Quote:
Originally Posted by DuckieTigger
You should side with Amazon for these 2 reasons: - you are a customer of Amazon
- you buy ebooks from Amazon
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I've only bought one eBook from Amazon, for my own reading, since buying my first Kindle four years ago. Most of the reading matter I buy from Amazon is periodicals. For me, the paper book form factor is acceptable; where mobile device reading is far superior is periodicals, especially as compared to paper newspapers.
But, yea, I am an Amazon customer. I also am a Hachette customer, albeit, for the most part, indirectly, through library taxes and fees.
As for people who do buy major publisher eBooks, I think that the reason major publisher eBooks are, generally and with exceptions, superior to indie books is tied up with the price structure. If Amazon gains control over pricing, I think that author advances per title will decline, forcing them to churn out titles more and more quickly. This would result in shorter books of lower quality. I'd rather wait for a higher quality book to, perhaps a few years after publication, get to where I can afford it, than to push major publishers closer to the indie model.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
I'm confused about one point:
Is that letter complaining that Amazon is NOT discounting Hachette's books?
Isn't Hachette on the side that wants agency pricing, to PREVENT Amazon from discounting?
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I don't know if there is a current dispute between Amazon and Hachette over agency, or if that part is resolved. Either way, in the United States, agency is about eBooks, whereas the lack of discounting has more been on the paperback side.
The authors are complaining about a pattern where readers are more or less subtly discouraged from buying Hachette books, such as by saying that shipping will take 3-5 weeks,
or even longer, and with implausibly frequent estimate shifting when wholesalers actually get special orders out in a
far shorter time.