But is it selling your soul or simply investigating ways to get your books to readers?[/QUOT
Having previously published 44 titles on Smashwords and Amazon, I have mixed feelings about ebooks. I like the freedom of uploading a book, publishing it instantly, but this ignores the need to publicise the thing as a commercially available product. Without some razzmatazz, one's book disappears like a bucket of water emptied into an ocean.
Remembering Marshall McLuhan's phrase
The medium is the message, I appreciate that, theoretically at least, Amazon is an ideal place to flog ebooks. The site's customers are tuned into doing things online, and may well prefer ebooks to traditional hard copies.
The problem comes when this symbiosis breaks down, owing to Amazon's stringent contracts, along with the secrecy and doubletalk I mentioned in another thread. I value my idependence, even if it is hard to attract attention to my market stall. Amazon certainly has the oomph, but their authors are virtual slaves.