[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Tiamat

Dickloraine – I'm very happy someone understood the $7, reminds me of that movie Payback where Mel has to repeatedly correct the mobsters. You almost got me talked into it, but $10 for an ebook seems high to me... No?

Sorry...I literally can't understand what you are saying. I realize that forum posts aren't book-text, but could you slow down and explain what you're saying a bit better? Most of this reads like stream-of-consciousness stuff, and I can't parse it.

See, if I sell it myself it will be $7 to the customer and that sounds reasonable to me. I would pay that much without thinking, that is if I read ebooks which I don't.

OK, so...what's the problem, then?

I like 140 year old books but Optical Character Recognition makes the Paperwhite I got when it first came out useless, haven't read one book on it.

Do ou mean that you'll only read them if they are out of copyright, in the PD, and you can scan them? Most books, these days, are available for purchase. Why haven't you tried Project Gutenberg, or the MR library here, if you're seeking older, OOP books?

Nor do I understand what on earth you mean when you say "Optical Character Recognition makes the Paperwhite I got when it first came out useless, "

Hunh? Why do you think that? I read PD stuff on mine, and my Voyage, all the time. Same rendering system. ???

Plus, to me, with this new to me negative attitude toward Intellectual Property, that people would likely pay $7, but if it was $10 it would more likely be torrented.

If you mean, your book will be stolen and torrented, due to a $3 difference, you're not correct. If your book is any good at all, it will be torrented. People who will pay $7 for it, would likely pay $10. Those who will steal it, will steal it. If it were priced at $100, sure, that would increase bit-torrenting, but seriously, the average Joe doesn't even know how to navigate Pirate Bay or its brother sites.

I don't understand this:
“Sales are normally something you want to have, but I don't know, if you even get into one, if you don't choose to be in the kindle program. You have then complete control. Even if you go into kindle exclusive, you can opt out after a few month.”

I now officially don't understand any part of that discussion.

General – I understand the concerns and the integrity of the people here, that's why I'm here... So, what should I do? Sign the scary contract and (try to) sell it for $9.99 on Amazon?

What "scary" contract? It's not that horrible, I've read it top-bottom, just so I can discuss things with my clients. If you're thinking of trying to make money with it, you need to either have a heavily, heavily trafficked website, or sell on Amazon. There really isn't any viable third option.

And I only have to get one (edited) version of Mobi right? Or will they do it?

If you go through Createspace, you can have them make a Kindle version for you for something like $79. I strongly urge you to shop around on the Net, becaues I've gained a TON of clients because their Createspace created versions were AWFUL. If you have ANY complex things in your book--so, anything that's more than fiction--find a commercial bookmaker to do it.

I have shied away (Or completely stopped because they won't tell more unless I agree.)

WHAT are you talking about? The entire contract and delivery system for Amazon is completely, totally available online. What "more" are you asking, that you think that they are withholding?

from the contract, but heard they convert it into their format...?

You know...you haven't done ANY research at all, or you'd know all this. Amazon will "convert" your file--whatever you upload at the KDP--into MOBI, but you really don't want to do that unless you have a PRISTINE, fully-styled Word file, or an equally good ePUB file. It's an "automagic" conversion. A real person doesn't do it. So, it's What You Put In Is What You Get.

Is this what I don't understand of the quote above? The contract expires in a couple of months if I end up not liking the deal? See, I don't know, there is a lot of legal crap in there.

Back to the "you haven't done any research." KDP Select is a program for marketing, in which you agree to sell solely on the KDP for a whopping 90 days. However, the regular KDP contracts commits you to nothing more than, you can't sell the same book for less somewhere else, or they'll price-match. That's it.

What about Shop Integrator? Is there something better? What else should I know?

Shop Integrator is simply a commerce cart. You need to find one that will work with YOUR website, rather than finding a cart, and trying to retroactively fit it to your website. What you need to know about selling from your own website, you can only learn by experience. I have tried to warn those who think about this, about all the pitfalls, but I sense that you're better at learning the hard way. Doing many of the things you are discussing--like setting up an online shop/cart--requires patience and the willingness to read material in DETAIL. You don't seem to have detail-fu, to be honest.

You might want to read THIS, too: http://www.booknook.biz/platforms-re...my-own-website

Price talk and prestige talk is find, but that isn't what I'm asking for. The way I see it the most famed author out there selling the most books is not the type of book that I read and probably never will, it just isn't interesting to me.

Okay? And..?

Maybe I should just give up, I am a bit concerned about the tax issue of global commerce and maybe falling into a goof up like Tommy Chong selling glassware to Pennsylvania, as it could very well be illegal in some countries so a buffer maybe welcome.

What? I don't know what country you're in, but the "tax issue" is hardly brain-surgery. You make income from books. You pay taxes to your country of residence. It's no different than, say, taking a job cutting grass. Same thing. The "international" aspects are pretty non-existent. The Chong thing was about DISTRIBUTING DRUG PARAPHERNALIA. Unless your "book" is selling Oxycontin online, you're safe.

Then again can I sell them (both ebook and paper) on my site AND Amazon at the same time?

Yes, as long as you are NOT in KDP Select, which is 100% optional.

Yes, I know your not legal counsel, give me your best shot.

I ran the Litigation Strategy crew, at my company, for decades. Not a lawyer, but you don't have to be to read Amazon's contract. You can sell it from your website, but you must not sell it at a lower price than it is selling upon Amazon, that's all. And, as I said, if you are in KDP Select, then, no; you are prohibited from that for 90 days. Period.

Actually I could be writing at least one more if not two more books, but they will be scathing and then move on to something else. I didn't want to be an author in the first place, I just ran into something very interesting while doing private entertainment research is all.

Right.

I just read the article on Hitch's site about spelling and other minor problems in books... interesting.

Make sure you read this page: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A1MMQ0JHRBEINX . that has a more-complete list on this breaking news.

But, reminds me of something else about scary contracts and Intellectual Property, once it is in Amazon's domain won't it be wholesale-ly open to Look Inside features, public library distribution, and Google scans...

What? The Look Inside presents the first 10% of your book. That's all. If you mean, can Google or whomever, derive the content from that--the answer is no, they can't. That's a programmatic limitation. Don't believe me? Open up any book on the LookInside, and try to extract the content.

I know patent rights much better, but it seems like the whole lot of intellectual property has been thrown right out the window. From what I gather the younger generation believes in socialism or communism where in they believe they have as much rights as the producer. BTW, I wanted my book in public libraries, but found out they want an exclusive three month before publishing look (Which I was unaware of.) or get lost attitude.

There is definitely a different view of IP today. However, how do you expect to get your book out there, otherwise? And what's the deal with the 90-day exclusive? Where'd you get that? There are library distribution networks in place, if you sign up with one of the better distributors. Even for eBooks.

Originally Posted by dickloraine

I didn't really mean you should sell it for 9.99, just that you would make at that price as much money as with your 20$ book. Selecting a price is difficult and without data even more. What you make is (profit per book) x (books sold). And you generally sell more books at a lower price. So there is a theoretical sweet point, but it is different for each book and time.

Right.


Well, I don't know if that helps you, but...if you're going to be a publisher, then all the work is yours. That includes reading contracts and terms&conditions.

Good luck to you.

Hitch