Backlist Ebooks--A source for inexpensive author-published out of print books!

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by Doranna Durgin

In this case, we're finally in a position to be making our own choices about certain details. Niiiice.

For example, my Evil Twin, Pamela Burford, was able to publish a "director's cut" of her book Too Darn Hot, which had been mangled by its print publisher to make it shorter. Taking a story that's all wit and delicate sexual chemistry and comic timing and chopping it up like that... ::shudder:: It's a very painful thing for an author. E-publishing gives us the opportunity to right old wrongs.

[starrigger]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Bear in mind that a lot of us here are the diehards so we may not represent the average person on the street, but by fair the dominant mood seems to be that people are quite happy to pay a fair price for DRM-free titles from authors who treat us right

Fwiw the last two times I wrote to an author about such an issue, one was to a big-name author and I got no reply and the other was to Joe Haldeman and his wife personally emailed me a copy of the book off her own hard drive

That is the Haldemans to a T.

Since the subject has come up here with respect to Doranna's book being caught up in the machinations, I wonder if any of the authors reading this thread would like to offer their feedback to what I posted here.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Doranna Durgin

But yeah...the Haldemans are, from everything I've heard, like that. 8)

I've known Joe and Gay for many years. Yes. They are.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Patricia Ryan

Thanks for the advice. I believe the plan actually is for us to use a blog platform so that each author can keep her own info updated. But I totally agree that six months is way too long to wait! The rest of this month is a bit crazy for me, because my daughter is getting married , but after that, I'm going to address the issue of getting the website online asap.

You do need to be on Facebook. With something like 500 million users world wide, it has too much reach to ignore. It just shouldn't be the only way to get your info.

I sympathize with wanting a good site and having a particular designer in mind, but you really need a website now rather than when the designer you wish is free. It can always be changed down the road, and it's a reasonable assumption that the first iteration will need changes as you discover areas that need addressing.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Doranna Durgin

I certainly hope to. I would *really* like to have a reading device soon, but must make decisions about which...

Welcome to MobileRead, Doranna.

Think of it like the old days, where the answer to "What computer should I buy?" prompted the question "What do you want to do with it?"

Tell us what you want to read, and where you expect to get it, and we can give advice. Part of it will be based on the format of the material. If what you want to read is only available as a PDF, for instance, that will constrain your choice of reader. Different readers handle different formats, and no dedicated reader handles all of them.
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Dennis

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I've known Joe and Gay for many years. Yes. They are.
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Dennis

I emailed them a screenshot of my Fictionwise bookshelf screen to show I had actually bought the book.

Fwiw they also offered to send me an autographed copy of the paper book for free just to make sure I had a copy at any time

Other authors I have written to about ebook issues:

- Janet Evanovich. I wrote about having some books in the series available and not others. Very friendly assistant (I think it was her daughter) who promised to get back to me and did so, following up even weeks later, and was very nice but had no information.

- Sue Grafton, wrote to about the same thing. Never got reply.

- Nora Roberts, wrote to about ebook geographically restricted and not purchaseable in Canada. No reply.

- Kelley Armstrong, wrote to about the same thing. Got a very friendly reply and she actually did write me back (or her assistant did) a few weeks later to say the ebook was now available. I immediately purchased it.

- Robert J. Sawyer, forget why I wrote. He (or whomever replied) was very knowledgeable about ebook issues but blamed the publisher and said there was nothing he could do.

- Will Lavender, wrote to about ebook being priced four times higher than bookstore paper copy. He replied, but it was basically 'huh, oh well'

- Haldeman, as mentioned. He was a class act and I will remember how he treated me.

I really think that in the coming 'ebook revolution' as we start hitting the tipping point here, authors will no longer be able to ignore these issues if they want to be successful. I mean, think about it from a business standpoint. Can you think of any other business where they would receive a letter that basically says 'here is my money in exchange for your product, do you want it?' and the letter will be dismissed or ignored?

I am really crossing my fingers that Peter S. Beagle's guy, who has posted here, is reading this thread and does not go forward with some sort of bone-headed geo-locked ebook infrastructure. Don't turn away paying customers, Peter!

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

You do need to be on Facebook. With something like 500 million users world wide, it has too much reach to ignore. It just shouldn't be the only way to get your info.

I sympathize with wanting a good site and having a particular designer in mind, but you really need a website now rather than when the designer you wish is free. It can always be changed down the road, and it's a reasonable assumption that the first iteration will need changes as you discover areas that need addressing.
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Dennis

Agreed on all counts. Hopefully we'll have some kind of web site up fairly soon, but we'll always have the Facebook page, too. And after my daughter's wedding, we'll probably start tweeting.

Pat

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by starrigger

That is the Haldemans to a T.

Since the subject has come up here with respect to Doranna's book being caught up in the machinations, I wonder if any of the authors reading this thread would like to offer their feedback to what I posted here.

