Kindle users give 1 star rating to book with delayed ebook release

[NightGeometry]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Never one had a reply from a major publisher, either. So not worth the time. They suck at publishing and customer service, those that delay and georestrict.

I've, so far, never had a reply from a publisher, but I always get replies from authors. One was received very promptly on Christmas Eve, which surprised me.

The authors don't seem to have been able to do much so far, but my view is if people keep asking, then it is likely that the author will at least ask next time they speak to the publisher.

On the whole 1 star review thing. Personally I think it is a good thing. Pretty much for all the reasons discussed above.

[Pushka]

My husband is an author and on his publishing contract, consented to digital publication and overseas publication. Neither has happened yet although his books are on Amazon but not kindle. Do non raters here have any idea how your non ratings will impact on the Author? Obviously not. Why spend your life (because writing takes away your normal life) writing a book and have people who simply cant wait for a bit set out to destroy your hard work. Why bother. I think we are developing into a mob who think it is all about me me me and want things now now now at all costs.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

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.

The why do you care? The eBooks in question all have DRM and you won't be buying them even if they came out before the pBook.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by Pushka

Why spend your life (because writing takes away your normal life) writing a book and have people who simply cant wait for a bit set out to destroy your hard work.

Why spend your normal life working for money so that you can buy the things you need or want, only to be turned away at point of sale because the publishing industry has decided it does not want authors to have your money?

I really don't think it's about 'punishing' individual authors. It's about using the only means we have to contact authors and publishers and actually get them to *notice* that we're contacting them, to let them know that they can make more money from customers who want to buy their stuff, by simply digging their heads out of the sand and *selling* books to interested buyers. Some of us are very passionate about books and reading and are gunning for a better future where authors sell books and customers buy them and everyone wins. And frankly, we are both hurt and deeply, deeply puzzled that some in The Biz seem intent on making this so very hard.

What is 'destroying your hard work' is interested customers with money in their hands saying 'here, take it!' and then being told 'no, not you.' By the time your book eventually rolls around to being available, you may have already lost their attention and they have moved on to other things. Lost sale for you. At least this way, you know *why* you've lost the sale. And when the time comes to negotiate your next contract, you'll know what you have to do if you want to get this sort of customer back.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by Pushka

My husband is an author ... Do non raters here have any idea how your non ratings will impact on the Author?

Please see my earlier comment. Yes, I think there is some short term pain (and it's not just your husband feeling it, I can assure you), but in the long term it will be worth it, if we can get through to these publishers. Right now they don't want to listen to us, maybe your husband can help a little with that? Thank you.

[vaughnmr]

This thing started out as a little snowball, rolling off the top of a hill. It's starting to get a lot bigger now, making some noise... This hill is a little bigger than some seem to think. Watch out! We may have an avalanche coming!!!

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Please see my earlier comment. Yes, I think there is some short term pain (and it's not just your husband feeling it, I can assure you), but in the long term it will be worth it, if we can get through to these publishers. Right now they don't want to listen to us, maybe your husband can help a little with that? Thank you.

I agree, some authors will feel the pain. And yet, there is a way to avoid the pain -- talk to your publishers! Pressure them! Things change, and change always brings pain. How many small book stores have been wiped out by Amazon? But change also brings new opportunities and to survive you can't go against flow.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The why do you care? The eBooks in question all have DRM and you won't be buying them even if they came out before the pBook.

Well, depending on what you were actually asking...

a. I make it plain I won't buy the eBook if it's DRM'ed when I send the author the picture of the second hand book w/receipt. Or...
b. You are confusing an action I think is a entirely valid for people to do with something I actually do.
Oh, and in both cases:
c. Why are you assuming that it'll only affect the offerings at Amazon?


Pushka - If they haven't filled their contractual obligations, sue. If there was no contractual obligation, he's been taken - insist on a better contract next time.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Why shouldn't you be allowed to comment on the binding, paper, printing or typesetting quality of a paper book? Those are part of the product you get when you buy it (and you don't need to actually buy it to have something useful to say, you could have seen it in a bookstore, or gotten it as a gift). The same can be applied to ebooks, you can comment on the formatting, crappy OCR, obnoxious DRM or whatever.

And if the review says that the problem is the delayed release, I think it's a fair review.

I agree with those saying that it's impossible to be heard any other way. Although publishers are quite stubborn beasts. It may be for naught...

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Pushka

My husband is an author and on his publishing contract, consented to digital publication and overseas publication. Neither has happened yet although his books are on Amazon but not kindle. Do non raters here have any idea how your non ratings will impact on the Author? Obviously not. Why spend your life (because writing takes away your normal life) writing a book and have people who simply cant wait for a bit set out to destroy your hard work. Why bother. I think we are developing into a mob who think it is all about me me me and want things now now now at all costs.

Is he getting one star reviews for Kindle Delay? If so, he needs to think about how to leverage all that attention. Tell him to get on Amazon & post an author's comment, addressing the lack of an ebook format. Figure out some way to notify all those one-star reviewers when the ebook version comes out. Tell his publisher you want it to take pre-orders for the ebook version.

