Amazon Prime...Books?

This week, everyone has been buzzing with the news that Amazon is possibly going to do a fee for unlimited ebooks, similar to what Netflix does for movies and television shows. I haven't heard many authors weigh in on the idea and I'm a bit confused about that. Am I one of the few concerned about this possibility?

Publishers will demand at least a flat fee for their books, especially since there is already a business model for that in the form of studios licensing their titles to Netflix. I can see HarperCollins or Random House getting X amount of money for X amount of titles. They would then keep their percentage and divy up the rest between the authors perhaps yearly, based on a per download rate--which wouldn't be known until the whole year had passed.

Would Amazon do the same for indie authors? Or would they make us opt in like we currently must opt in for lending books if we want the 70% royalty. I can't see the point of opting in to that since it would basically mean just giving the books away. Who is going to buy the book if they can get all the books they want for free for one yearly price?

I just can't see a happy outcome from this, unless Amazon puts a lump sum away and divides it among indie authors also based on the number of downloads. Also, I can see authors opting in for one of their books, but accepting just a 35% royalty on subsequent books, but making them more expensive so they can make up the losses. So, if you loved the first book in the series, that you read for free via Amazon's PrimeBooks (my name for it, I have no idea what the real name will be but Netflix isn't appropriate since books aren't flicks.), be prepared to pay more for the next in the series.

Maybe I'm completely wrong about it and this will be wonderful for indie authors. I've been wrong before (shhh...don't tell my husband!) like when my book first went free. I was very nervous about it. I guess we'll all find out soon enough.