Screwed by Tor again...

[DanT]

There is a small thread on baen's bar under tor webscription at the end they speculate that is still contract negotiation or something.



From the thread they refered to this comment on teleblog
http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/08/04/11730/

I have spoken to two unimpeachable sources (one high up at Tor, the other high up at Baen), and the word is that Tor will be reactivating their webscription service as soon as the lawyers finish sorting out the contractual arrangements. (Which are going slowly and tediously as Holtzbrinck’s lawyers grapple with stuff they don’t understand and haven’t dealt with before. The exec at Holtzbrinck who jammed on the brakes is now out of the picture, but the legal formalities have to be observed.)

[Also on August 10, 2008 by Tarl Neustaedter]

I asked at the Tor session at Worldcon today. After the panel got done chuckling (my guess is they had a bet on how long it took someone to ask about e-books), Patrick Nielsen Hayden said they're working out some issues, and he can't talk about them. e-books are likely 6-12 months away.

6-12 month !!! Quite frustrating.

[Taylor514ce]

Which brings me full circle: TOR is off of my reading list, and the free e-book promotion has left a bitter taste in my mouth. What an unfortunate way to launch their site, like offering crumbs to a starving man.

[nekokami]

I agree, it's irritating (and I'm another person who has downloaded the free TOR books, but put off reading them until more are available). But if the whole Macmillan product line starts to appear in 6-12 months, or even just the whole TOR line, I'll be pretty happy, given the lack of movement in the past 20 YEARS.

Meanwhile... I've got ways to read most of the books I really want to read as ebooks. I do my best to make sure authors get compensated for each new book I read, but I just can't afford to store any more paper books.

[Taylor514ce]

Ok, for those of you not following the discussion on tor.com (which is not to be confused with TOR's website, which is, umm, well, it isn't tor.com, ok?) the official answer is, to paraphrase: stop bugging us, dude.

However, the general feeling in the air is that TOR is working something out with Baen Webscriptions. I've looked at Webscriptions a couple of times. I think I get it, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Books come in parts. New parts each month.
2. Each month will also introduce up to 4 new books to which I can subscribe.

Is that basically correct? If so, cool... but that's not how I'd like to purchase books. And it's in particular not how I'd like to purchase specific TOR books.

So, I guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that at some point in the future (don't ask, it's none of your business) there will be other options.

[nekokami]

Generally speaking, the books featured in Webscriptions have also been available as single complete ebooks. I'm hoping someone just used the Webscriptions name as an easy shorthand.

[VillageReader]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

1. Books come in parts. New parts each month.

I'm not certain who the marketing genius was behind this, but in a typical year I read over 150 books - or one every 2-1/5 days. Since I usually have multiple books going, the average time may be longer, but still around 12 days.

For me 'parts' each month won't cut it. Even a 'slow' read rarely takes a month.

[pdurrant]

None of the options are really subscriptions in the usual sense.

Any of the books on the webscription.net website can be bought individually /once past the publication date/ and you get immediate access to the entire book.

And any set of books in a webscription month can be bought for immediate access to the full books /once past the publication date/.

If you buy a webscription month /before/ the publication date of the books, in the third month before publication, half of each book becomes available in a slightly pre-publication version (still with final polish edit to be done). In the second month, you get the next quarter. And a couple of weeks before the official publication date of the new releases (i.e. two weeks before they appear in bookshops) you get the whole final text of the books.

Individual books are $6. Webscription months are $15, whether bought before or after the publication date.

And then there are eARCs - perhaps six months before publication, usually for $15, you can buy the entire book in pre-edited form. Great if you can't wait to read the next book in a series.

Paul

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Ok, for those of you not following the discussion on tor.com (which is not to be confused with TOR's website, which is, umm, well, it isn't tor.com, ok?) the official answer is, to paraphrase: stop bugging us, dude.

However, the general feeling in the air is that TOR is working something out with Baen Webscriptions. I've looked at Webscriptions a couple of times. I think I get it, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Books come in parts. New parts each month.
2. Each month will also introduce up to 4 new books to which I can subscribe.

