Two long-time literary bloggers recently joined Amazon Kindle’s new blog program, sharing reservations and hopes for the new device. Last week Amazon.com, Inc. opened a new program allowing bloggers to syndicate material on the Kindle–with Amazon setting the price and giving bloggers 30 percent of the revenues.
In the GalleyCat comments section, literary blogger Maud Newton explained how her blog ended up in the Amazon program, and expressed her doubts: “I don’t like the 70-30 revenue split. But I also can’t understand why people would pay for subscriptions when they can get the content for free online, either by visiting the site or through RSS. My sense, and this is purely an impression, is that not many do.”
Levi Asher from Literary Kicks wrote: “I still dislike the high price, the DRM policy and the secrecy about sales numbers, but on the other hand Amazon appears to be showing conviction, focus and flexibility in the way they are evolving the product. Also, a few months ago I wrote that I’ve never seen anyone reading a Kindle on a train, but I have recently seen two people doing so. This says a lot. I remain mixed in my feelings about the product, but it’s clear that the Kindle is here to stay, and this is probably a good thing.”