Mac Slocum’s Q&A with DNAML’s Peter Kent
I hadn’t heard of DNAML before I saw Peter Kent’s Q&A at the TOC Blog, but it sure got my attention and I wanted to learn more. It appears DNAML is a kind of ebook platform. I think ebook platforms are a mature technology in an immature market. Software to manage your library sounds good but, in my opinion anyway, is just another form of needless DRM. Having said that, I sure liked some of the things Peter had to say.
- He gives a thumbs up to publishers selling other publishers’ books. There are a couple of bookpeople in Toronto that are preoccupied with keeping a competitive advantage over another house. I say get over yourself. Book publishers aren’t competing against each other. They are competing against other media… I realize that is a naive position when it is multinational versus multinational, but I don’t understand why authors from different publishers can’t co-headline the same book event. Co-promoting or cross selling books between publishers would be a refreshing change.
- Amazon isn’t the be all and end all. New distribution methods are undervalued or misunderstood. That is definitely true in my experience, but you often need enlightened managers to lay the IT-groundwork years in advance of a new distribution scheme. Many houses are still understandably gun shy about capital investments in new distribution technology.
I don’t understand Peter’s answer to the BitTorrent question… only for trialware? Why?
Q: What about ebook availability through P2P sites/mechanisms, such as BitTorrent?
Trialware books are perfect for this form of distribution.
The post is worth reading in full. I have paraphrased above.
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