Simon & Schuster is delaying ebooks by four months

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by charleski

Baen's market strategy is based on getting the customer hooked on multiple series of books, and this allows them to offer mass-market pricing on ebooks (their ebooks sell at a 25% discount to their paperbacks) when the retailer is cut out of the picture.

Sure, you can get one ebook for $6, but wouldn't it be better to get 4 for $15 in a Webscription bundle, and start reading the ebook you're interested in even sooner? Sounds like a deal!

Yup. But note that it's usually 6-8 books for $15, with a guarantee that at least 4 have never before been available in bits.

Of course, you've now paid 2 1/2 times as much and got 3 other books that you probably weren't planning to read, though you will now since you've bought them. And if you like one of those books, you'll probably buy the others in the series, etc. etc. And maybe you'd like to buy an unproofed ARC at $15 to get the very latest instalment? And so it snowballs...

Don't forget the Free Library, and the bound-in-the-book CDs, and many other promotions. And yes, it works quite well. Certainly their fans often jokingly describe them as a "pusher of book-crack" rather than a publisher. "Want to try some fiction, kid? First book's free..."

Baen has a finely-tuned business model that works very well for Genre fiction which is specifically targeted, but you need to look at their overall strategy. That model can't be simply transferred to a general publisher. In many cases it could, to be sure - houses that pump out endless streams of James Pattersons, John Grishams and similar Genre stuff could still make profit with the Baen model, but the fact that these books currently take in handsome profits at the top of the hardback bestseller lists makes it unlikely they'll take the chance.

Any publisher that wants to emulate Baen's success needs to make sure that they have all the elements in place so that the upsell works.

More broadly speaking, it could work IMHO for any publisher with a house (or label, or line, or whatever they call it) that produces a stream of identifiable style that is likely to appeal to folks who've bought from them before. This need not be "genre stuff" -- it could equally well be biographies, history, current-affairs, or whatever. The key is a commonality of interest with an audience that buys at least semi-regularly.

I agree that Baen's approach is unlikely to work for all of the books published by all the big publishers. But I suspect that it could be used quite successfully across a broader spectrum of books than most people would expect. And I'm rather distressed that Big Publishing, Inc. seems bound and determined to ignore their demonstrated success. Is it just too different from their current assumptions?

Xenophon

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by amjbrown

I've never heard of any of the authors on Baen though. They are not exactly Martin Amis or Dan Brown (depending upon your taste!).

Martin who? (Rhetorical question. If I actually wanted to know, I'd google.)

Plenty of people are unfamiliar with authors outside of their range of reading interests. That doesn't make those authors unknown or inconsequential.

Authors who aren't in the top 20 bestsellers in the world are not automatically obscure.

[amjbrown]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Martin who? (Rhetorical question. If I actually wanted to know, I'd google.)

Plenty of people are unfamiliar with authors outside of their range of reading interests. That doesn't make those authors unknown or inconsequential.

Authors who aren't in the top 20 bestsellers in the world are not automatically obscure.

Totally agree. But, authors in the top 20 bestsellers tend to make the publishers a lot of money, and *that* is my point.

[astrodad]

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one. My wife, who is an avid reader but not a technologist, has a K2 and loves it. Tuesday she yelled at me because there were four books she could not get because of Simon & Schuster. So we sent the following to Amazon:

I am greatly annoyed that several publishers have decided to delay the release of the ebook edition of their books. On your website, you state that "we know that even the best book reader is useless without the books you want to read." Well, I have been unable to purchase four new ebooks for my Kindle because the publisher, Simon & Schuster, has chosen to delay their release by at least four months.

I have notified them that I will NOT be buying the new, hard cover version of their books from Amazon or anywhere else. They will not be receiving money from me. Their authors will not be compensated, and I will buy these books used. Amazon, will also not be receiving any revenue from my purchase.

I feel cheated. I purchased this book reader under the impression that I could get best sellers when they were released. If Amazon is unable to curb this trend of publishers delaying their ebook releases, then I will be forced to sell my Kindle and go back to buying paperbacks and renting books from the library.

And got the following:

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.

I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you, I have researched about some of the kindle books from publisher Simon & Schuster as it is not available to purchase right now.

Normally publishers determine the price and release date of the book. We're working hard to build a successful digital book store and make every effort to provide you the book on time.

Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us. I'll send your comments to the Kindle development team.

We appreciate your understanding, and look forward to serving you again.

I even sent a letter (much nicer in tone) to Lisa Lutz, who is the author of one of the books my wife could not purchase. I don't know if she'll reply, but if she does, I'll post it.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by jplumey

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one. My wife, who is an avid reader but not a technologist, has a K2 and loves it. Tuesday she yelled at me because there were four books she could not get because of Simon & Schuster. So we sent the following to Amazon:



And got the following:



I even sent a letter (much nicer in tone) to Lisa Lutz, who is the author of one of the books my wife could not purchase. I don't know if she'll reply, but if she does, I'll post it.

