The Battle of Kindle: A Call to Arms

[TallMomof2]

If you have a PC or can run Windows on a Mac you can download the free Kindle for PC application and purchase Kindle books. Same dealeo if you own an iPhone or a Touch. This probably applies only to the US (don't know if you can easily use the Kindle apps outside the US) and I can't tell where you're located

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by Pardoz

It will be starting at the Apple bookstore in March, because that's when it opens. I don't believe we have any firm date on when it will come into effect at Amazon. In the meantime, however, if you go to Fictionwise or Mobipocket, which have been operating on publisher-set prices for quite some time, you can see the model in action. Or the inaction of the model, as the case may be.

I find Fictionwise to be quite a deal. I may pay list price for a best seller, but I also get 100% of what I spend in Micropay dollars. I save up my Micropay dollars until they have a good sale, like the one this past December where you get Micropay rebates even when paying with Micropay and clear out my wishlist, typically at <$2/book. My current average price per book at Fictionwise is about $2.30 and this includes many books bought at $15-20 with 100% rebates.

-Marcy

[Pardoz]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

If you have a PC or can run Windows on a Mac you can download the free Kindle for PC application and purchase Kindle books. Same dealeo if you own an iPhone or a Touch. This probably applies only to the US (don't know if you can easily use the Kindle apps outside the US) and I can't tell where you're located

No idea if the apple apps are geographically restricted, but I doubt it, since the PC application isn't. (I think that the iphone app used to be US-only before the International models of the Kindle appeared).

[JWLaRue]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

If you have a PC or can run Windows on a Mac you can download the free Kindle for PC application and purchase Kindle books. Same dealeo if you own an iPhone or a Touch. This probably applies only to the US (don't know if you can easily use the Kindle apps outside the US) and I can't tell where you're located

This only works if someone wants to read on a PC or the iPhone/iTouch. This is not an option for those with other reading devices.

..and yes, I know about stripping DRM, but folks here who do know about it are the exception.


-Jeff

[Connallmac]

Originally Posted by Connallmac

Below is the text of the e-mail I just sent to Mcmillan.

To Whom It May Concern,

I'm sad to see your books removed from Amazon.com. However, there are still plenty of books for me to purchase and read on my Kindle. If you cannot sell your e-books at Amazon's $9.99 price point then you really need to examine your business model. I have always bought many books, as I have been a voracious reader since childhood. However, I used to haunt used book stores, library sales and the like to get them as inexpensively as possible. It was very rare indeed for me to buy a new book, usually only when I had a gift card or there was a particular author whose work I could not wait to read. Since purchasing my first Kindle a little more than a year ago I have gone on a book buying binge, buying well over a hundred e-books. The vast majority of these books would have been purchased second hand, if at all, if I was still buying paper books. You have the potential to sell me many more books if you can sell them in the Kindle store for less than $10. I won't be paying more than $9.99 for e-books by any publisher, and if you cannot reach a reasonable price point I won't be buying any books from you. As I said I would like to continue doing business with you, but if you continue to try to do business with your mid-20th century model I fear we may have parted ways for good. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.


Sincerely,

Connallmac(Named change to protect the indignant!)
Satisfied Kindle Customer

Here is the response I received from Macmillan's customer service department this afternoon:

Originally Posted by Macmillan

Dear Customer,

We appreciate your communication to us regarding the status of our e-books available for the Amazon Kindle. We are still in discussions with Amazon and hope to resolve our differences amicably and soon. Since you have expressed concern about those discussions we wanted to share with you the letter written on January 30 by John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan to our authors, illustrators and agents without whom there would be no Macmillan e-books.

To: All Macmillan authors/illustrators and the literary agent community
From: John Sargent

This past Thursday I met with Amazon in Seattle. I gave them our proposal for new terms of sale for e books under the agency model which will become effective in early March. In addition, I told them they could stay with their old terms of sale, but that this would involve extensive and deep windowing of titles. By the time I arrived back in New York late yesterday afternoon they informed me that they were taking all our books off the Kindle site, and off Amazon. The books will continue to be available on Amazon.com through third parties.

I regret that we have reached this impasse. Amazon has been a valuable customer for a long time, and it is my great hope that they will continue to be in the very near future. They have been a great innovator in our industry, and I suspect they will continue to be for decades to come.

It is those decades that concern me now, as I am sure they concern you. In the ink-on-paper world we sell books to retailers far and wide on a business model that provides a level playing field, and allows all retailers the possibility of selling books profitably. Looking to the future and to a growing digital business, we need to establish the same sort of business model, one that encourages new devices and new stores. One that encourages healthy competition. One that is stable and rational. It also needs to insure that intellectual property can be widely available digitally at a price that is both fair to the consumer and allows those who create it and publish it to be fairly compensated.

Under the agency model, we will sell the digital editions of our books to consumers through our retailers. Our retailers will act as our agents and will take a 30% commission (the standard split today for many digital media businesses). The price will be set for each book individually. Our plan is to price the digital edition of most adult trade books in a price range from $14.99 to $5.99. At first release, concurrent with a hardcover, most titles will be priced between $14.99 and $12.99. E books will almost always appear day on date with the physical edition. Pricing will be dynamic over time.

The agency model would allow Amazon to make more money selling our books, not less. We would make less money in our dealings with Amazon under the new model. Our disagreement is not about short term profitability but rather about the long-term viability and stability of the digital book market.

Amazon and Macmillan both want a healthy and vibrant future for books. We clearly do not agree on how to get there. Meanwhile, the action they chose to take last night clearly defines the importance they attribute to their view. We hold our view equally strongly. I hope you agree with us.

You are a vast and wonderful crew. It is impossible to reach you all in the very limited timeframe we are working under, so I have sent this message in unorthodox form. I hope it reaches you all, and quickly. Monday morning I will fully brief all of our editors, and they will be able to answer your questions. I hope to speak to many of you over the coming days.

Thanks for all the support you have shown in the last few hours; it is much appreciated.

All best, John

Couldn't even bother with an original reply!

[Tim32127]

Originally Posted by Bremen Cole

Too long a post, but good anyway....

I for one will not buy any books from them. I will however read books from them, the dark side is your best revenge in these matters. Hit the money flow, it is THE power we consumers have.

I wonder, when the price of gas was reaching around $5.00gl. did you encourage people to steal gas as a way of protest.
Tim..

[angelad]

That some dedication to write a post of this magnitutde.

[Alisa]

I wish authors would put PayPal links on their sites. That would make things much easier.

[dragonbone]

Originally Posted by Alisa

I wish authors would put PayPal links on their sites. That would make things much easier.

What an excellent idea!