I feel much the same as you on the subject of DRM, Jeff. My view: Book piracy is loathsome but probably not too detrimental to sales. Most people aren't inherently larcenous, and people who download books illegally probably wouldn't have bought them anyway. To combat piracy by alienating honest customers is a bad idea. I unfortunately allowed my Kindle books to be DRM-protected before the issue was fully on my radar, and now I regret it, because it can't be undone. But Smashwords sells them in all formats (even .mobi, for the Kindle) without DRM. I'm not sure about Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, etc.

I'm going to copy this post into your DRM thread, Jeff, so that we can continue this discussion there.

Pat

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I emailed them a screenshot of my Fictionwise bookshelf screen to show I had actually bought the book.

Fwiw they also offered to send me an autographed copy of the paper book for free just to make sure I had a copy at any time

That's Joe and Gay. Splendid folks.

Other authors I have written to about ebook issues:

- Janet Evanovich. I wrote about having some books in the series available and not others. Very friendly assistant (I think it was her daughter) who promised to get back to me and did so, following up even weeks later, and was very nice but had no information.

- Sue Grafton, wrote to about the same thing. Never got reply.

- Nora Roberts, wrote to about ebook geographically restricted and not purchaseable in Canada. No reply.

- Kelley Armstrong, wrote to about the same thing. Got a very friendly reply and she actually did write me back (or her assistant did) a few weeks later to say the ebook was now available. I immediately purchased it.

- Robert J. Sawyer, forget why I wrote. He (or whomever replied) was very knowledgeable about ebook issues but blamed the publisher and said there was nothing he could do.

- Will Lavender, wrote to about ebook being priced four times higher than bookstore paper copy. He replied, but it was basically 'huh, oh well'

- Haldeman, as mentioned. He was a class act and I will remember how he treated me.

Unsurprising.

Evanovich, Grafton, and Roberts are best sellers. I have to wonder how much of such communications they even see. I'd hardly expect a personal response.

Armstrong and Sawyer are smaller fry, and easier to reach. And Sawyer has knowledge of and interest in the technology. We've exchanged email on things like word processing for mobile devices, as we both use the same software for the purpose.

I really think that in the coming 'ebook revolution' as we start hitting the tipping point here, authors will no longer be able to ignore these issues if they want to be successful. I mean, think about it from a business standpoint. Can you think of any other business where they would receive a letter that basically says 'here is my money in exchange for your product, do you want it?' and the letter will be dismissed or ignored?

The issue isn't the authors. They simply want to sell books, and I doubt they care where you are when you buy. But author's books are issued by publishers, and exclusive rights to sell the book in a particular area is part of what the publishers buy when the license the rights to issue the book.

I am really crossing my fingers that Peter S. Beagle's guy, who has posted here, is reading this thread and does not go forward with some sort of bone-headed geo-locked ebook infrastructure. Don't turn away paying customers, Peter!

Conor Cochran of Conlan Press? I don't think they'll do that. It's all a matter of rights. If Beagle retains the rights to his books, Conlan can issue them as they please if Beagle agrees.

Geo-locking occurs when you have more than one publisher in the mix, each of which has rights to a particular geographic area.
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Dennis

[Doranna Durgin]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Welcome to MobileRead, Doranna.

Think of it like the old days, where the answer to "What computer should I buy?" prompted the question "What do you want to do with it?"

Tell us what you want to read, and where you expect to get it, and we can give advice. Part of it will be based on the format of the material. If what you want to read is only available as a PDF, for instance, that will constrain your choice of reader. Different readers handle different formats, and no dedicated reader handles all of them.
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Dennis

Hi, Dennis!

Is it okay to ask those questions here? I'm nuts getting ready for this trial/working deadlines, so haven't further explored the forum...topic drift 'r' us...

Anyway, I know I'm looking for your basic ereader, and I even know it's between Sony and Kindle...

I don't need the device to do anything but read books. 8) And I plan to start my purchase list there on Backlist Ebooks, which seems to be equally friendly to either Sony or Kindle...

[starrigger]

Originally Posted by Doranna Durgin

Anyway, I know I'm looking for your basic ereader, and I even know it's between Sony and Kindle...

I don't need the device to do anything but read books. 8) And I plan to start my purchase list there on Backlist Ebooks, which seems to be equally friendly to either Sony or Kindle...

Doranna -- Here are a couple of distinctions:

1. If a touchscreen appeals to you, the Sony is a better choice. (I very much like the touchscreen on my Sony, and supposedly they've improved them in the newer models.)

2. If being able to effortlessly buy and download a book from Amazon while sitting in a coffee shop appeals to you, the Kindle is a better choice.

