Attention Publishers - Pitch to my Kindle
I’ve been getting a wave of contacts from book publishers asking if I’d like a review copy of their latest title and would I consider doing a review of it on one of my blogs or podcasts.
I LOVE books and have an ever growing library of them, but lately I’m finding that the only time I have to read books is when I’m on a plane or train heading somewhere, but when I’m there I’m rarely reading them in the paper variety but rather on my Amazon Kindle.
So, what I’m wondering is why are all these book publishers spending lots of money to print, pack and ship review copies out when I’d be just as happy (if not MORE happy) to receive it electronically directly to my Kindle?
I don’t know the details on how a book gets formatted for the Kindle and in the Kindle store, but what I DO know is that I can e-mail any PDF file to a special e-mail address for my personal Kindle and it’ll show up on it. Some conversion goes on behind the scenes and it costs me dimes to do so.
I can control who has access to send to that address and I’d be more then willing to give it to a publisher if they were going to use it to send me a preview copy of a book. If they used it to spam me, I have the ability to remove their access.
To save on paper, costs and my sanity I think this is a great idea. What do other people that have Kindles think about this? I know a few of you are out there so I’d be curious.
I just looked across the room at the stack of books that I haven’t had a chance to read and I look at the Kindle sitting on my desk and realize that if those books were on this device they’d have a much greater chance of getting read.
Just an idea I’ve been noodling on for a while now and thought I’d throw out to see what others thought.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:43 pm |
Fantastic idea! Would be able to carry more than one on the plane. Love the enviro aspect. LOVE it!
Now if only they had the Kindle in Canada
July 29th, 2008 at 1:49 pm |
CC, I was thinking about something similar when hearing about the huge amounts of money publishers pay for media kits.
I think this is something we will see much more of down the road. I find, like books, I have a better chance of watching a movie formatted for my iPod than a dvd.
What if publishers allowed customers to register their Kindle email to be put on a review mailing list?
July 29th, 2008 at 1:59 pm |
Hot dog, C.C. — you’re on fire with these recent posts!
Amen, I say, to your sentiments about the Kindle. Book galleys are easily saved as PDFs, and can be emailed to reviewers like you for easy conversion to the Kindle format.
Two things come to mind reading your post. The first is that you’re holding the future of mainstream publishing in your hands. We’ve all heard the historical gripes about devices like the Kindle — “It’s not the same as reading on paper,” etc. — but the plain fact is that those complaints hail from lifelong “paper readers” who prefer that medium because it’s what they’ve always known. This is changing right now within youth culture (and some progressive grown-ups like yourself) … and within a generation or two, screen-based reading will be nigh-ubiquitous.
I mentioned above that the Kindle represents the future of mainstream publishing, which brings me to my second reaction to your post. This isn’t just about mainstream publishing; products like the Kindle (and locales like the Kindle Store) will revolutionize all publishing, period. When brick-and-mortar stores fall — and they will fall, or become greatly marginalized in the years to come — the distribution muscle of the big publishers will go with it.
The playing field for indie publishers will begin to even. More significant, the playing field for self-published authors will begin to even.
The domination of shelf space by mainstream publishers (and its money) crumbles when the industry standard for selling product requires no shelves at all. Not to mention warehouses as we currently know them. Or shipping. Or high cover prices that are dictated in part by paper and gasoline costs.
I think big publishing is terrified of this eventuality. It’s probably why, in part, they may be reluctant to send you that PDF.
After all, they probably think you’re a pirate, would post the book on a P2P network … and single-handled destroy print sales of the book.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:03 pm |
@Kate - I had no idea they were not in Canada yet. No iPhone or Kindle? Why do you guys live there again? Oh yeah, great beer! *grin*
@Greg - I would love to be able to opt-in for more things like that.
@Hutch - But once something is on my Kindle, I don’t know of any way to get it off since it is converted to a proprietary format as far as I know. I think publishers would love that. And you are right about it leveling the playing field. Anyone can create a PDF and send it. Much cheaper then printing lots of copies and sending. Makes it easier for the little publishing houses or indie authors
July 29th, 2008 at 2:11 pm |
I think it’s a great idea, but what about piracy issues? Though that’s probably just stupid, it’s been proven over and over that free ebooks sell print books. I have no idea why this is, except that maybe lots of people like paper books as well. Though with the Kindle, that could change some.
Who knows? I think giving stuff away is great, but artists deserve to make money for their work and I’d worry that distributing free ebooks to reviewers could open up a whole can of worms.
Like I said though, this could be pure paranoia.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:13 pm |
One other point, someone above mentioned a review email list. I can think of about a million ways this could go bad. Reviewers are already inundated with books. Imagine if the cost barrier lowered so publishers didn’t have to send out a media kit but instead could just “e-send” it? Reviewers would be swamped with even more things to review.
