The Publishing Industry. Will they EVER learn?

Katsunami · 05-31-2013, 04:30 PM

So, some time ago, received the following e-mail from Diesel.

At the very end of the month (right now, that is), it seems I've got some cash to spare, so I hop over to Diesel, chuck 14 (!) Forgotten Realms novels into my cart (starting with the first one from 1987), apply the promo code, and get my discount. (Over the first $50.) I've done it before, without problems. The cost would be around $2.70 or so per book.

Checkout.... and 12 of the 14 books get removed from my cart because of territorial restrictions. And I'm *not* going to buy these books at a price of €6.04 at Kobo, which is $7.85.

I've not read much about the Forgotten Realms in terms of novels; only the Drizzt, Cleric Quintet and War of the Spider Queen series, all (co-)authored by Salvatore. These were not a particular choice; they were recommended to me a long time ago, and I have them in paper. Therefore I also got them as eBooks, and after a re-read, I'll sell off or give away the paper versions.

Because I liked them, I decided to start collecting all FR-books, as they now seem to be available in eBook, from the very first one. It seems I can't, except when paying three times as much as the average American. I won't. If it has to be this way, I think that I'll just re-read what i have, and leave Forgotten Realms fantasy at that.

Will they EVER learn?!

The games industry is learning, with the new role-playing games "Torment - Tides of Numenera" and "Project Eternity" coming to GoG.com for DRM-free, worldwide purchase and download. And I can't wait, because these games are based on the old-skool Baldur's Gate style of RPG's.

BWinmill · 05-31-2013, 05:12 PM

Oh the irony. (I love how the claims in the email conflict with your attempts to buy books.)

Anyhow, Kobo has had good coupon codes in the past. Alas, I think they're only valid for one book per purchaser.

MickiTee · 05-31-2013, 05:28 PM

What a shame. I got the same email and successfully shopped last week-end. I managed to get a number of books in the promotion, but I also managed to get other books outside the promotion which I would not normally have been able to buy. My best buy was Kathy Reichs latest, Bones are Forever, for $2.80! In the UK its £9.99 - a huge saving.

Katsunami · 05-31-2013, 06:12 PM

I've sent a (slightly angry-ish) e-mail to Diesel, and got a respnse already. It only said "We are sorry for your frustration."

To be honest, I don't feel like trying to mess with location faking. I don't know anything about that, and I highly distrust free VPN software. Even then, Diesel could easily check against my credit card or PayPal address.

The Forgotten Realms has like 250 books or so. You can imagine I don't want to spend €6-7 per book if I can help it. It's just quick reading: most of those books are just 250 pages; about 10 hours for me, at a very leisurly pace. I'd definitely like to keep the price below €4 or so.

Edit: Feedbooks has many FR books for 4.59 euro. It's an OK price, but that is still far more expensive than 4.61 dollars, not to mention the 30% discount. Now I'm thinking to buy some of the books at Feedbooks, and if I succeed, asking Diesel why that is possible.

Fluribus · 05-31-2013, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I've sent a (slightly angry-ish) e-mail to Diesel, and got a respnse already. It only said "We are sorry for your frustration."

If a company isn't going to solve my problems, then don't compound the problem with false warmth.

"We don't care about your frustration. Sucks to be you. We know you'll have a great day because you're grating on us. Warmest regards."

This response would be somewhat refreshing.

JxK · 05-31-2013, 09:36 PM

To be fair, this is an issue with the publisher and geo-restrictions. I'm sure Diesel would absolutey love to sell you those books, coupon or no. But they're as hindered by the restrictions as you are.

Mail the publisher instead.

Connallmac · 06-01-2013, 07:45 AM

If it makes you feel any better Katsunami, I just did a search of the Kindle store here in the US and they are showing the Icewind Dale books at $5.59 a piece and many other older FR books at $6.15. Some of the newer ones are in the $9 range and the pre-order for one to be released in August is over $15. Wizards of the Coast does not seem to believe in pricing their ebooks to sell. Heck they just started offering the pdfs of their Dungeons & Dragons game books again in the last few months, and much of their pricing is way too high. Heck, some of the books I bought back in high school twenty years ago in paper for $15 are now available as pdfs for $9.99!

