Macmillan will test subscription model for ebooks

Finally one of the Big Five publishers is trying an alternative business model for selling e-books. In the coming weeks, Macmillan will test the subscription model for e-books, probably through third party companies.

Macmillan’s CEO John Sargent explains the reason:

Through great innovation and prodigious amounts of risk and hard work, Amazon holds a 64% market share of Macmillan’s e-book business. As publishers, authors, illustrators, and agents, we need broader channels to reach our readers.

The question is why would a reader subscribe to Macmillan’s offering, which is limited to books from one publisher? Amazon’s KindleUnlimited already offers unlimited access to over 700,000 e-book titles and audiobooks for $9.99 a month.