“Kindle Unlimited”, the new offering from Amazon that puts publishers pissed – Télérama.fr

700 000 e-books for 9,99 € per month … Amazon launches streaming in the books. But what about the remuneration of authors question the editors?

Amazon has the sense of the announcement and the proposed new digital library subscription is again proof. A few months after the United States and the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Spain, the site offers its French customers unlimited access to a selection of its Kindle e-books for $ 9.99 USD per month. With a promotion to 0.99 euros for the first month, until 10 January 2015.

Can read 700,000 books in foreign languages, but offer only 20,000 French titles already reduced the appearance tempting the offer. The reason is simple: “Few publishers accept to play the game and we understand their distrust, says Vincent Monad director of CNL (National Book Centre). In fact, when we see the remuneration of authors, what is the value of the book? Where is the Lang law with the book price set by the publisher? “ And Patrick Gambache, head of digital development in the group La Martiniere, adds: ” We do not go and we are not the only (major groups such as Hachette, Editis, Gallimard, Actes Sud, etc … have not signed anything). We want clarification on this type of offer knowing that the perpetrators will be low paid and we do not want to weaken the booksellers. “

What are the 20,000 French titles offered by Amazon? They come from publishers like Fleurus (Youth) Eyrolles (for practice) but also smaller homes in search of visibility as Bragelonne (fantastic), Youth (welfare) Musardine (erotica) … the field of books public as Les Misérables of Victor Hugo, the Encyclopedia Universalis and many, many self-publishing. No novel re-entry or recent books if it is Harry Potter as JK Rowling, published in France by Gallimard, has retained its digital rights and live past agreements.

Amazon says nothing about the remuneration of authors, even if we talk about the proposed lump sum each month to self-published writers. The magazine Livres Hebdo points out that the United States, Holly Ward, self-published author who met some success on the platform selling “Kindle Direct Publishing,” saw its revenues fall 75 % from the platform Kindle Unlimited.

When agreements on digital contracts have just been signed between the French publishers and authors, we feel a certain point annoyance. “This announcement from Amazon, it is still the illustration of their practice of predation and destruction of the book chain” . The legality of this new service is the key issue discount again on the already crowded carpet Amazon. In seeking to forget the law on the single selling price, including digital books, Amazon continues to put the French edition backpack

Another point to note. Unlimited playing Expression n ‘ is not accurate. One can download ten books at a time. “In the eleventh, it must make a” , says one from Amazon. The service is now available via the Amazon Kindle app on tablets, Android, iOS and Windows Phone.