Kindle 2's free text-to-audio conversion capabilities will cut into author's profits, the president of the Authors Guild said in an editorial.
Roy Blount, Jr., wrote in the New York Times Op-Ed section that Kindle 2's audio is "quite listenable." That makes it a viable alternative to audiobooks, which have been a solid source of revenue for authors.
"True, you can already get software that will read aloud whatever is on your computer," Blount wrote. "But Kindle 2 is being sold specifically as a new, improved, multimedia version of books — every title is an e-book and an audio book rolled into one. And whereas e-books have yet to win mainstream enthusiasm, audio books are a billion-dollar market, and growing."
Earlier this month, the Authors Guild suggested that its members should start negotiating contracts with the Kindle 2 in mind, going as far to suggest prohibitions on audio functionality in e-books without authorization. Such consent from the publisher would, of course, require a fee from Amazon.
A scathing response followed from the National Federation for the Blind, which noted that blind people routinely rely on e-book readers. Blound defended the guild, saying it's "all for technologies that expend that availability." He didn't, however, say whether the Kindle 2 should allow its text-to-speech services for free to blind people.
Other critics wondered if the guild took issue with parents reading books to children before bedtime, as it claims that free digital readings of audio is copyright infringement. Not for non-commercial purposes, he said, but "it's another matter" if the Kindle 2's voice is involved.
The fault in Blount's logic is the assumption that someone who buys a book for the Kindle 2 would also then purchase an audiobook seperately. In claiming that audiobooks are a $1 billion industry, he suggests that lots of money is at risk when people download e-books. Authors still incur royalties as a result of those purchases, so the negative financial impact on authors is probably less than Blount predicts. It may even be nonexistent if Kindle 2 users start buying more e-books than ever before.
