Amazon offers indie authors reward for going exclusive

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by rhadin

One other thing to consider, which is rarely, if ever, discussed is this: How much effort did an author put into promoting the availability of the author's books at places other than Amazon? I think this is both valid and important. I have noted that many authors list their books as being available at Amazon and only if they are directly asked do they mention other outlets. One cannot sell at B&N, for example, if one doesn't promote B&N with the same vigor as Amazon is promoted.

They do this to receive the affiliate fees from Amazon. Same for reviewers and other bloggers.

Also, Amazon wants you to only link to their store if you use their data such as cover art, API, reviews, etc.

[John F]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

...

However, if there is any was to read an Amazon DRM book on anything not a Kindle or a Kindle app, I don't know of it.

Do a Google on Apprentice Elf and Calibre.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Fbone

They do this to receive the affiliate fees from Amazon. Same for reviewers and other bloggers.

Ironically, you CAN deep-link to B&N as an affiliate, but the affiliate linkage is done through a 3rd-party site with an absolutely terrible interface. Not nearly so convenient as the Amazon header "link to this page".

[anamardoll]

However, if there is any was to read an Amazon DRM book on anything not a Kindle or a Kindle app, I don't know of it.

Originally Posted by John F

Do a Google on Apprentice Elf and Calibre.

Read what I wrote, and not what you want me to have written.

Once you have removed the DRM, it is not an Amazon DRM book or a B&N DRM book or an Adobe DRM book. It is merely a book with a format (ePUB, mobi, etc.).

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

However, if there is any was to read an Amazon DRM book on anything not a Kindle or a Kindle app, I don't know of it.

Since there is a Kindle app for most anything, I don't even know what point you think you are making here. Earlier you mentioned apps to read different epub DRMs on rooted eReaders/android devices, add a Kindle app to those same devices and you can read Amazon DRMed books.

If someone is tech savvy enough to root or hack an eReader, they are tech savvy enough to remove DRM, which renders your whole argument ridiculous. If they aren't that tech savvy, then they are locked into their eReader the same way someone is locked into a Kindle.

[John F]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Read what I wrote, and not what you want me to have written.

Once you have removed the DRM, it is not an Amazon DRM book or a B&N DRM book or an Adobe DRM book. It is merely a book with a format (ePUB, mobi, etc.).

Well then, I'd say your nit picking.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Synamon

Since there is a Kindle app for most anything, I don't even know what point you think you are making here. Earlier you mentioned apps to read different epub DRMs on rooted eReaders/android devices, add a Kindle app to those same devices and you can read Amazon DRMed books.

If someone is tech savvy enough to root or hack an eReader, they are tech savvy enough to remove DRM, which renders your whole argument ridiculous. If they aren't that tech savvy, then they are locked into their eReader the same way someone is locked into a Kindle.

*sigh* I'm not saying you can't load a Kindle app on an Android device. Obviously, I know that.

I am responding to a very specific line of argument that ePUB is dead/dying because you can only read B&N ePUB on B&N devices, Kobo ePUB on Kobo devices. I am trying to point out that:

1. Some devices can run both B&N DRM and Adobe DRM.

2. No device can run Amazon DRM except Amazon devices.

3. All (rooted) Android devices can load Amazon DRM, B&N DRM, Kobo DRM, etc. through the use of all those places' store app.

4. All (rooted) Android devices can load B&N DRM and Kobo DRM through third party apps, but no third party app exists which can run Amazon DRM.

So in the case of an argument that B&N or Kobo is restrictive with their format, Amazon is logically even more restrictive. Do you disagree?

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by John F

Well then, I'd say your nit picking.

And I would say that you're not reading the conversation. This is about DRM'd books because several people that I am talking to have already ruled out de-DRM'd books as something only a minority of readers do.

Please stop moving goalposts.

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

My point about the DRM is that epub is losing the format war, not because it's an inferior format, but because its adherents saddled it with incompatible DRM that meant that, for instance, you couldn't read an ebook purchased at B&N on your Kobo. The big advantage of "any ebook on any device" that epub had, disappeared because the epub retailers were busy competing with one another when they should have banded together to compete with Amazon.

This is what I am referring to: DRM'd books.

