation, is slowly going live. Currently it is accepting work by interested authors.

Works accepted into the program will be posted for 30 days for readers to rate and review, and the best ones will be offered a contract to be published by Amazon.

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Amazon announces Kindle Scout

"A Tale of Digital Disruption—"

"not good and evil," says The New York Times public editor in response to crticism of the paper's coverage of the dispute between Amazon and Hachette. Publishers Weekly comments, with links.

Siding With Authors United

Lee Child sides with Authors United, as Publishers Weekly reports, and other authors argue right back hat Amazon is the best deal for now, and, as for the future, if things change, they will too.

Consider the Cost of Publishing Yourself

The Guardian runs an article on the costs of publishing yourself and the comments column argues right back. Still, a good primer on the basic things that must be obtained to make a book a professional product.

Making Quality Ebooks

One of the main worries of publishers about ebooks is that they must, now, after their debut, be of good quality. EContent Magazine explains old problems and new worries.

A New Amazon Ebook Every Five Minutes

Amazon is unwilling to release statistics on its business, but Claude Nougat made an estimate based on what is publicly available: there's a new ebook every five minutes. Also, it appears that ebook author fame can fade fast.