Blue Tyson · 06-01-2013, 08:03 AM

Has there ever been a non-American edition of any Dungeons and Dragons book?

teh603 · 06-01-2013, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Has there ever been a non-American edition of any Dungeons and Dragons book?

There was a UK version of Dragon magazine back in the 1e days. They compiled the original Fiend Folio from monsters published in it.

Blue Tyson · 06-01-2013, 08:20 AM

Yeah, but not a book.

Katsunami · 06-01-2013, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Yeah, but not a book.

I have all mentioned Salvatore books, and the 2E and 3E core books in paper, bought in the Netherlands. They're in English, so they're probably the American versions. They are sold outside the US though.

samhy · 06-01-2013, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Checkout.... and 12 of the 14 books get removed from my cart because of territorial restrictions. And I'm *not* going to buy these books at a price of €6.04 at Kobo, which is $7.85.

Sorry to hear that

It reminded me of a thing Kim Dotcom said on Twitter:

Quote:

How to stop piracy:
1 Create great stuff
2 Make it easy to buy
3 Same day worldwide release
4 Fair price
5 Works on any device

Just replace "how to stop piracy" by "how to adapt to the worldwide market".

Katsunami · 06-02-2013, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JxK

To be fair, this is an issue with the publisher and geo-restrictions. I'm sure Diesel would absolutey love to sell you those books, coupon or no. But they're as hindered by the restrictions as you are.

Mail the publisher instead.

No, I won't mail the publisher. I don't have anything to do with them, I only deal with the store. Sure, I would have understood if the promo code would not work for books that are on sale. I can understand that the promo code only works up to a certain amount. It's normal with most stores that promotions don't stack and that you can't buy unlimited amounts. (If I could get a 30% promo code to stack on top of a 50% sale, then I'd probably buy my entire to-read list at once.)

However, if the e-mail claims in big black letters that there will be no territorial restriction frustrations, then that's the ONE thing I DON'T expect to encounter, and if I do, I'll complain about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Connallmac

If it makes you feel any better Katsunami, I just did a search of the Kindle store here in the US and they are showing the Icewind Dale books at $5.59 a piece and many other older FR books at $6.15. Some of the newer ones are in the $9 range and the pre-order for one to be released in August is over $15. Wizards of the Coast does not seem to believe in pricing their ebooks to sell. Heck they just started offering the pdfs of their Dungeons & Dragons game books again in the last few months, and much of their pricing is way too high. Heck, some of the books I bought back in high school twenty years ago in paper for $15 are now available as pdfs for $9.99!

PDF's for $9.99, about Second Edition AD&D? That's a great price, IMHO. All of those books are out of print and many of them are now collector's items. However, some people just want to have those books to play AD&D 2nd Edition, and not to collect.

$5.59 and even $6.15 is a lot cheaper than Kobo's €6.04 (and they already say that you "save" €1.45). FeedBooks almost maches the $5.59 price, asking €4.61.

I think those are OK prices compared to the paperbacks, which cost €7.95 in the Netherlands.

Assume that I manage to buy some FR books from Feedbooks for €4.61 ($5.98 vs. Diesel's normal $5.13 price). Maybe I'll even outright ask them:

"Why can I buy $BOOK at FeedBooks, but not at your store?"

I wonder what the reaction would be...

HarryT · 06-02-2013, 10:19 AM

Ask them and find out. What have you got to lose?

DiapDealer · 06-02-2013, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

What have you got to lose?

A podium?

