Quote:
Originally Posted by VydorScope
My point in starting this thread was to counter a different argument. The argument to this point has been "If you put Smashwords on your book, everyone knows they produce garbage so it will not sell." That is the argument that my points all DO counter.
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{emphasis added}
Ummm...and that is the point I was addressing. "Does smashwords produce garbage?" I think I have addressed that point appropriately. It is not "garbage", but it definitely needs improvement...and the correction of some serious flaws. The reason for the problem is their automatic meatgrinder process that does NOT effectively check for all of these errors - it simply makes sure it passes another computer's automatic check. For the best results, you should have a
person create a "hand-crafted", "well-crafted", product to present your work in the best possible light.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VydorScope
The output of any automatic script is always inferior due to the vastness of the input space. It has to be so overly defensive that the output suffers.
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Yes. Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VydorScope
Also, I do not see Smashwords as a FREE service. They take a cut of the sales. I see it as a business model that I can afford...
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Wut?
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If you are paying for this service, then why on earth are you not DEMANDING they fix this? Why are you trying to minimize my points about technical issues in defense of their business model??
Nevermind - I don't care. That is your decision.
You said your statistics show that your sales didn't change when you took the smashwords label off of your books. OK. Despite the lack of any numbers that give that statement any context (how many sales did you have before, how many after, which agencies were you with, what was the average sales for all the other authors at that agency during that time frame, how did the average sales for ALL authors at those agencies change from one quarter to the next, etc.) I will grant that "there was no statistically significant difference in the sales, at all" when you took the smashwords label off your book.
Even WITH that stipulation, you can not say the myth is "busted". You would have to do an actual scientific survey of customers who purchase electronic books to have any kind of "statistical certainty" that the myth is true or false. At best you have to say the myth is "plausible". (Thank you Adam and Jamie!)
I would totally accept you stating your BELIEF that it isn't true based on your experience.
OK...I'm going to stop talking about this now. I feel like I'm
and I'm not adding anymore to my technical review of the quality of the smashwords conversion process.
Good night, and God bless.
This is Turtle91, signing off.