3. Sony uses epub, and Kindle uses their brand of Mobipocket. If you're happy to download books on your computer and transfer them over, and you mostly buy DRM-free books, it really won't matter to you. Download Calibre (free) and use it to manage your library and convert freely between formats (as long as there's no DRM).

4. A lot of it is just personal preference and which style you like.

5. If you want to read easily in the dark, go with a backlit screen. That's what I use my Axim PDA for, and I like it very much. (Got it on ebay.) I have Freda on it to read epub, and Mobipocket to read, er, Mobipocket. (My Sony is the model with the light, but I find that while it's good for low-light, it's poor for real dark.)

It's easy to post your questions about readers in this section at MR.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Doranna Durgin

Hi, Dennis!

Is it okay to ask those questions here? I'm nuts getting ready for this trial/working deadlines, so haven't further explored the forum...topic drift 'r' us...

There's actually another forum intended for the purpose. See The "Which one should I buy?" forum, to get chapter and verse.

Anyway, I know I'm looking for your basic ereader, and I even know it's between Sony and Kindle...

I don't need the device to do anything but read books. 8) And I plan to start my purchase list there on Backlist Ebooks, which seems to be equally friendly to either Sony or Kindle...

The fundamental factors are ebook format and DRM.

Amazon uses the Mobipocket format. Sony originally used a proprietary format called BBLF, but have since adopted ePub as the standard. The Barnes and Noble nook also uses ePub, with the eReader format supported as a "legacy" format through B&N's purchase of Fictionwise.

Amazon uses a proprietary form of DRM, whose intent is to lock you into Amazon as the vendor. You can read Mobi format books that aren't encumbered with DRM on a variety of platforms including the Kindle, but you must purchase content from Amazon.

Sony is more open, and while there is a Sony store where you can buy content, you aren't restricted to it. This is no real surprise. Sony makes devices, and wants to sell you a reader. Amazon wants to sell you the books.

Some stuff is only available in PDF format, which will impose further restrictions, as not all readers handle PDFs. For the Kindle, for example, I believe your choice is the DX, which has a larger screen better suited to the sort of things issued as PDF.

One other point is that current dedicated readers use eInk screens, and eInk does not support color. If you need color support, an eInk device is not for you.

Topic drift isn't a mortal sin. Some of the best conversations arise from it.
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Dennis

[Doranna Durgin]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I really think that in the coming 'ebook revolution' as we start hitting the tipping point here, authors will no longer be able to ignore these issues if they want to be successful. I mean, think about it from a business standpoint. Can you think of any other business where they would receive a letter that basically says 'here is my money in exchange for your product, do you want it?' and the letter will be dismissed or ignored?

Ha. I get that kind of customer service all the time, more's the pity.

I think it's important to note that if a book's rights belong to a publisher, coming to us with issues is like going to the person who provides the Thingboppy Cog in the SuperWhooper Machine, instead of going to the SuperWhooper people. We're responsible for the quality of the Thingboppy Cog, but are otherwise not so much in the picture.

Under far too many circumstances, all we can do is squirm with embarrassment and send an apologetic note. And because we're not staffed businesses, if a query comes in on a day when we're in the hospital, a day when we're out of town, a day when we're crying over personal sorrows, then no...there's no one else to pick up the load, and it's entirely possible that the matter will be lost in the shuffle.

Anyway, one of the nice things about Backlist Ebooks is that while we might not be able to fix everything, we can at least provide some better answers.

[Doranna Durgin]

Hey, thank you to both Jeffrey and Dennis--those are perfect decision points to ponder. I appreciate it!

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by Doranna Durgin

is like going to the person who provides the Thingboppy Cog in the SuperWhooper Machine, instead of going to the SuperWhooper people.

But that's the problem: we, the end customer, have absolutely no idea who the Superwhooper Machine people or or how to contact them. The author does, even if it is only through an agent or third party. If you could reply to someone and say 'unfortunately, this is not my area but you can contact Joe Smith of XyZ Publishing, care of my agent, at this address' then I could understand. But 'shrug, oh well' is not really an acceptable reply to me.

I have written to authors, I have written to vendors, and I have said 'if you cannot fix this, can you tell me who can?' And no answer. It is unbelievably frustrating. Say, for example, you are a loyal customer who has bought every single book in a 30-book series and then book 31 comes out and is geo-restricted in your region. You have invested---time, money, brain cells, etc.---for 30 books so far. You are a sure sale. But yet...and then you write to the person whose name is on the book, and they say 'shrug, oh well' to you. Whether it is your *fault* or not, your name is on the book so you are that customer's face behind the curtain. If you are not the SuperWhooper person yourself, you at least are one level closer to them that that poor customer. And part of being that face, imho, is understanding that. And I think that as the internet brings people closer to those names on the book, this sort of thing is going to became more important and the people who won't, or can't give satisfactory answers will find their bottom line affected.