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Self-Published Kindle Author Lands Deal in Obsolete Ink-and-Paper Format

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apollo89
07/11/09

In reply to Self-Published Kindle Author Lands Deal in Obsolete Ink-and-Paper Format
Until a kindle is as cheap as a hardback book, I will stick to that "obsolete" paper format.
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Dallifornia
07/11/09

@apollo89: Until an iPod is as cheap as a phonograph record, I'll stick to that "obsolete", obviously sarcastic method.

Wait, whut?
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Pope John Peeps II
07/11/09

@Dallifornia: That's a stupid analogy. And you should be able to see it. If we're making the comparison, having a book is akin to walking into a store, buying a used 45 for six bucks, and it playing music for you the moment you pick it up. You don't need anything BUT the book. It's both content and transmitter at the same time. It's brilliant.
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Dallifornia
07/11/09

@Pope John Peeps II: "As soon as an iPod is a cheap as a cassette player AND cassette." Kindle is storage device for books. An iPod is a storage device for music. And with the content and transmitter, maybe I should have said a guitar? (Also sidenote: I like how often starred commenters promote dumb or incorrect comments so they can correct people). Maybe my comment was a dumb as comparing a book capable of carrying hundreds of books to one hardback book. Doubt it though.
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amandizzle
07/11/09

@apollo89: Me too. It's pricey, and it seems easy to lose my books as files. I realize it's "greener" to use ebooks, but I love the feel and smell of paper in books and I'll probably stick with it for a while.
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weatherman
07/12/09

@amandizzle: one could argue that paper books are actually "greener" because they are esentially a carbon sequestration program....
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Pope John Peeps II
07/12/09

@Dallifornia: I'm not sure what you're reading and replying to, but it's clear you aren't actually reading all of the words that I'm writing.

The book is both pure information and platform, or medium, all in one. Your analogy - the guitar - is not. It is a pure platform, and you bring your own memorized content to it. The iPod is platform which needs content. The Kindle is platform which needs purchased content. The book is platform which comes with it's own, inseparable, pre-owned content. It's immutable, re-useable, there's no license required, it's portable, etc...

It's basically perfect right now
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Jesustron
07/11/09

In reply to Self-Published Kindle Author Lands Deal in Obsolete Ink-and-Paper Format
I think this is great, its kinda of a big F'You to the big publishers and lets the readers choose what they want to read. Nothing wrong with letting real humans decide, not publishers who care mostly about profits over all else.
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Pope John Peeps II
07/11/09

@Jesustron: That's idiotic. Publishers care about profits, like every business. The way to profit in publishing is to spend most of your time giving people exactly what they want, and then every once in a while taking a risk on something that could be amazing. Either way, big name publishers have survived by putting out top-notch products written by great talents. If this guy moved from Kindle to press, it's because he was good, and his work got noticed by real editors.

Independent publishing will always be regarded as stupid and childish precisely because it removes all those layers and filters between the original product and the great stuff you read. Those filters that establish a baseline of talent in the writer, with editors who help cajole the story along.

When you go to press books, you're maybe looking into some murky water to find a diamond. With independent publishing, you're sifting through a pile of the worst, most wretched human waste to find that occasional diamond. Now which would YOU rather do?

The proof is in the product. Literally. It may be nice to say that big name publishers deaden the art, but that's probably because they just reject your cyborg-dragon galactic conquest trilogy with the words "we've seen this too much". Most independently published books are derivative, and silly. Most press books, while maybe not always being magnificent, are at least at a certain level of skill and refinement.
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Edited by Pope John Peeps II at 07/11/09 8:47 PM Pope John Peeps II was starred

Jesustron
07/11/09

@Pope John Peeps II:

The new commenting system deleted my whole response. But basically, no one was saying that indie publishers don't have to sift though a lot of shit...My point was that a better variety of product can make it to the market though this new channel. A LOT of indie MUSIC is good, while most of it is shit, plenty of good stuff gets popular because people personally support artists. I think digital distribution gives writers this same freedom, which was difficult to break into before the internet and e readers/books.

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Edited by Jesustron at 07/11/09 9:51 PM Jesustron was starred Jesustron was unstarred

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