You want to talk de-DRM'd books, talk. But address it to someone else, because that's not the conversation I'm having, and I don't need or want to be derailed by someone telling me how to Google for Apprentice Alf.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

And I get all that. I'm not against an author trying to make a living. Just please don't tell me that ePUB is a dead-end because you can't read a B&N book on a Kobo reader. That same sentence is true about Amazon and anything Not A Kindle.

You want to make money and B&N customers like me weren't doing it for you? Fine. I get that.

But don't tell me that this is some kind of metaphysical decision that B&N and Kobo forced you into by doing the exact same things that Amazon does. That's where I feel like I'm being talked down to as a customer and a reader.

*my two cents*

I don't think EPub is dead. Actually, I really don't think about EPub all that much because I don't have to. I do think that EPub is not a selling feature for the average e-reader user and I find it humerous that others at this site think that saying "But device X reads EPub" is some how going to sway a novice looking to buy a device. Because when it gets down to it, if that same novice compares bookstores they are going to find out that for most there is no difference in availablity and price of e-books for an EPub reader and a Mobi reader. If you a more of a niche reader they will probably find that the Mobi reader has a better selection.

It seems to me that too many folks are so invested in EPub that they don't get that for most folks it does not matter. So unless Sony, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and the smaller e-readers find away to make EPub matter they are faced with dealing with a Mobi reader that is dominant in the US and growing in popularity across the globe. All people know is that they can't buy books for a Kindle from Barnes and Noble and who cares.

Originally Posted by murraypaul

I don't think anyone is saying that it is a dead end, just that it is hurting the ePub retailers ability to compete with Amazon. It isn't ePub vs Amazon, it is B&N vs Kobo vs Sony vs Apple vs Amazon. The ePub retailers are fighting amongst themselves just as much as against Amazon.

The difference is that Amazon have done it successfully and have a huge customer base to sell to. B&N and Kobo haven't.

This. 100% This. And they should compete, they want to make the most money. The problem is that they way they are competeing is making it more likely that people turn to Amazon and the Kindle because of the size of the bookstore and how easy it is to buy books.

Most people could care less about the format. Heck, most probably have no clue that there is a difference in format. They want the reader that is easiest to use with the biggest selection of books and that is least expensive. Amazon tends to be the one who wins that battle.

The EPub market is fractured and that is making it easier for Amazon to whistle as it grows.

Originally Posted by murraypaul

OTOH, there are many many more devices in the US (possible the world?) that can read Amazon DRM than any other form of DRM. From a sales point of view, that matters.

What matters is that the Kindle has branded itself well enough that it is the dominate reader in the US. People refer to e-readers as Kindles. People know that the Kindle is available and that it is easy to buy books for. With the international version, Kindle is becoming a huge player on the international scene. Amazon is opening up more country specific stores. The Kindle is available in more countries then the Sony. It is far more available then the Kobo or the Nook. And since international users probably know as much about formats and DRM as American users, the longer the Kindle is out there, the more dominant it is going to become.

I have long said that it doesn't matter that everyone but the Kindle uses EPub. You can still get more books in Mobi then you can EPub because Amazon still has the largest e-book selection. That gap is closing but it is still true. So why does it matter if I can buy the same book at 5 stores when I can find that book at one store and they are all priced the same? And why does it matter if I am a large part of the population who probably buys all of my e-books from one store.

Amazon is winning at this time because its device is international, well marketed, has immediate access to a huge bookstore, and has excellent customer service.

Kindly tell me how being the only device to use Mobi has hurt Amazon?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I can think of one usage case in which KDP Select makes perfect sense, and I'd like the opinions of those who oppose it, especially JSWolf, who stated in another thread that not only would be never support the author post-KDPS but also discourage others from reading their work (if I read that right; if not, please correct me).

Essentially correct.

Say a new author has a debut novel. We already know that distribution through Smashwords can take more prep work to beat the meatgrinder. Why not release first at Amazon via KDPS, take advantage of those benefits, then go into wide release after 90 days?

If it were me, I'd be using those 90 days to get that awful Word document in perfect compliance for Smashwords, as well as prepping an ePub with precise formatting for sale on my web site. If I can have the mobi version for sale on Amazon while I'm doing that, why not?

