06-15-2010, 11:09 AM | #31 |
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Maybe, but making books with worldwide rights US only does, as mentioned above.
So does ceding a significant and growing market to a competitor (or competitors) that are currently having you for lunch. Quantum physics is complicated. Making an international bank payment is most definitely not. |
06-15-2010, 11:53 AM | #32 | |
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a) Restricting their self-publishing facility to US authors. b) Restricting their books sales to US customers. |
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06-15-2010, 12:07 PM | #33 |
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*sigh*
I for one think it's pretty obvious that setting up an international business overnight would be extremely complicated, therefore costly and more likely to fail than starting in one location, tweaking it to get it right, and then expand to other countries. Don't forget that in this case, B&N has to collect payments from international customers and pay the self-publishing author. I would assume that both aspects involve all kinds of reporting requirements, VAT and income taxes and so forth. Simplifying distribution does not magically make every single regional law, tax obligation or other requirement disappear into thin air. I don't think it will be impossible or that they will never do it, only that it takes time. Of course, since we live in the Intarnet age, people have about as much patience as a fruit fly on crack. More irrational whining in 3, 2, 1.... |
06-15-2010, 12:21 PM | #34 |
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Whining? I am more than happy for them to go down in flames, personally. ;-)
Ah, so taking credit card payments from people is now hard for large companies, too? Lol! Most companies of course don't anything like taking money and paying out money stuff day to day, so I can see how that would be so very, errr... taxing for a neophyte small trader like Barnes and Noble. :-) |
06-15-2010, 12:49 PM | #35 | ||
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06-15-2010, 01:02 PM | #36 |
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Complaining that B&N hasn't yet solved the ebook trade, security and international copyright issues that no one else has yet managed to fully solve, sounds a lot like blaming the airlines for not having invented transporter technology yet.
I'm not saying people shouldn't be frustrated. I am saying that blame should not be placed at B&N's feet. They are doing what they can with the resources at their disposal, according to existing laws that they did not write. They are also not a charity, and so should not be expected to do something that will cause them to lose money. Any complaints about international trade and copyright procedures should be taken to your respective governments, not to a bookstore chain. |
06-15-2010, 01:34 PM | #37 |
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Hardly frustrated, as to me they are 100% irrelevant. It would be good for them to cark it, so the book depository can get some of their market, and have foreigners continue to subsidise our bookbuying. ;-). So from that point of view I am quite pleased they are inept.
Steve, copyright in this sense is completely makes no difference for people self publishing, as they own all of them to start with, and can sell it anywhere, so you are making no sense. Same goes for international trade barriers. American companies can sell ebooks they have all the rights for to anyone they please. So what trade barriers? Otherwise those doing it now *could not*. Certainly no laws stopping them doing so. We aren't talking about flogging Stephen King editions to kiwis. |
06-15-2010, 01:43 PM | #38 | |
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Barnes and Noble _bought out_ a company that had all this handled already, so you can hardly make excuses about poor dumb johnny-come-latelys given that fact. |
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06-15-2010, 02:45 PM | #39 | |
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How does an author prove it's their work? How does B&N et al satisfy the legal requirements necessary to avoid an infringement lawsuit? Are e-books by B&N, Amazon, etc even profitable in the US market? Thank you. |
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06-15-2010, 03:19 PM | #40 | |
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Obviously not a problem if you don't care about others stealing your work and profiting from it... but not everyone is that generous. |
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06-22-2010, 07:53 PM | #41 |
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Wow, what an uncharacteristically acrimonious thread!
Isn't it fairly standard procedure to roll out goods and services in one's own country first and expand into international markets if it seems to be working out? |
06-22-2010, 10:45 PM | #42 |
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Well, the ebook market does seem to have that effect on people, after all the years of fumbling the ball on their own home field. Basically, we'd all like to think that all of this would have been worked out a long time ago, and we'd all be reading cheap, well-formed ebooks from all lands today. It can be disappointing to be reminded that the industry just hasn't come very far yet.
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09-28-2010, 11:11 AM | #43 |
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Update: Publish now
I just received an email announcing that PubIt! is ready for registration and selling your books.
I went to the PubIt! main page, which still has the "coming soon" label, and a non-working Terms and Conditions pagesite, giving you no clue that you can actually get started with it. In fact, apparently only people who preregistered with PubIt! will get this email invite. The link included in the email takes you to a signup page that prompts you to create an account, using your B&N customer login or a PubIt! users' login. You sign in with your B&N account, or create a new account, and you are taken to... The PubIt! signup page that you just came from, whereupon the only thing you can do... again... is sign up for an invite to PubIt! So, to recap: The email link puts you in a signup circle, the Terms and Conditions don't work/aren't available, and you can't actually go in there and publish anything. Very confidence-inspiring, non? |
09-28-2010, 12:07 PM | #44 | |
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09-28-2010, 12:16 PM | #45 |
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Actually, that's not the same email I got. I received that one a while ago, and a new all-text email is now out that takes you to a page that is similar, but includes a Create Account button and no "coming soon" note at top. Did you click on the B&N Terms and Conditions, or the T&C accessed from question 15 of the FAQ (the "here" link)? And what happened when you signed in?
Edit: It looks like the T&C link at the bottom of the new PubIt! page works okay, so don't try to access it from the FAQ. Of note is item VIII. Security/DRM: It suggests DRM is applied at the publisher's request, which is good. The rest of the agreement isn't so hot. B&N has the right to set the price for your book, regardless of your suggested list price... royalties are not specified, except in a Service Policies document that (surprise, surprise) does not appear... they state they have the right to "correct errors" and edit formatting on your book, and the only recourse you have to any errors they introduce is to yank the book, a 5-day process... they retain the rights to yank your book in an instant if they don't like the content... etc... etc... Last edited by Steven Lyle Jordan; 09-28-2010 at 12:41 PM. |
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barnes & noble, self-publishing |
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