Quote:
Originally Posted by ficbot
Why spend your normal life working for money so that you can buy the things you need or want, only to be turned away at point of sale because the publishing industry has decided it does not want authors to have your money?
I really don't think it's about 'punishing' individual authors. It's about using the only means we have to contact authors and publishers and actually get them to *notice* that we're contacting them, to let them know that they can make more money from customers who want to buy their stuff, by simply digging their heads out of the sand and *selling* books to interested buyers. Some of us are very passionate about books and reading and are gunning for a better future where authors sell books and customers buy them and everyone wins. And frankly, we are both hurt and deeply, deeply puzzled that some in The Biz seem intent on making this so very hard.
What is 'destroying your hard work' is interested customers with money in their hands saying 'here, take it!' and then being told 'no, not you.' By the time your book eventually rolls around to being available, you may have already lost their attention and they have moved on to other things. Lost sale for you. At least this way, you know *why* you've lost the sale. And when the time comes to negotiate your next contract, you'll know what you have to do if you want to get this sort of customer back.
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Ok, my apologies that I didnt respond to your posts Ficbot. So I will tend to this now. And your points are valid ones to make. My main challenge in this thread is really not about whether books are made available on kindle (or whatever method you read) but simply that people are venting their rage on authors whose contracts for distribution were organised a long time ago - possibly over a year. In the meantime, and really only in the last twelve months, and really, only for a small percent of the population, albeit a rapidly growing one, the world of ebooks exploded, but existing contracts (and that always includes distribution rights) remain VALID! So giving authors 1star ratings challenges them, not the publishers!
Now, I agree that every author most likely wants as much exposure as possible. In the current day, most authors WILL negotiate to have erights in their contract. But that is simply not relevant for books PUBLISHED now - they were signed off on a long long time ago, and really, in a different publishing world than what we have today.
It is the manner of this protest I am challenging. BUT, having said that - maybe I am older than all of you lot, but if I really want something, I am prepared to wait - a month - 6 months - to read it. I waited for 18 months (being in Australia) once I had seen a kindle, to be able to get my hands on one! I didnt moan and complain and put rotten reviews on Amazon about the kindle, I simply WAITED.
Whether or not to put any book on Kindle? Well, I guess that is another issue for another day.