Is that basically correct? If so, cool... but that's not how I'd like to purchase books. And it's in particular not how I'd like to purchase specific TOR books.

So, I guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that at some point in the future (don't ask, it's none of your business) there will be other options.

[pagansoul]

For those wondering, these are the titles of the free TOR ebooks:

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham
Battlestar Galactica by Jeffrey A. Carver
*Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell
Darkness of the Light by Peter David
Farthing by Jo Walton
Flash by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
In the Midnight Hour by Patti O'Shea
Lord of the Isles by David Drake
*Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
*Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
*Orphans of Chaos by John Wright
*Reiffen's Choice by S.C. Butler
*Soul by Tobsha Learner
*Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Spirit Gate by Kate Elliot
Starfish by Peter Watts
*Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove
The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedies Lackey & James Mallory
Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa
*Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold
Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

I have all of them but have not read any yet. Amazon also had Kindle versions (*) of a few of these last month for free.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I think I get it, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Books come in parts. New parts each month.
2. Each month will also introduce up to 4 new books to which I can subscribe.

Is that basically correct? If so, cool... but that's not how I'd like to purchase books. And it's in particular not how I'd like to purchase specific TOR books.

Yea... it didn't seem to straight forward to me either. But, from what I can tell you can go buy a single book for $5 too if you want... It seems to me that the "scription" part of it is that you can get books before they are actually published. You also don't have to "subscribe" you can buy any one months bundle that you want... current and future it seems.

None of the TOR books on there seem to be available at this time.

It is nice that if a book you choose is in the Baen free library it tells you and allows you to download it, rather than making you buy it.

BOb

[slayda]

Taylor, as Neko says, you can generally buy Baen books singly. Not sure if TOR will operate the same. The Webscriptions are not really subscriptions in the usual sense. Think of them more as a bundle that you can buy. Each month, there is a different bundle, but just because you bought one bundle, doesn't mean you have "subscribed". Each months bundle is an individual purchase. It's a good way to get some books you know you'll like and also have a good deal on some "unknown-to-you" authors.

You can go back & buy "old" bundles at any time. When you buy a future bundle, they release the first half (I believe) 3 months before it is released on paper, the third quarter is added 2 months before & the last quarter released 1 month before. I almost never DL the books before they are complete but I often buy them ahead of time.

It is not generally known whether TOR will have their own special (TOR only) bundles or whether they will be mixed with Baen. TOR & Baen probably know or maybe this is one of the points still being negotiated.

Hope this helps.

[Taylor514ce]

Got it. I think. The salient point for me is that one can purchase a single, complete, book. Thanks, everyone.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Got it. I think. The salient point for me is that one can purchase a single, complete, book.

I wait until the next month and then buy the month I am interested in. For example, I am interested in the August 2008 webscription; come September, I'll buy it because once September hits, then what you download is the complete text of a book. I only buy a month that has several books that I want to read, making the $15 a good deal. Otherwise, I buy just the individual title.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by slayda

I almost never DL the books before they are complete but I often buy them ahead of time.

Hope this helps.

Oh...

Wait, hold the phone... This is something I didn't know.

So, if I buy lets say the August 2008 subscription and it has a book that is half-finished... then in September they update the August 2008 bundle with the 3/4 finished version of that book. Then in October they update it to have the final version of that book?

OOOOO! If that is the case it makes alot more sense to me, and I understand the "subscription" aspect now. I am subscribing to the updates for all of the books in the bundle and I eventually that months bundle will include 4 complete books?

I was thinking that I would have to buy the next month to get the more complete version of the book from the previous month. Not the case?

BOb

[igorsk]

Yes, you have to pay only once to get the books of a given month's bundle. Also, only the books which are yet to be released are made available partially; the books released before can be downloaded in full immediately.

[Ralph Sir Edward]

The Baen website doesn't always make things clear to newbies. If you look at forthcoming books, you see various books. If you look at the author list, (from the home page) the e-books are not always on the list. You have to goes to the webscriptions first, then look at the author's list on the webscriptions home page sidebar to see the new e-books for sale. Just bought Heilein's Farmer In The Sky and a Leigh Brackett bundle. Guess what I'm reading this weekend...