05-31-2013, 04:30 PM	#1
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	The Publishing Industry. Will they EVER learn? So, some time ago, received the following e-mail from Diesel. At the very end of the month (right now, that is), it seems I've got some cash to spare, so I hop over to Diesel, chuck 14 (!) Forgotten Realms novels into my cart (starting with the first one from 1987), apply the promo code, and get my discount. (Over the first $50.) I've done it before, without problems. The cost would be around $2.70 or so per book. Checkout.... and 12 of the 14 books get removed from my cart because of territorial restrictions. And I'm not going to buy these books at a price of €6.04 at Kobo, which is $7.85. I've not read much about the Forgotten Realms in terms of novels; only the Drizzt, Cleric Quintet and War of the Spider Queen series, all (co-)authored by Salvatore. These were not a particular choice; they were recommended to me a long time ago, and I have them in paper. Therefore I also got them as eBooks, and after a re-read, I'll sell off or give away the paper versions. Because I liked them, I decided to start collecting all FR-books, as they now seem to be available in eBook, from the very first one. It seems I can't, except when paying three times as much as the average American. I won't. If it has to be this way, I think that I'll just re-read what i have, and leave Forgotten Realms fantasy at that. Will they EVER learn?! The games industry is learning, with the new role-playing games "Torment - Tides of Numenera" and "Project Eternity" coming to GoG.com for DRM-free, worldwide purchase and download. And I can't wait, because these games are based on the old-skool Baldur's Gate style of RPG's. Last edited by Katsunami; 05-31-2013 at 04:34 PM.

05-31-2013, 06:12 PM	#4
Katsunami Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,111 Karma: 34000001 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: KPW1, KA1	I've sent a (slightly angry-ish) e-mail to Diesel, and got a respnse already. It only said "We are sorry for your frustration." To be honest, I don't feel like trying to mess with location faking. I don't know anything about that, and I highly distrust free VPN software. Even then, Diesel could easily check against my credit card or PayPal address. The Forgotten Realms has like 250 books or so. You can imagine I don't want to spend €6-7 per book if I can help it. It's just quick reading: most of those books are just 250 pages; about 10 hours for me, at a very leisurly pace. I'd definitely like to keep the price below €4 or so. Edit: Feedbooks has many FR books for 4.59 euro. It's an OK price, but that is still far more expensive than 4.61 dollars, not to mention the 30% discount. Now I'm thinking to buy some of the books at Feedbooks, and if I succeed, asking Diesel why that is possible. Last edited by Katsunami; 05-31-2013 at 06:26 PM.

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05-31-2013, 05:12 PM	#2
BWinmill Nameless Being	Oh the irony. (I love how the claims in the email conflict with your attempts to buy books.) Anyhow, Kobo has had good coupon codes in the past. Alas, I think they're only valid for one book per purchaser.

05-31-2013, 05:28 PM	#3
MickiTee Guru Posts: 863 Karma: 4097942 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: London, UK Device: Sony PRS-505, Pocketbook TL3, TL4, TL5	What a shame. I got the same email and successfully shopped last week-end. I managed to get a number of books in the promotion, but I also managed to get other books outside the promotion which I would not normally have been able to buy. My best buy was Kathy Reichs latest, Bones are Forever, for $2.80! In the UK its £9.99 - a huge saving.

05-31-2013, 09:36 PM	#6
JxK Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 866238 Join Date: Nov 2011 Device: Kindle PW, NC CM 7.2	To be fair, this is an issue with the publisher and geo-restrictions. I'm sure Diesel would absolutey love to sell you those books, coupon or no. But they're as hindered by the restrictions as you are. Mail the publisher instead.

06-01-2013, 07:45 AM	#7
Connallmac Transplanted NYer Posts: 455 Karma: 520286 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Eastern IN Device: Kindle Fire HD 8.9", Kindle Fire HD 7", Kindle Touch	If it makes you feel any better Katsunami, I just did a search of the Kindle store here in the US and they are showing the Icewind Dale books at $5.59 a piece and many other older FR books at $6.15. Some of the newer ones are in the $9 range and the pre-order for one to be released in August is over $15. Wizards of the Coast does not seem to believe in pricing their ebooks to sell. Heck they just started offering the pdfs of their Dungeons & Dragons game books again in the last few months, and much of their pricing is way too high. Heck, some of the books I bought back in high school twenty years ago in paper for $15 are now available as pdfs for $9.99!

06-01-2013, 08:03 AM	#8
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	Has there ever been a non-American edition of any Dungeons and Dragons book?

06-01-2013, 08:20 AM	#10
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	Yeah, but not a book.

06-02-2013, 10:19 AM	#14
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Ask them and find out. What have you got to lose?

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