Wednesday News: Kindle Scout releases 10 books, NBC to try video subscription service, Manga literary classics, and sheet music’s demise
Publishing NewsAmazon / classic literature / Comedy / digital publishing / indie publishing / Kindle Scout / Manga / music / NBC / print publishing / sheet music / video subscription service7 Comments
Will Amazon’s Kindle Scout democratize publishing? – Well, the first ten books chosen for publication through Kindle Scout were released yesterday. Three of the ten are classified as Romance:
Royal Date by Sariah Wilson – Romance
A Highland Knight’s Desire by Amy Jarecki – Romance
Eddie & Sunny by Stacey Cochran – Mystery/Romance
In an environment where Amazon is perceived to be the source of numerous opportunities and ills for various publishers and authors, I’m wondering how Kindle Scout is going to be perceived as the books begin to roll out. A. Friend to indie authors? B. Example for other publishers? C. Hated corporate behemoth trying to put other publishers and authors out of business? D. All/None of the above? I’m guessing D.
Authors whose books are chosen receive a 5-year renewable publishing deal, with a $1,500 advance, a royalty rate of 50 percent, and the ability to take back rights to the book if the author doesn’t earn at least $25,000 during the 5-year contract.
The approach benefits Amazon in many ways. As Geekwire points out, it leverages the company’s large customer base for market research, similar to the way that Amazon Studios asks viewers to weigh in on television pilots before deciding which will go into full production. –Christian Science Monitor
NBC plans to bundle SNL and Tonight Show in new service for cord cutters – So rumor has it that NBC is looking to enter the subscription tv space, using the Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live as a launching point. Despite the fact that NBC hasn’t exactly been a comedy leader, there are additional questions as to how such a move would affect video content that is currently available for free on venues like YouTube. Not to mention the possibility that more major networks might be looking to expand into the video subscription business.
NBC has plans to launch a premium, comedy-focused video subscription service. A new report from The Wall Street Journal says the video offering would bundle new episodes of the network’s comedy staples Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show. Both shows are already free to watch over the air for TV owners with an antenna, but NBC also wants to invest in original shows for the service and produce exclusive snippets as a showcase for its biggest stars like Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and actors across NBC’s roster of current shows. Pricing could be as low as $2.50 to $3.50 per month, making this — like Netflix and Hulu Plus — a viable add-on for Sling TV customers. A launch could come later this year. The new service would be entirely separate from Hulu, which NBC partly owns, and the network’s TV Everywhere apps. –The Verge
Udon Turns Literary Classics into Manga Adventure – I have to say that this just seems like a genius idea. Not only does the manga offer an interesting graphic interpretation, but the idea of using these texts for students as a way to introduce them to the classics is particularly cool. I imagine that these novels would also encourage teen readers to ultimately try the original versions of the stories, a win-win scenario.
The line debuted at the American Library Association conference last summer with adaptations of Les Miserablesby Victor Hugo and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This year at ALA Mid-Winter in Chicago, Udon followed up with three more: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and Emma by Jane Austen, which will all hit bookstore and library shelves in March, with another three titles to come later in 2015. All titles are available in paperback and hardcover, at $19.99 and $24.99, respectively, and also as a $14.99 digital edition through Comixology. –Publishers Weekly
NYC’s Last Classical Sheet Music Store to Close – We talk about the status of print publishing, but I have to admit that I never thought about sheet music. But this article on the closure of New York City’s last classical sheet music store is a great reminder that books aren’t the only paper-based art form changing with new technologies. An interesting, albeit melancholy, piece on the end of an era in music publishing and yet another change in the music industry.
Joseph Patelson Music House, another longtime sheet-music establishment, closed in 2009, and Dowling Music shut its doors in 2013. Last year, J&R Music and Computer World, the last store in New York with a sizable classical CD section, stopped carrying classical albums.
Musicians have plenty of online opportunities to buy sheet music, whether from Amazon.com , publishers or specialty websites such as Sheet Music Plus.
The website IMSLP, a digital library of public-domain music, allows users to download scores for free. Some musicians with iPads have dispensed with pesky paper scores altogether. –Wall Street Journal
So smitten young men will now swipe ipad pages instead of turning paper ones while their adored one plays the piano?
My “day” job is as a vocalist for a church. How do you mark up your music if it’s on an iPad?! And how do you learn a piece without marking up your music?
Maybe I’m just an old confused by technology. *sigh*
I still have the sheet music that my mother had and the ones I played during piano lessons. I agree about “marking up your music”- just not the same.
I’ve read the Pride and Prejudice as well as the Scarlet Letter adaptations by Udon. I think Scarlet Letter did a better job of staying true to the source material while not being bogged down by that which makes the book unreadable to some. the P&P one had me ripping my hair out–its pretty enough, but it doesn’t exactly capture the correct “spirit” of the characters. Jane is fairly spot on, but Elizabeth and Darcy are both shoujo caricatures of themselves (Darcy spends most of his inner monologue’ing bemoaning how Elizabeth sees him and wondering why she doesn’t like him more).
I think for any kid/young adult who reads that and then branches into the actual novel (or other Austen novels) will be sorely disappointed.
Is it weird that I’m this excited to FINALLY be mentioned on this site?
Well, I imagine, once you’ve learned the piece and the sheet music is just for reference, the one touch page turning would be handy.
The ability to download sheet music has been useful in my adventures in local theater. I’ve purchased and downloaded a number of piano accompaniments for audition music. Sheet music is immediately available and often in different keys. The format is usually PDF or some other printable format, so a paper format still comes into play. Not just for markup, but to give to the pianist at an audition.
OTOH, I still love the experience of just browsing in a brick and mortar sheet music store.
I remember learning about Indian classic mythology, folklore, and history via comic books. I used to devour those books when I was young, growing up in the US, and learned a ton. I doubt I would have read as much if it were traditional story narrative form. There may be other publishers of this, but the big one at the time and the comic books that I had were from Amar Chitra Katha (http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/us/?___from_store=0&___store=international).