Quote:
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.
Quote:
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.
Quote:
|
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.
Quote:
|
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.
______
Dennis