Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Long-Tail Gains from Big Buys?
This article notes that Amazon Buys On Demand Player BookSurge : "Online retail giant Amazon.com has acquired printing fulfillment company BookSurge, which maintains a catalog of thousands of book titles that users can print on demand.
"Print-on-demand has changed the economics of small-quantity printing, making it possible for books with low and uncertain demand to be profitably produced," Greg Greeley, vice president of media products for Amazon.com, said in a written statement.
The company will now offer "inventory-free book fulfillment" to publishers through BookSurge Publisher Services and to authors through BookSurge Publishing. In addition, retailers, wholesalers and distributors can leverage the BookSurge Direct wholesale platform, according to the company.
"BookSurge makes it possible to print books that appeal to targeted audiences, whether it's one copy or one thousand," Greeley said. "Our new relationship with BookSurge will provide Amazon customers an ever-expanding selection of titles that are not available through other channels. Thanks to print-on-demand, 'out of print' is out of date."
As previously reported by internetnews.com, Amazon.com has been moving toward the world of e-books and other downloadable products for some time. The company created a business group focused on global digital distribution and created Worldwide Digital Group to "centralize its digital platform and aggressively scale it across product lines and geographies. "
The economics of this merger looks like a double win. Amazon can reduce its inventory and still ship any book fast, resulting in less cost and more profit. Rural authors and self-publishers, and others on the "long tail", can take an easy step from creative content to global marketplace.
Meanwhile, Google is adding a Google Video feature to store, access and distribute video clips, perhaps leading to a new video-blogging service. Some think the Google Print feature could be a first step in Google competing with Amazon on book downloads and remote printing. The more competition the better. Especially for those of who live in the rural economic "long tail", these developments portend new business opportunities as well as new consumer services.
"Print-on-demand has changed the economics of small-quantity printing, making it possible for books with low and uncertain demand to be profitably produced," Greg Greeley, vice president of media products for Amazon.com, said in a written statement.
The company will now offer "inventory-free book fulfillment" to publishers through BookSurge Publisher Services and to authors through BookSurge Publishing. In addition, retailers, wholesalers and distributors can leverage the BookSurge Direct wholesale platform, according to the company.
"BookSurge makes it possible to print books that appeal to targeted audiences, whether it's one copy or one thousand," Greeley said. "Our new relationship with BookSurge will provide Amazon customers an ever-expanding selection of titles that are not available through other channels. Thanks to print-on-demand, 'out of print' is out of date."
As previously reported by internetnews.com, Amazon.com has been moving toward the world of e-books and other downloadable products for some time. The company created a business group focused on global digital distribution and created Worldwide Digital Group to "centralize its digital platform and aggressively scale it across product lines and geographies. "
The economics of this merger looks like a double win. Amazon can reduce its inventory and still ship any book fast, resulting in less cost and more profit. Rural authors and self-publishers, and others on the "long tail", can take an easy step from creative content to global marketplace.
Meanwhile, Google is adding a Google Video feature to store, access and distribute video clips, perhaps leading to a new video-blogging service. Some think the Google Print feature could be a first step in Google competing with Amazon on book downloads and remote printing. The more competition the better. Especially for those of who live in the rural economic "long tail", these developments portend new business opportunities as well as new consumer services.
