i'm composing a post on how project gutenberg
should approach an arrangement with amazon...

but it appears that real life has just whizzed by.

according to this post on morris rosenthal's site:
>   http://www.fonerbooks.com/selfpublishing/?p=626
amazon is not accepting public-domain e-books.

after preparing and submitting a book  with content
in the public-domain, morris got this from amazon:
>   We’re implementing a new policy that addresses
>   the customer experience problem caused by multiple,
>   undifferentiated copies of public domain titles
>   in our Kindle catalog.
>
>   Our vision is to have high-quality editions of every
>   public domain title in the world available on Kindle,
>   including a free edition of each, and to avoid the
>    confusion that is caused by having a large number of
>   undifferentiated (or barely differentiated) versions of each. 
>
>   To protect the customer experience we have decided
>   to stop accepting and selling duplicate, undifferentiated
>   versions of public domain titles where there is a free edition
>   already available for sale.  As a result, we are removing
>   the following title(s) for sale on our web site:
>
>   Charles Dickens Tale Of Two Cities
>   (The Works Of Charles Dickens) by Dickens, Charles,
>   Digital Item ID: 847429

interesting, eh?

morris goes on with his own reaction:
>   I checked, and sure enough, Amazon published
>   their own free copy of the book the day before,
>   on December 1st 2010.
>   ...
>   I decided to check on how many classics they’ve
>   already published in their new push to protect
>   the customer experience, Here’s the complete list:
>   A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
>
>   I thought that was pretty funny too.

remember when i asked whether anyone here would
want project gutenberg to veto other public-domain
republishers, if it were to magically be given that veto?

and remember how i said consider the answer carefully?

that's because the situation could also come up where
project gutenberg would be the _victim_ of such a veto.

and that scenario might well be coming to pass.

amazon can create their own "blessed" copy of _any_
public-domain book, and then refuse to carry others.

because, as far as amazon is concerned, p.g is just
another one of the republishers who are creating a
confusing situation, a "customer experience problem."

now how does it feel?

now you want to get up on a high horse and complain
about how the public-domain belongs to everyone, eh?

morris goes on:
>   Update: A Tale Of Two Cities is a new Oprah pick,
>   and her people must notify the trade beforehand 
>   to prepare for demand. So my guess is that Amazon’s
>   newfound sensitivity will be one-and-done.

just in case you thought that the new amazon policy
was brought about by the recent brouhaha with p.g.,
don't get a big head.  there are bigger fish in the sea.
much bigger fish.  including a great whale called oprah.

-bowerbird