You're blaming the wrong entity. It's not Amazon, it's the publishers. Amazon doesn't have any control over the delayed release. Send your complaints to Simon & Schuster, if you even remotely think they will read and respond to your emails (they didn't reply to mine or many others). Good luck, I don't believe they comprehend the concept of customers.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by jplumey

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I didn't want to start a new one. My wife, who is an avid reader but not a technologist, has a K2 and loves it. Tuesday she yelled at me because there were four books she could not get because of Simon & Schuster. So we sent the following to Amazon:



And got the following:



I even sent a letter (much nicer in tone) to Lisa Lutz, who is the author of one of the books my wife could not purchase. I don't know if she'll reply, but if she does, I'll post it.

I thought Lisa Lutz was with Capital Crime...she must have changed or maybe I just remember wrong. :>) Anyway, thanks for posting this; I found it interesting. I think the publishers are leaving out the hottest buyers out there--the impulse, immediate gratification ones. They and the authors are likely to lose out in the long run. I know they want the rules to be the same, but this is a missed opportunity.

P.S. I also didn't know Lutz had a new book out. I'll have to look for it, but like your wife, I won't be buying a hardback. Maybe my library has it!

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

You're blaming the wrong entity. It's not Amazon, it's the publishers. Amazon doesn't have any control over the delayed release. Send your complaints to Simon & Schuster, if you even remotely think they will read and respond to your emails (they didn't reply to mine or many others). Good luck, I don't believe they comprehend the concept of customers.

I'm not blaming Amazon, if you read the note again. I am pushing Amazon by telling them they are not living up to the promise of their marketing material. I don't care how it gets done, but they should own up to their promises. I understand the publisher is at fault here and I have emailed them as well.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by jplumey

I'm not blaming Amazon, if you read the note again....

I think your wife got it right the first time. She should be yelling at you instead of at Amazon.

FYI, at least one major publisher (Macmillan) plans to release ebooks at the same time as the new HC/paperback, though they will charge a little more than before ($13-15 vs $10ish) for the first few months.

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I think your wife got it right the first time. She should be yelling at you instead of at Amazon.

FYI, at least one major publisher (Macmillan) plans to release ebooks at the same time as the new HC/paperback, though they will charge a little more than before ($13-15 vs $10ish) for the first few months.

She's very good at yelling at me.

I think MacMillan's model is good. Many ebook buyers won't wince at a price that is similar to the HC/paperback edition.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by jplumey

She's very good at yelling at me.

I think MacMillan's model is good. Many ebook buyers won't wince at a price that is similar to the HC/paperback edition.

I'm reserving judgment on the various models--because I don't think they really know what they will do and then, given that it's a big company, I fully expect some books to be one price, others another and maybe even some delays. When pinned down for details, the macmillan CEO was surprisingly lacking in details given this is such a hot issue (or at least an issue under the microscope.)

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I think your wife got it right the first time. She should be yelling at you instead of at Amazon.

Yea, because the rampent idioticy of the publishers, windowing releases as well as pushing for deals which are going to increase eBook per-unit profits to above-hardback levels is of course his fault.

The major publishers hate ebooks, period.

[mollybo]

I've been watching The Big Short, released by WW Norton (never heard of them). It's so strange - they've got a Kindle version, geographically restricted internationally in that those *outside* the US are able to order it. While turnabout is fair play for those of us on the opposite side of the geographic restriction wars, it's the strangest thing I've ever seen. Amazon is out of stock on the book, and they could be selling so many for the Kindle ... if they bothered to sell it in the US.

I think I'll drop them a line to tell them just that.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by mollybo

I've been watching The Big Short, released by WW Norton (never heard of them). It's so strange - they've got a Kindle version, geographically restricted internationally in that those *outside* the US are able to order it. While turnabout is fair play for those of us on the opposite side of the geographic restriction wars, it's the strangest thing I've ever seen. Amazon is out of stock on the book, and they could be selling so many for the Kindle ... if they bothered to sell it in the US.

I think I'll drop them a line to tell them just that.

Just change country to UK, buy and download the book and then change it back to US.

[EowynCarter]

Well, instead if giving 15$ the day the book comes out, i'll give 9$ when it's finally availible. Tanks for helping me saving money Harry Potter being the one exception I made to that rule.

I waited for paperbacks, i'll wait for e-ebooks.
I can always find stuff to read while waiting anyway.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

I waited for paperbacks, i'll wait for e-ebooks.
I can always find stuff to read while waiting anyway.

Of course, that is what they hope for... that there are several thousands of readers for each book that will break that rule and buy it as soon as it comes out, no matter the price.

(That whole long tail thing)

BOb