Quote:
Originally Posted by mrscoach
I don't buy that publishers DIDN'T know Amazon would sell electronic books at the same time as hardbacks. You mean to tell me that not one person, not one lawyer at any point of the process, from any of the agencies, said "Hey, we haven't given them different release dates for these two editions. Do you think they might sell them at the same time?" only to turn around and say "Nah, they wouldn't do that, even though Dennis thinks we are getting less per Kindle edition. Let's just stick our head in the sand and hope for the best".
If no one figured out that they had given Amazon the go ahead to sell both editions at the same time then jobs need to be on the line. But I think they knew.
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I wish I was that confident. It assumes publishers are smart and make sensible business decisions. I've seen too much evidence to the contrary over the decades.
For instance, an old friend was a consulting editor to a paperback house years ago, helping them to revive and reinvigorate a fading SF line. It took him 7 months simply to determine who they had under contract for what books, and another 5 to dot Is, cross Ts, and get new deals in place. At that, they lost some properties because the publisher had forgotten they had the rights, but the authors and agents had not, and promptly sent official requests that the rights revert as soon as the publisher's rights had expired. You would think a publisher would know what authors it had under contract for what books, and when their contracts would be up. Not so...
Another friend talked about his house getting a lesson in timing, and why you didn't remainder unsold hardcovers of a book at the same time you released the mass market paperback - the remaindered hardcovers would go on sale in the bookstore at the same time as the PB, for a lower price. Guess which the readers bought?
Yes, jobs should have been on the line. For all I know, some folks did find themselves seeking new employment, for either not realizing the Kindle edition was budget priced competition for the hardcover, or not realizing just how much competition it was. But the fact it happened didn't come as a particular surprise to me.
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Dennis