Again, I am saying that to reach the most customers, you need to allow them to purchase the way they want, in the format they want. Anything else and you are telling some customers you don't want them. It is simple. It may be what the author wants to do. If so, all is good, but it still doesn't change the fact that a customer came to the point of sale ready to buy and you lost them. If you want all the sales you can get, it might be nice if the customer let you know why you lost the sale, then as a business person, you can decide if you want to do something to get those sales, or if it is better for you to lose them.
Maybe, for this author, only those people willing to by from iTunes, Amazon, or use Paypal, or to buy electronic content with old school transaction types (check, money order), are the customers he wants. Again, I have no problem with that decision. I am not saying he has to change, just trying to give honest feedback on why he didn't make a sale with me.
As for hypocritical, it would be very hypocritical for me to use those systems I don't believe in just to buy a book. It would also be hypocritical of me not to discuss it when the conversation starts. However, it is not hypocritical to say I won't buy it and why. I am not trying to force the author into something, and I am not complaining that the author "doesn't want to do the work to support multiple formats and payment options", I am pointing out why a sale was not made when the hard work was done (getting me to the point of sale ready to buy).
I think the point you seem to be missing in this whole thing is I don't care if I don't read a particular book, there are many books out there to read, and I can't read them all in my lifetime. So, if I can't get one in a way I am comfortable with, it really doesn't bug me. What does bug me is people who think that because I express why I didn't purchase a particular thing, I am attacking the person selling it. I am offering an opinion and an explanation, and they are free to take it or ignore it. Either way, I am in the same good spot as I was before, as I am not the one that cares about making money on the transaction.
--Carl
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