Will Amazon Kindle Vertical Integration?

I wrote a controversial Forbes column, How Amazon Could Change Publishing, in the spring. In this column, I submitted that Amazon could disintermediate traditional publishers and agents, and free up money that they could share with authors. My hypothesis was based on the fact that since Amazon has a technology-based merchandising system capable of figuring

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Deal Radar 2008: Entrepreneur Journeys

There was a time when technology venture capitalists would not touch a “content” deal. They only funded pure play technology companies. Gradually, as the Internet industry evolved, the notion of “paid content” brought about a fundamental change, leading to many content deals getting funded. Back in the summer of 2005, as I wrote about the

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Book Out Sooner

Readers, Entrepreneur Journeys (Volume One) was originally due on Oct 1, but it looks like it will be ready sooner, on Sept 27. I believe Amazon has started shipping pre-orders, so if you have ordered already, you should be receiving your copy soon. We have some nice editorial reviews, and would love to have as

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Books By Sramana Mitra

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course. Entrepreneur Journeys Billion Dollar Unicorns (Available for order from Amazon Kindle) The vast majority of entrepreneurs today are trying to figure out how to build billion dollar Unicorn companies. Venture Capitalists have always been looking for Unicorns to fund. And yet, the probability of founding

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Amazon Amazes!

Amazon’s results are in … and they are impressive! Net income for the quarter doubled with a 41% rise in revenue in a slowing, hiccuping economy.

Deal Radar 2008: Blurb

Blurb gives individuals and groups the ability to create, publish and market professional quality photo books. Unlike offset printing, they can publish just one copy or thousands, bringing book publishing to the masses. The self-publishing and print-on-demand industry is starting to become a meaningful alternative to the older, slower, more traditional publishing model.

Book Business

The Economist echoes what I wrote in Forbes recently: The book business is going to change in favor of authors. “Publishing has only two indispensable participants: authors and readers. As with music, any technology that brings these two groups closer makes the whole industry more efficient—but hurts those who benefit from the distance between them.”

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eBay’s Auction Woes

Business Week reports that eBay’s auctions business model is being increasingly overlooked for fixed price transactions. Ease of use is a primary driver. Another is the ubiquitous presence of comparison shopping engines.