A lot of the publishing industry newsletters I get in my inbox these days are either geared toward companies many, many times bigger and more profitable than Chin Music or stuck in the Old World of publishing, only acknowledging the digital shift we're in by mentioning the Kindle or some other Amazon item. Bookhitch.com's newsletter is different. It is very relevant to the Chin Musics of the world and anyone else who is trying to grasp just where this industry is headed.

Consider this brief wrap up of the latest newsletter: The opening piece contained a smattering of opinions on Amazon's controversial move to demand that publishers use its on-demand printer. The responses ranged from outraged to resigned. but nobody felt this was a smart move on Mr. Bezos' part. This kind of strong-arming is going to come back to bite him. Here's one comment:

"“I have asked my assistant to delete all my Amazon affiliate links on my nine websites, and have asked Amazon to pay any outstanding commissions because I am terminating my affiliate relationship after 12 years. And I'm trying to figure out how to notify the 70+ people in my list of Facebook friends who are marketers that if they want me to participate in best-seller campaigns, they have to offer a non-Amazon alternative (I did one the other day that offered a choice of Amazon, BN, or Powell's; I went through Powell's and it felt great)."

The piece is comprehensive and timely.

The next thing that caught my eye was one that focused on Harper Collins' plan to start an imprint that offers writers no royalties but also accepts no returns from bookstores. Fascinating. The newsletter contained an interview with an industry insider that said the idea was preposterous and a terrible way to go if you're a writer because you will end up making a lot less: "How’s zero sound? Because that’s what most authors make on royalties…even authors who are strong mid-list producers, even those who have name cache and a dozen titles in print. Publishers are good at either pushing a book into the market or leaving it to languish. One of the primary signals they send can be measured by how many zeroes are in the advance."

The rest of the newsletter talked about JK Rowlings' copyright case, what will happen if Barnes & Noble buys Borders (answer: not much), selling books for charity and the prospect of book rentals (like a Netflix for books). All interesting and well-written. And free, I might add.