I don't see this as all that different from doing a NY/LA movie release, honestly.

Given the time it takes to get a Mobi file to look good would be better spent working on the ePub version instead. Overall, ePub converts to Mobi pretty well. Sure you may have to tweak a few things here and there, but it can be done. So once you've put the effort into the ePub, you just convert to Mobipocket and done. Both versions are ready to go. The other way, you have to work on the Mobi and then work on the ePub. Sometimes converting from Mobi to ePub is not all that easy to do because the underlying code can be a real mess so then you have to work on cleaning it up and that ends up being a lot more work then just working on the ePub and converting down to Mobi.

The other issue is that the author has gone exclusive with Amazon and that then causes the author to lose credibility as far as sticking it out with the ePub versions. How do we know the author won't pull the ePub and go back to Amazon? We (the readers) lose trust in the authors who go exclusive with Amazon. Once they go with Amazon, they may as well stay there since they've lost our trust.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

It's not about debut novels. It's about an author abandoning other stores. It's about the possibility of finding out that the newest book of a series is only available for kindle users. It's like geo-restrictions but with distribution centers.

That issue of a series being pulled out from under us has already happened. And I feel it will happen even more if this is allowed to continue.

For example, the Jack Daniels series is now exclusively Amazon. But it wasn't originally and fans of the series who bought the books in ePub have been left without.

[murraypaul]

The following things are both true:
- Amazon DRM is more restrictive than B&N DRM
- There are far more devices (by numbers sold) that can read Amazon DRM than B&N DRM

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

See, I know it's a sexy new meme to say that ePUBs from Kobo are a different format from ePUBs at B&N, but people need to understand what that means.

The only difference between the format is the DRM. Once the DRM is stripped off -- via a variety of different means, I might add -- the ePUB is an ePUB is an ePUB. You can buy any ePUB from any store and as long as you yank off the DRM, you can load it to any ePUB reader. Which is to say ALL OF THEM that aren't marked as Kindle.

I have 5 eReaders in the house. All of them read ePUB. Most of them support BOTH Adobe and B&N DRM.

It's okay for you to do what you want with your books, but please stop spreading this meme like Kobo ePUBs are fundamentally different from B&N ePUBs. They're far more similar to each other than, say, mobi and topaz are to one another (as far as I know -- I'm not an expert on the topaz format) and many, many eReaders and eReader apps support both Adobe and B&N DRM. No eReader supports Amazon DRM except Kindles.

I have to agree & disagree. ePub sold via Sony, BooksOnBoard & Kobo are the same as the ePub sold by B&N. The difference is the DRM. A lot of people cannot or don't strip DRM. So for them, they essentially are different. I can strip the DRM and I have bought some eBooks from B&N. But if I was unable to remove the B&N DRM, I would have no use for eBooks from B&N.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

The following things are both true:
- Amazon DRM is more restrictive than B&N DRM
- There are far more devices (by numbers sold) that can read Amazon DRM than B&N DRM

I don't disagree with that, except with the obvious "no one actually knows the unit numbers sold and kept" caveats.

However, if, say, the bulk of Kindle buyers are casual readers who don't go out of their way to support indie authors and the bulk of B&N buyers are heavy users who do, that would make a difference. There's a lot of variables at stake.

And, again, I do not blame an author for trying to make a living. But I'm not going to buy exclusive indie books from Amazon because as a reader and a writer I'm not interested in helping Amazon build a monopoly on indie publishing.

If you, Random Indie Author, are confident that you don't need my money: great! But I honestly don't owe you a purchase, I'm tired of being told "no, I'm Amazon-exclusive, but google Apprentice Alf!" when that misses my point entirely, and it's a little tiresome when I buy books from you (Random Indie Author) and then you yank your title off B&N and my download link goes wonky. I think I have the right to be touchy when I pay money for a title only to have it taken away.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

However, if, say, the bulk of Kindle buyers are casual readers who don't go out of their way to support indie authors and the bulk of B&N buyers are heavy users who do, that would make a difference.

If that were the case, certainly.
But Amazon seem to have made by far the biggest push into indie territory of the major bookstores.