Kbuuk Starts Up

The name not-withstanding, and even that is growing on me, I read in the local paper about a new ebook publishing company called Kbuuk. It's an interesting name from outset and they describe it in the article as:

That's "K" for "cloud," which is where e-books are hosted, and "buuk" for, well, "book."

I've gone to the site and tooled around a bit, and it's not too bad. I plan on using it as a channel for my books, although from the article it sounds as though they'd rather have me as a reader than an author.

Although the Kbuuk website went live in March 2012, the company is still in that sand- papering stage. The site has some 460 registered users, with the ratio of authors to readers about 3-to-1. 

The article did start me to thinking. How many other channels will be out there in the future for authors to use to publish ebooks. Already I've got mine on Amazon, Smashwords, CreateSpace, and more. So far I fine Smashwords to be the most aggressive and the best experience, but will more Kbuuks come along in the near future? What will that mean for e-publishing? What is the benefiet for Kbuuks over Smashwords?

One benefit leaps to mind immediately, not being lost in the shuffle. At Amazon there seems to be so many books that newer, less well known authors can't be seen as readily. With Smashwords the area is so overwhelmed with writers of less renown that no one stands out. Also, the categorization and display of works is a tad unweildy. Is Kbuuks the first of the "specialization" publishers? Will we soon see e-publishing sites that specialize in thrillers, others in Christian books, others in non-fiction etc.

You heard it hear first folks.