01-17-2010, 08:13 PM | #91 | |
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In the medium to long term, the way to make ebooks accessible is for only accessible ebooks to be bought. Publishers don't give a crap about any specific person not buying, but they will care about sales rankings - if the accessible ebooks are selling better overall, then they will notice - and it's via reaching the customers that this will occur. And the author is certainly going to care, if they have any clue whatsoever about new media (And if they don't, then they're going to bleed sales anyway). I have no sympathy for companies trying hard not to sell to me. I'm quite willing to give them rope. Last edited by DawnFalcon; 01-17-2010 at 08:17 PM. |
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01-17-2010, 08:40 PM | #92 |
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Shouldn't you have given old Karl Marx credit for that quote? Taken from his "the last capitalist will sell to the communists the rope with which he will be hanged?" (or something like that, even though it didn't quite work out that way?)
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01-17-2010, 10:19 PM | #93 | |
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People who are bothered by delayed release of ebooks are, if they are honest with themselves, by the fact they feel excluded and cannot have what they want when they want it. Mind I am in no way saying ebook releases should not coincide with new releases of a book, but this is how it is accept it, life is far to short and we all have man, many other options. If people simply have the discipline to NOT buy the print version when no ebook option exists then that will get the publisher's attention...posting a review with the look and feel of a petulant child will get laughed off into the ether... Still I completely in favor of creating organized efforts to encourage publishers to put out electronic versions sooner...but not in acting out of frustration and restraint. |
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01-18-2010, 12:16 AM | #94 |
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Sigh. This is not about individuals, it's about market behavior. I, myself, completely refuse to purchase DRM'ed books, preferring second hand books. So you're quite wrong on my motivations.
Deliberately refusing to sell to people is one of the major drivers of the darknet. Oh, you can't stop people from using the darknet, but as the music industry shows you can get them to pay as well. All they're doing is cutting themselves out of potential revenue. And once more, this is not about reaching the publisher. They're not going to change path unless either the general public or authors tell them to, and Amazon reviews are tools for reaching those audiences, not publishers. You may chose to laugh, and to ignore the evidence of what happens, but it's the same for all IP industries and I - working in that field - can't afford to. Literally. |
01-18-2010, 12:31 AM | #95 |
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This is not the first time that some internet system has been seized on to be used in a fashion not anticipated by the designers. Heck, the internet itself is such a system. If there's One Rule That Rules Them All, it seems to me that on the internet, a system is what the users use it for, not what the designers intend it for.
My personal approach, though, is not to protest. I figure that the publishers have made their decision, so now I will make mine. When I look for an ebook, I always start with Inkmesh or AddAll to scope out the existence of the book in ebook form. If I find it, I buy it - or not - based on whether I think the price is right. But if I don't find it for sale at all in ebook form, buying the book in first sale pbook form becomes my very last choice. The publisher usually loses the sale. |
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01-18-2010, 02:32 AM | #96 | |
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01-18-2010, 03:11 AM | #97 | |
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01-18-2010, 04:33 AM | #98 |
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Also, it gets noticed. Authors being incessant egosurfers and all.
Jeffrey Ford, demonstrating how not to sell books :- "'Righteous Protests From the Untalented' "Hmmmm. Interesting phenomenon over at Amazon.com. It seems my books The Drowned Life and The Shadow Year have been "blacklisted and georestricted," by the prolific idiot reviewer Blue Tyson, whose three word reviews litter the SF/F landscape like rabbit pellets. He gives it one star and here's what he says, "This book is georestricted and hence will not be bought. Unfortunately it is probably good, too." I had to look this term up to see what it meant. I saw on Caitlin Kiernan's blog that her work has gotten the same treatment. Somebody there wrote in to say that it has to do with the fact that Tyson lives in Australia and, since he can't download the book due to the fact it is geo restricted, is giving it one star and "blacklisting" it. Ha. What douche bag. A bad review from that guy has probably sold a few copies already." [A not very erudite insult, either from someone who claims he has talent] http://14theditch.livejournal.com/332042.html Daniel Suarez, similarly :- "Hey, a**hole, how about sticking with the free stuff and not messing with writers on Amazon trying to make a living." http://freesf.blogspot.com/2010/01/f...el-suarez.html and Caitlin R. Kiernan (an author whose work I like more than Ford's) :- Absolving herself of any responsibility (as do many of them), and also somewhat ignorant of how it works :- " His complaint is with Amazon.com, and maybe my publisher, but you do not express your displeasure by attacking in such a way as to harm the author, as though we have some say in the matter. It's comes across petulant and childish." http://greygirlbeast.livejournal.com...16399#t8016399 Jesse Bullington , demonstrating his cluelessless on this, :- "Re: georestricted I got hit by the same crumb this morning, a copy/paste job for sure--and here I though I was special:/ What's really weird is my publisher distributed the book in Australia, so yeah, it must have something to do with Kindle whatsits--like region coding on dvds." http://greygirlbeast.livejournal.com...26127#t8026127 |
01-18-2010, 04:36 AM | #99 |
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Or, if anyone else feels like a 1 star georestriction review, these are the ones people have told me have stuck their necks out so far.
'The Drowned Life and The Shadow Year' - Jeffrey Ford 'Freedom and Daemon - Daniel Suarez' 'The Red Tree - Caitlin R. Kiernan' 'The Sad Tale Of the Brothers Grossbart - Jesse Bullington' Pick Ford or Suarez if you just want one. Last edited by Blue Tyson; 01-18-2010 at 05:14 AM. |
01-18-2010, 05:07 AM | #100 |
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01-18-2010, 05:23 AM | #101 |
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And from a point about the darknet, earlier
These are all available for free :- Daemon - Daniel Suarez The Shadow Year - Jeffrey Ford The Red Tree - Caitlin R. Kiernan The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart - Jesse Bullington |
01-18-2010, 06:10 AM | #102 | |
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Noone is buying books by looking for 5 star rating books on amazon. People hear about a book from other people, magazins, forums, newspapers, then come to amazon to read reviews, not just look at star rating. Anyone who does otherwise is plain stupid and should not read books (and they don't). I think only some books are being sold like that to people who cannot think for themselves. How to loose 20 kg in 20 seconds etc. These people are not readers. Just a herd of easily manipulated consumers who follow the crowd and TV shops. People who buy fiction or serious non-fiction, whose habbit of reading is their hobby, they would never buy a book based on how many stars it got on amazon without digging deeper. |
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01-18-2010, 06:18 AM | #103 |
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The other side of this is that author apathy and an unwillingness to deal with the new realities of a digital world means the publishing industry is going to find it very, very easy indeed to stiff most of them with very poor contracts.
I think over the next few years quite a lot of authors are going to get a shock. |
01-18-2010, 07:10 AM | #104 | |
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When I am considering a textbook I will usually narrow the selection down to half a dozen books with 4 or 5 star ratings on Amazon and then read some of the reviews to get a feel for the books. I take offence at being called "stupid" and being told "not to read". My system may not be perfect (I'm sure there are plenty of good books I've missed) but it allows me to spend more time reading quality books than wading through book reviews. Last edited by RobbieClarken; 01-18-2010 at 07:12 AM. |
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01-18-2010, 07:17 AM | #105 | |
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Sorry for offending you. |
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