Just a simple post to say....

[Wendy Heckman]

This is a fabulous idea. My husband told me about this, because he knows I am always looking for new books to read, and Ive put down many a book that sounded great, but I couldn't deal with the writing style. One example, The Manchurian Candidate. Loved the movie, loved the story, couldn't get past chapter 2. I really hope this place takes off, I know others who would come here too. 

[Jo Red]

I suppose the important question is, would you pay monthly for this service ?

The same question can be applied to the use of following services :

- Google
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Digg
- etc.

Would you pay monthly to use them ?

I really believe that Booklamp can achieve greatness if they make this a FREE service. Later generate revenue through ads, affiliations, etc. Or even get bought out by a more establised corporation such as Google ;-)  Then change your website to www.finallytheygotthemessage.com

Cheers,
Jo

[Daniel Bowen]

I don't get it, but I believe you have great beliefs Jo

[Jo Red]

I don't get it, but I believe you have great beliefs Jo

Which part don't you get ?  Maybe you're part of the 1% who would pay monthly subscription to to use Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

[Mandi Taylor]

Hey, now...  If Facebook and Google suddenly disappeared, I'd bet more than 1% of people would pay to get them back.

[Wendy Heckman]

No, I wouldn't pay for it. But I wouldn't pay for facebook or Google either. I suppose I wouldn't pay for any kind of monthly service unless I'm going to use it heavily in my every day life.

[Jo Red]

Hey, now...  If Facebook and Google suddenly disappeared, I'd bet more than 1% of people would pay to get them back.

It's quite an unlikely scenario.

[Jo Red]

No, I wouldn't pay for it. But I wouldn't pay for facebook or Google either. I suppose I wouldn't pay for any kind of monthly service unless I'm going to use it heavily in my every day life.

Same here. I also use Hotmail because it's FREE.  I like using Google because it's FREE, it loads fast and don't need to logon before I can do a search. There are some online services I would pay for though, such as web hosting as it is crucial for my business.

Anyway, I'm not shooting down the Booklamp idea,  just steering them in the right direction. If they really want Booklamp to flourish, then make it free (remember Skype?) and generate revenue later.  If it proves popular you can get a lot of VC funding for it though, even if it's free service (eg., Google, Facebook, MySpace, Amazon, etc).

"The best things in life are FREE ....."

[Mandi Taylor]

The likeliness of it happening is completely beside the point.
I do use Facebook and Google just about every day, usually multiple times per day.  I would pay to use them, to a point.

[Stephen Rollins]

The same question can be applied to the use of following services :

- Google
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Digg
- etc.

Would you pay monthly to use them ?

I don't use Facebook, Twitter, Digg, or ect., so as far as I'm concerned, those can cost whatever they want. 

But I like using Google, defiantly.  Not sure if I would pay for it or not...  There are some things I feel are worth my money, like the $13/mo I'm putting into a game.  But Google is something that gets used so much that it'd be hard to imagine not being able to go and Google something... the word's become it's own verb, for crying out loud! 

Would I pay for Booklamp?  Don't know.  Right now, I've never used it, so it's not like I feel as though I'd be missing out on something major without putting in money.  But at the same time, the concept behind Booklamp is something I really would like to use, and especially if I felt it worked... 

Still, nothing wrong with going free. 

[Daniel Bowen]

Maybe Jo... just maybe...  But if you have to know, and I have to say... then I prolly wouldn't pay.  But whose to say, and whose to know?  We'll have to see where things go...  but maybe Jo... just maybe...

I hope no one takes this seriously, I just wanted to answer Jo's earlier comment with a bit of poetry.  Hope you enjoyed it.

[Therin]

You'd be surprised what people are willing to pay for.  We pay for telephone calls and mobiles though there are free options, we dole out for pay tv and internet, for bottled water and movie rental.  More to the point organisations pay for licences for programs despite freeware options all over the place.  Firms pay for database access for the sake of convenience now despite the fact the information is in libraries that are considered too slow... 

Further it's not necessarily the people searching for books that need to pay for the service.  Moving beyond the connectivity possibilities between writers and agents... Let's face it, wonderful as this is for the consumer, it's basically viral advertising for publishing houses.     Yeah, most people will borrow or beg these books but a small minority will purchase, especially once it links to a reliable site like Amazon, and, economically relevant people will purchase blind once they trust the system.

And would I pay for my product to be reliably and internationally advertised to my exact target audience at the perfect moment they are searching for that product without extra staff or advertising redundancy?  darn tootin' 

[Jo Red]

And would I pay for my product to be reliably and internationally advertised to my exact target audience at the perfect moment they are searching for that product without extra staff or advertising redundancy?  darn tootin' 

As a publisher I would pay to have my book listed.  But as a user, there's no way I would pay to do be able to do a search.  Call it unfair or whatever, but at the end of the day it's my call.


I think your finger slipped there, is Booklamp's contract with Amazon ?  I won't be suprised though as our debate seems to be heading to a business model that is similar to Amazon :-)

[Stephen Rollins]

economically relevant people will purchase blind once they trust the system.

I've already done that a few times.  Luckily I wasn't disappointed with the purchases.    But you bring up a good point, that the more people use and grow to trust how BookLamp suggests books, the more likely they'll be to just purchase any book that gets suggested.

How nice would that be?  "I just finished this book... let's order the next one that the system suggests."  If the database was large enough, you could keep that up forever.  Or at least till your pockets ran dry.  XD

[Therin]

I think your finger slipped there, is Booklamp's contract with Amazon ? 

No, Jo, don't put words in my mouth, I said:

especially once it links to a reliable site like Amazon

That "like" was quite intentional.  I only chose Amazon because it's my internet booksite of choice, though I am also a huge fan of A&R.  However, as this is largely an American based audience I was not sure if that would be a brand name you'd recognise.   Also, what makes you think I'd know?    I'm as in the dark as you...

But thanks for this concession though...

As a publisher I would pay to have my book listed. 

We can all play the quote game, Jo.  Some of us just don't feel the need.