The Kindle Monologues

nathantopsider:

Save a book, break a nook.

You do realise that the Nook is pretty much the product that Barnes & Noble - Americas’ last big brick and mortar retailer of books, has gambled their future on?

And that if the device [and it’s projected launch overseas, with partners such as Waterstone’s] fails to make a significant dent in Amazons’ market share, Barnes & Noble will have to significantly reduce the number of stores it has, in order to remain in business.

End result, of said downgrading? People who work for B&N will lose their jobs, adding yet more problems to a country whose economy is fucked seventeen ways to Sunday.

Then there’s the publishers¹ who rely on stores like Barnes & Noble - not only for their eBook sales, but also their physical book sales. Less stores = Less physical book sales.

Which likely means redundancy at those publishing houses.

Then there’s the impact on authors - their already somewhat meagre advances will be diminished even more, and publishers will be even more weary of backing a book that doesn’t come from a mainstream “Super star” author, like say James Patterson - who writes utter, utter garbage [well, him and his team of writers], but who sells a shit tonne of books.

Which could lead to aspiring authors deciding that it’s not financially viable to devote the hundreds [if not thousands] of hours it takes to plot out, and finish a novel.

Thus contributing even more, to the lack of culture in your country [and other, Western countries].

But nah… I guess that escaped your comprehension.

¹Most of whom, like the film and music industry before them, haven’t got a clue how to adapt their business models, to reflect a world gone digital.