Quote:
Originally Posted by abookreader
I'd appreciate it if somebody could tell me why this would be a thing for authors to cheer over?
I've always been under the impression that Authors were ecstatic when they'd wake up one morning and find out that Amazon had discounted their book.
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It's not really. There's something to be said for not being surprised by a price decrease and being able to set the price one wants. The trouble, of course is that when the rules changed with the big guys...the contracts got less friendly for us authors. Amazon used to have sales--and the "difference" in list price came out of Amazon's pocket. With the newer contracts (anything priced $2.99 to $9.99) if Amazon matches a price...it comes out of the author pocket.
Now, I am not complaining because I knew the rules when I signed. Amazon gives me a bigger commission, thus, with that higher commission, any "sale" or "pricematch" comes from my pocket.
Thing thing of it is other retailers knew about the contract too. So they could cut the price--sometimes rather dramatically...and it actually hurt the author more than anyone because all of a sudden, Amazon cut the price (and like it or not, that is where the bulk of the sales came from) and that "sale" came directly from the author cut.
I don't like the agency model, but I understand why smashwords had to play. It was nearly impossible to offer a book to all the vendors and have it sold equally (the vendors would slash the price and then it would either be matched or we'd get complaints...we'd have to constantly be making adjustments.)
I had my way of managing the issue and other authors had their way and it was noodling along.
About the only good news is that when authors set the price, the price is generally low. We can also offer coupons or short term sales. But believe me, it isn't ideal. Neither was the other way because it caused all kinds of turmoil and headaches for the author trying to do the right thing and offer a fair price to everyone!