But my guess is that your husband is not affected by this particular mob action.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by Pushka

My husband is an author and on his publishing contract, consented to digital publication and overseas publication. Neither has happened yet although his books are on Amazon but not kindle. Do non raters here have any idea how your non ratings will impact on the Author? Obviously not. Why spend your life (because writing takes away your normal life) writing a book and have people who simply cant wait for a bit set out to destroy your hard work. Why bother. I think we are developing into a mob who think it is all about me me me and want things now now now at all costs.

And here you are posting about the only thing you are worried about is the effect on your husband, speaking of me, me, me...

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by Pushka

My husband is an author and on his publishing contract, consented to digital publication and overseas publication. Neither has happened yet although his books are on Amazon but not kindle. Do non raters here have any idea how your non ratings will impact on the Author? Obviously not. Why spend your life (because writing takes away your normal life) writing a book and have people who simply cant wait for a bit set out to destroy your hard work. Why bother. I think we are developing into a mob who think it is all about me me me and want things now now now at all costs.

What is your husband's book? I was only able to identify 3 books that had a delayed release date of the Kindle version. There is no general effort to give books without a Kindle version a 1-star-rating. This only applies to books were the publishers are releasing a hardcover and delaying the release of the ebook. Maybe your husband is getting 1-star-ratings for a different reason?

[Pushka]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

And here you are posting about the only thing you are worried about is the effect on your husband, speaking of me, me, me...

That is such a silly little post, however the others make good points. As Harmon rightly says, while my husband is a best selling author in his category, his genre is the not kind that the 'people must have it now or their life isn't worth living' would buy. So, Blue Tyson, this was not a post about MY husband and ME at all! And nor has he received any 1star reports.

BUT as the partner of the author I have a little more background to what it is like to live with an author, deal with the business of having a book edited and published, negotiate on distribution, and see what the audience think of what has become 'their baby'. Authors genuinely CARE about how people enjoy their books and to see the 1star reviews would be personally devastating. They invest their life into writing books, it takes years to write a quality product, and then to have their efforts undermined by a campaign like this is soul destroying. That is why many of you have reported that the author will write back to you, but the publisher couldnt give a rats.

So any of you know how hard it is to get a book published? Contracts are signed months ahead, and if a series is negotiated, years ahead. And these would all have been negotiated well before the ebook became such an important thing. Authors have VERY little control over how their book is distributed.

I understand your concerns but you are aiming at (and hurting) the wrong target.

[RobbieClarken]

Originally Posted by Daithi

There is no general effort to give books without a Kindle version a 1-star-rating. This only applies to books were the publishers are releasing a hardcover and delaying the release of the ebook. Maybe your husband is getting 1-star-ratings for a different reason?

I wonder if books not released as ebooks will become the next target? It seems to me that authors/publishers who choose not to release books as ebooks at all are guilty of a greater disservice to readers than those who just delay the ebook release by a month. But then this campaign is based more on emotion than logic.

Of course, what the publishers wishing to delay the ebook release will do is just not inform Amazon that there will be an ebook version so there won't be the option to pre-order it.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by Pushka

That is such a silly little post, however the others make good points. As Harmon rightly says, while my husband is a best selling author in his category, his genre is the not kind that the 'people must have it now or their life isn't worth living' would buy. So, Blue Tyson, this was not a post about MY husband and ME at all! And nor has he received any 1star reports.

BUT as the partner of the author I have a little more background to what it is like to live with an author, deal with the business of having a book edited and published, negotiate on distribution, and see what the audience think of what has become 'their baby'. Authors genuinely CARE about how people enjoy their books and to see the 1star reviews would be personally devastating. They invest their life into writing books, it takes years to write a quality product, and then to have their efforts undermined by a campaign like this is soul destroying. That is why many of you have reported that the author will write back to you, but the publisher couldnt give a rats.

So any of you know how hard it is to get a book published? Contracts are signed months ahead, and if a series is negotiated, years ahead. And these would all have been negotiated well before the ebook became such an important thing. Authors have VERY little control over how their book is distributed.

I understand your concerns but you are aiming at (and hurting) the wrong target.

We are quite aware of all of that.

However, if a company is so hopeless that they can't negotiate changes to a contract for something not exactly new - that has been going on for years?

Does a smart industry do which:

A) Negotiate between major parties so that each gets a cut of sales appropriately, recognising that things change.

or

B) Don't sell anything to anyone, ensuring that they all make less money, and cry about how tough things are and that it is no longer 1989. Ensuring in the process that a market is completely underserved and have people dislike them so much that they will turn to free options, forever.


Publisher strategy to sell fewer books may be deliberate - what are they trying to do? Brinksmanship to see who dies first and they get that market? Or have more authors that 'fail' so they keep getting new cheaper ones. That's possible, I imagine.

Amazon could try a fun experiment random - on an ad hoc basis refuse to ship paper books to the same countries in exactly the same ways publishers are treating the digital product. They are not likely to obviously, but would certainly show how silly it is. Or delay shipping paper books until the ebook has been out for a month. Or they might just be stocking up the champagne for the day Borders dies. An article today about Barnes and Noble propping up their worth with sales of Nooks. So a brilliant idea to retard your growth and profits in this arena.