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Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
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It should also be noted that Konrath (a$$ or not) got a considerably better "exclusive" deal than is being offered to the masses.
For the right deal, an author HAS to consider an exclusive (although a time-limit is very important.) I'm not saying I like exclusive deals at all. I actually think they hurt retailers and authors, but I understand the business mindset behind it and I also understand as an author it can mean the difference between "I get to write for a living" and "I can't afford to write for a living."
There's some very simple economics involved when most authors need a stash of cash to make it through the 3 months to 3 YEARS it takes to get the next product out. Amazon and other publishers know that. Publishers try to lock down exclusivity too--just not where readers necessarily see it (some books are only published for Wal-mart, such as some Harlequin names). Publishers lock in deals for all kinds of things such as audio and film and so on. This prevents authors from possibly finding cheaper ways to bring certain things to market--which would be a boon for readers.
So, in short: It isn't just Amazon. Lots of businesses do it in various ways. And as authors, the right exclusive deal, regardless of how one might feel about the predatory practice can mean doing what we love or giving it up.
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Exclusive would be OK if Amazon offered ePub with Adept DRM (when DRM has to be applied). Then we'd still be able to buy in the format we want without having to jump through hoops to get it into the format we want. Once KF8 is out, I'm thinking that until we get the DRM broken and the format figured out so it can be converted from, that may be it for purchases from Amazon. So these exclusive deals will be even worse. I really don't know how KF8 will work if one doesn't have a Kindle and uses an older Kindle4PC. Will we be forced to upgrade? Will we get a choice of what format we want until KF8 is dealt with? I don't think anybody knows at present.
But if you are selling a series in whatever formats and it's selling, don't go and screw the series up by dropping any of the formats you sell in. That's just making you be an a$$ and makes you look bad. I wanted to try his Jack Daniels series, but because of the Amazon deal, I won't because I don't buy eBooks from Amazon.