Scribd's new e-book store: A sea change in publishing?

[Kathryn Lilley]

I was still recovering from Sunday's 4.7 earthquake in LA when I heard the news that must have sent a shiver of apprehension through the publishing industry: Scrbd, the publishing web site that gets around 60 million hits a day, began selling books online. Read rest of post.

[Jon Loomis]

It sounds promising--the 80/20 split is only a good deal for authors if that 80% equals or exceeds industry standard royalties for print books, of course. What may well happen is that established houses will begin selling ebooks from their own websites to compete, and claiming electronic rights in standard contracts (some already do--or try to).

[B.R.Stateham]

So what are the rights Scrbd' keeps?

[Kathryn Lilley]

Cream will have to rise to the top by way of download ratings, I believe. That's one way that "good" books can be separated from drek. I think a rating system must evolve that will indicate fairly quickly what is being bought and paid for in large numbers, versus what is dying on the vine at scribd.

[I. J. Parker]

Two problems: how good are the books and will Scribd keep the rights forever? If the authors/titles aren't mainstream enough, there will be few sales and the author's reputation may suffer.

[B.R.Stateham]

I agree with you. . . the potential is there. But let's see how potential is converted into reality.