Publisher Backlash Against Amazon

[tompe]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Well, THERE is an intelligent response. Lets not even look at the opportunities out there. Lets not realize that paper books and ebooks can co-exist.

Lets just bury our heads in the sand and let the world go by.

Idiots.

You know, you are allowed to not maximize your profit. You can have other goals. Why do you call people idiots that do not want to maximize their profit? It is insulting.

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

"No, I'm sorry but we prefer books as books -- covers, texts, fonts, everything (including even the delightful smell).

Crippen & Landru"

Yes -- I can identify with the love of a well-crafted book. But for me that only applies to a collectible edition, and I don't own many of those. Mass-market paperbacks just aren't in the same category.

The majority of people are into books for the stories -- not for the covers, the fonts, or the smell.

A catchy cover image can help increase sales in stores, particularly when the publisher can get a "face out" position on the shelves. But one doesn't have to abandon cover art when producing an electronic edition. Heck -- my paperbacks are shelved spine out, so I don't see the covers until I take them down. So I see the electronic covers on my books just as easily.

What it appears is that this publisher thinks there is only a limited number of sales they will make -- and they can't envisage having the title available in more than one format.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by lisreed

The Rue Morgue publisher has been on mystery book forums I am on and they have a real grudge against amazon so it will probably be a cold day in hell before they have ebooks. They blame amazon for closing there store. I understand all that but ... They are just a mail catalog now . There physical store in Boulder had to close.

Looks like you were quite right. Here is their response to my follow-up email giving them links to Mobile Read, Fictionwise, etc. --

"Oh, we could easily put books on disks but right now we want to concentrate on the actual printed book. Perhaps down the road."

Sounds like a dead end to me.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by tompe

You know, you are allowed to not maximize your profit. You can have other goals. Why do you call people idiots that do not want to maximize their profit? It is insulting.

(shrugs shoulders). Deal with it.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

"Oh, we could easily put books on disks but right now we want to concentrate on the actual printed book. Perhaps down the road."

Sounds like a dead end to me.

There are plenty of publishers and authors doing ebooks where you can spend your money. Personally, if you are print only I am not buying it.

BOb

[griffonwing]

I suppose if they are unwilling to go the e-route, they really can't complain if we get them from the darknet.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

"Oh, we could easily put books on disks ...

Based on the grasp of technology that their other response shows, I wonder if "put books on disks" means they think you want to walk into a physical bookstore and buy ebooks on floppies?

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Based on the grasp of technology that their other response shows, I wonder if "put books on disks" means they think you want to walk into a physical bookstore and buy ebooks on floppies?

They do seem fixated on a physical medium.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by yankgirl

I used to work for Penguin books and when eBooks started they swore they wouldn't get into it because there is no money. They received so many complaints that when I left (last year) they were setting up a whole ecommerce group for eBooks. I do know that they also have kindle versions they sell on amazon and other formats that they sell on the penguin site.

I applaud them for getting into ebooks but I really wonder if starting a store is a good direction for most publishers to go. When I want a book, I go to a bookstore, physical or digital. I don't know who publishes many of the authors that I like. I'm not going to go to several different sites to buy books when I can go to one and find them as well as some authors I may not have known about yet. Very few publishers have a real brand identity: Baen's, Tor, Harlequin, the Rue Morgue that is the topic of this thread, maybe a few more I'm not familiar with. They're all genre publishers which I think gives them more visibility to their customers. They can get their loyal customers coming to them first before a general bookstore. I can't see Penguin being able to do that. If I were Penguin, I'd leave running an ecommerce store to the folks that know how to do it rather than add on a new division and deal with the growing pains of learning how to run it. Sure, they would get to charge retail, but if they can't run that store more cheaply than the established stores, they'll have to charge more. I doubt they can and folks really aren't likely to go to a store that offers both a smaller selection and higher prices.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

... Personally, if you are print only I am not buying it. ...

Ditto. There is so much really good stuff available as e-books, I just choose to ignore titles that are not available in electronic format.

Originally Posted by griffonwing

I suppose if they are unwilling to go the e-route, they really can't complain if we get them from the darknet.

Duh.... But I guess, some out there just don't get it.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

It's Amazon's fault that they couldn't compete with Amazon? Hmm.... Ok.

BOb

Yes. Of course, no one else would have come along and sold books cheaply on the internet if Amazon hadn't been so uniquely evil.

Technology moves on and you either find a way to adapt or you end up out of business. The challenge is figuring out if there's a way to integrate your core values into the new reality. You will never be able to stop the clock. I believe that there is still a way for us to preserve a more personal reading community and even local physical reading spaces without trying to confront tanks on horseback. We just need to rethink the business.

[Gideon]

Sucks for a publisher to be that ignorant about their own industry. I don't have a lot of sympathy for them.

[PhishStyx]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Based on the grasp of technology that their other response shows, I wonder if "put books on disks" means they think you want to walk into a physical bookstore and buy ebooks on floppies?

You kidding? I was amazed to find that they even have a website based on the response poobear_nc got.

[PhishStyx]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

There are plenty of publishers and authors doing ebooks where you can spend your money. Personally, if you are print only I am not buying it.

BOb

I don't know that I'd go that far. There are some awful "purty" collector's editions around, and most of my graphic novels are print only.

[Smashwords]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I gave them a list: Fictionwise, Webscriptions, BooksOnBoard - forgot about Baen. If I get an answer to my first email, I will add them on. Thanks.

Poohbear, you might want to consider adding Smashwords to that list. We do multi-format, DRM-free ebooks. 85% net back to the author or publisher on sales through Smashwords.com. Works out to about 2X Amazon.

Best,
mark