Amazon's Russ Grandinetti Tries to Brush Off Publishers' Concerns at Digital Book World Conference
Subscription models also garnered significant attention during the Q&A and Shatzkin asked whether subscription will ever come to dominate Amazon's retail channel? "It's interesting," said Grandinetti. "In every digital media category subscription is playing a major role -- musics, movies, TV. I don't think books will be immune to this. But the difference is that unlike other industries our a la carte sales are still healthy. We're still getting readers to pay for individual books. So we need to structure it for the right customer, at the right time, and with the right publisher so that it grows the business."
Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.