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• https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlPAFMebQXG6KmH1iuibbYAr71cYQ9Y_ZA commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  A/B testing is already being used by some switched on publishers like Sourcebooks. Actually it is more like A/B/C followed by B/D/E followed by E/F/G testing......
• https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlPAFMebQXG6KmH1iuibbYAr71cYQ9Y_ZA commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  As for applying a PLR-style system to ebook library lending: such a system exists in Sweden and publishers hates it (it is far too rigid). Also in Sweden everybody borrows ebooks for free(counties foots the bill) and almost nobody *buys* ebooks. Amazon not yet having entered the market may be a contributing factor, but free and easy lending has almost certainly cut into the market for purchasing ebooks. Publishers are not totally irrational in hating lending (forma business point of view). Off course once a title is back-list or too obscure to find any takers when published, it is a...
• zhochaka commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  Something that occurred to my brother: will publishers still indulge in bidding wars for books by certain sorts of author? Charlie is well short of the bestseller class of author where the royalties might come closest to matching the advance. On the other hand, production process costs are hardly likely to change until we get to printing. It's publicity which will increase the publisher's costs. Perhaps the numbers make sense as a share of the profits. But the bidding failures that get reported seem to be the memoirs of the celebrities (including politicians) and the more literary sorts of fiction,...
• RDSouth commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  "Why not use animated covers?" Because it would waste bandwidth and lead to slow page downloads? However the issue of tiny icons could perhaps be solved by rigging up some kind of a rollover magnifying glass effect, so if you roll the cursor over an icon it shows in a larger form on part of the screen, without requiring clicking on it and going to a new page exclusively about that book. Fat chance that will happen, they probably have done the statistics to know that once you click to go to a book specific page you are more likely...
• Antonia T Tiger commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  You can get waterproof cases for e-readers, essentially plastic bags with a guarantee. So the bath/beach problems are surmountable....