[Dragaera] Kindle and SKZB

[Maximilian Wilson]

On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 5:43 AM, Michael Wojcik <mwojcik at newsguy.com> wrote:
> Maximilian Wilson wrote:
[snip]
>> in PDF format as well for a nominal
>> charge from Amazon (on the order of a dime).
>
> According to the webscriptions FAQ, they don't do PDF. They do HTML,
> though, which is preferable for many purposes (if it's validating HTML
> 4.01 Strict - I haven't checked).

I stand corrected. I tend to read my Baen ebooks in HTML format
anyway, and I don't own a Kindle so I guess it's not surprising that I
misremembered how their Kindle integration works.

> But if I understand their documentation - I haven't used webscriptions
> - it's a subscription service, and offers four books a month. That's
> nice, but it's not exactly competition for Barnes & Noble yet.

The subscription service is a bundling discount which gives you
slightly more books for the buck and also lets you get some books
before they've actually been published. I've never bought any of their
subscription packages because the idea of getting a book in serialized
form, spread out over three months, annoys me. Typically if a book
looks interesting I'll read the first few chapters (they publish about
25% of each book for free, and some books are 100% free) and if I'm
hooked I'll buy the rest of the book for $5 or $6.

I hope the rest of the ebook industry moves in a similar direction
over the next decade. Paying hardcopy prices for ebooks which can be
read only on a clumsy proprietary reader is not something I'm willing
to do any more.

-Max

-- 
If you're so evil, eat this kitten!

"The presentation or 'gift' of the Holy Ghost simply confers upon a
man the right to receive at any time, when he is worthy of it and
desires it, the power and light of truth of the Holy Ghost, although
he may often be left to his own spirit and judgment." --Joseph F.
Smith (manual, p. 69)