my desk is a mess...

So everyone is talking about the Kindle.  Me too.  Tomorrow you'll know why... 

Will it change the face of publishing? That's what everyone is wondering. There's a great blog post at Publishing Talk about the Kindle and about how it's easy to self-publish to the Kindle. And for the first time, even I can imagine self-publishing -- but only certain kinds of things -- but still.  I'm surprised at myself.  Because yes, you'd HIRE an editor and then, take more money home yourself.  There are certain instances when this would make a lot of sense -- particularly if people began to read more books on ereaders and on their ipods and iphones.  (Amazon announced this week that the Kindle software can now be downloaded on those devices, making Amazon THE place for ebooks. Everybody says it's a smart move and I agree.)  

What would I self-publish? Articles maybe.  Non-fiction. Things that target a smaller group of people, but who need this thing nonetheless. If I publish it myself I can keep the price down, and still help pay for my cost.  For instance, Noah Lukeman (someone who admittedly has a huge platform) has an article available on Amazon's Kindle books called "How to Write a Great Query Letter."  It's sold for 80 cents (which must be only covering his costs, because he says he's giving it away for free).  But he could sell it for say $2 and because of his platform, make a little money too.  Anyway, that's the sort of thing that I can imagine.  

Here's a few links:

• Walt Mossberg on first impressions of Kindle on iphone.
• David Pogue on the Sony ereader (comparison with the Kindle) and the iphone app.
• Mashable: 6 ways to publish your own book
• Publishing Talk: More publishing and the recession and speculation about what this means...
• Maybe it means there'll be more lending...