[LINK] NextGen Publishing

[TKoltai]

I think traditional Publishers are about to find that their providers
are becoming their competitors:


Quote/ [From
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/amazon-kindle-compass-launch_n_
1195359.html]

Amazon launched the Kindle Compass, a Kindle-based magazine, without
fanfare at the end of last week - and annoyed some Kindle users by
suggesting that they had been automatically subscribed to a publication
that would cost them money, according to eBookNewser.

The company later released a statement apologizing for any confusion,
stating that the subscription was currently available only to randomly
chosen Kindle users, and that it would "always be free."

This has obviously been in the planning for a while, since Fusible.com
reported that Amazon registered the domain name "kindlecompass.com" back
in June 2011. The web address is currently not active.

In an email to one of Kindle Compass's unwitting subscribers, Amazon
describe it as "an editorial magazine designed to help customers get the
most out of their Kindle reading experience."

Early users report that its content is currently very similar to the
Seattle-based company's existing Omnivoracious blog, which runs
blogposts about books as well as video interviews with authors.

Considering the size of its potential audience, Omnivoracious currently
has very few comments from users, and little presence in the
book-reading community. The new Kindle Compass e-magazine could well be
an attempt to better leverage their book-focused editorial content, and
perhaps replace or augment Omnivoracious's coverage in an e-reader
format.

There is also another possible reason for the new e-magazine's launch.
Potential rival website Bookish, bankrolled by Hachette, Simon &
Schuster and Penguin, is due to launch later this year, featuring
editorial-driven content alongside the option to buy digital and
physical books.

The Kindle Compass may be an early attempt from Amazon to cover similar
territory, using editorial content in order to encourage Kindle owners
to purchase more ebooks, direct from the Kindle store.

At the time of writing, Amazon had not responded to a request for
comment.

/Quote

Although the Amazon brand is synonymous with reading material, tendrils
are reaching out for all elements of the entertainment industry. Coming
on the tail of the great Amazon, Google, iTunes Music Cloud playoffs,
this initiative smacks of early mover real estate grabbing. 
 
So this would be a reverse Myspace style approach. We got the content,
you got the reader... Let's do lunch. (Myspace was; "We got the social
network eyeballs, give us your content").

Mr. Bezos, I doff my hat. If Jeff now integrates citizen journalism with
the magazine in real time, I would say he has a winner and has managed
to stop the resale of dead trees permanently. How about it Jeff, there
are other search engines available out there...

The above article originated from Huff post who is now owned by AOL and
has a financial interest in the success of Bookish (the competitor).

TomK