So this is new. I left Marvel. Today was my first day as Creative Director for Amazon Publishing. I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.
— Perazza (@Perazza) September 9, 2014
So I'll be working with the excellent teams behind Thomas & Mercer, 47 North, Jet City, Two Lions, Montlake, Skyscape and the rest!
— Perazza (@Perazza) September 9, 2014
Via tweets last night, industry veteran Ron Perazza announced that he’s left Marvel, where he served most recently as Director of Digital Publishing starting last year, and joined Amazon to as Creative Director of all of their digital publishing efforts. Perazza’s multi faceted career includes stints at Fleer, Marvel, DC (where he ran creative services and then rose to VP of Online and oversaw the Zuda webcomics launch), Marvel again and now Amazon. Perazza has relocated to Seattle for the position.
Amazon’s publishing includes a multitude of imprints, which cover mystery, SF, self-help, teens, and comics, under the Jet City Imprint, which has thus far concentrated on adaptations and extensions of best selling authors like Hugh Howey, George RR Martin and Neal Stephenson. Of course, one would expect Perazza to leave his mark on this area, but he has a wide portfolio where his expertise with digital formats and distribution will doubtless come in handy.
And we haven’t even mentioned Comixology, which comes is still in the process of adapting to Amazon’s systems.
All of this reminds me, what ever happened to Amazon’s licensed fanfic program, Kindle Worlds? Valiant signed up for this, but other comics publishers haven’t raced to allow approved fan fiction through the program, despite the obvious mountain of material.
While Amazon’s battle with Hachette and other publishers over pricing show no sign of being solved anytime soon, original publishing is also an important part of their product mix. Obviously, Perazza is going to be a busy guy. Congrats!
The other problem with Amazon’s original publishing:
getting other retailers to sell your titles.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444592704578062631678116120
As for Kindle Worlds… Do I really want to read a prose story about a comic book?
I’ll read prose stories about superheroes, but this… this reminds me of the text pages Gold Key inserted in their comics to qualify for cheaper postage. (Yes, letter pages and DiDio’s editorials fulfill the same requirement.)
From a publisher’s viewpoint, I think this is a bit of a headache… you encourage others to write fanfic, then must edit it to protect your IP. And then… it’s like taking unsolicited manuscripts… what if someone comes up with an idea similar to something already in the works?
Better to peruse other fanfic sites, find writers with skill, and then offer them a legitimate job offer. I believe at least one comicbook writer was discovered via Literotica…