I’m sure there is a way around this, but there’s a reason many publishers only reluctantly started accepting equeries, it creates way too much to have to go through.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:57 pm |
Great idea (first I need a Kindle)! I have no less than a dozen books right now that were sent to me to review, not to mention all the books I am sent because they are my clients. It’s too much of a pain to store or give away them all when I’m done.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:04 pm |
Well, I hate to disagree with Hutch, but I guess I do to some extent. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that the growth of web-based delivery of fiction content will be exponential, and that a lot of that will be at the expense of the traditional printed content. I can’t predict exact numbers of course, but it is a tsunami that is just starting on its way up.
However, I am not at all convinced that the industry standard will become something not printed. If you look at, say, music, then I think the idea of the standard becoming web-based downloads is already happening. I get all my music that way.
Listening is very different than reading. There is essentially no change in the acual experience of listening to music downloaded as opposed to that on a CD or tape or LP. Other than increased flexibility.
But reading is different. Reading a novel on a computer screen is a non-starter even for many in the younger generation. Kindle, well, Kindle certainly is better. But it’s not as easy on the eyes as paper. And older people - and that includes people who are young now but will be old in 40 years - will have an even tougher time.
Now, I am sure that in my lifetime (I am 38) there will be technology that can duplicate the paper reading experience sufficiently to eliminate these concerns. And 30-50 years after that technology comes along, it is possible that paper books will become very minor. But that is a long time in the future.
I am totally a believer in what these new delivery and content presentation methods have to offer. I would not be podcasting my novel if I wasn’t. And I would not be writing the next one with podcasting and possibly other online delivery methods in mind. I just think that 10 or 20 or even 30 years from now, we still will not have weaned ourselves from the brick-and-mortar concept. I am proceeding with that expectation in mind. I have yet to find anything that gives me the experience I get reading actual paper books, and compared to the “median”, I am pretty far towards the leading edge.
No reason not to push full steam ahead, but reason to make sure we step outside the echo chamber from time to time and get a reality check.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:42 pm |
This is a great idea, CC. The key would be the reviewer’s sole control of what gets put on the Kindle and what doesn’t - any kind of Kindle spam is an unpleasant thought. But the .pdf transfer seems brilliantly simple and doable.
Edward, I’ve been reading on a Kindle for the past seven months, and I find it precisely as easy on the eyes and body as a book. Whether I’m at the beach in bright sunlight or curled up in my favorite leather chair under a good light, my eyes and bones enjoy the rest they feel from a day bent over a backlit computer screen, and my Kindle reading is leisurely and attentive. Also, my 81-year-old father and 79-year-old mother have both begun reading on Kindles and report that they love it. I notice that Dad has set the font size a notch or two larger than mine, something he can’t do if I loan him a book!
Thanks again, CC, for doing a great interview today for Episode 2 of The Kindle Chronicles, my new podcast all about the Kindle. It will be up on Friday.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:09 pm |
I’m with Kate–I think it is a great idea, and can’t wait for the Kindle in Canada either!
When I travel these days I seem to be lugging too many books around with me. With restrictions on how much luggage (by weight) you can bring onto planes, the Kindle is a great solution.
I suspect seeing your idea pan out will be a slow push. It took about a year to get most Canadian legal publishers to make their new titles available as an RSS feed. You need to ask them as they offer their books, and be persistent. You will gradually see a change.
Cheers,
Connie
July 31st, 2008 at 11:53 am |
Hi, C.C. Our mutual friend, David Moldawer, alerted me to this post.
As a fellow Kindle devotee, I’m ready to take you up on your offer to enable my email address on your Kindle — I have a de facto Kindle-galley I’d like to send you! Thanks.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:49 pm |
Before anyone thinks we’re a backwater country, Canada does now have the iPhone! Sure .. 18 months after launch and with the second most expensive data plan in the world. But we have it. ANd that’s what matters, right?
Now where’s my beer …
July 31st, 2008 at 2:51 pm |
Kate, you just cracked me up. I promise a beer the next time we see each other!
July 31st, 2008 at 6:57 pm |
I just scored a new Kindle and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. This is a great idea. I’m on the list of early reviews in LibraryThing so sometimes get hard copies in the mail. Would be worth pitching the idea to them. That way they wouldn’t have to be quite so limiting on how many copies go out. Sometimes there will be 1000 requests for a book and only 12 copies up for grabs.
One tip I discovered, make sure to check the Kindle Daily Post in the STORE (not the daily one that comes to your home page of the Kindle). Sometimes they give away free books. Tor just gave away 16 sci fi and fantasy books for free (it was up on the 28th though). It’s smart for the publishers. If I read the first book in the series there is a damn good chance I’ll come back and buy the next book and the next book…
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 am |
[…] Attention Publishers - Pitch to my Kindle - C.C. Chapman […]
August 9th, 2008 at 1:40 am |
Smarter would be to give away a second book in a trilogy or something like that, so then you have to buy the first one…
August 13th, 2008 at 10:34 pm |
I completely forgot about the e-mail feature. Great idea, I’ll probably use it for publishers and beyond.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:12 pm |
Great idea. I find myself skipping books/magazines that aren’t avail on the Kindle. Be sure to check out www.feedbooks.com
It has revolutionized my consumption of blogs on the kindle. hat tip to Len Edgerly, my Kindle mentor