Amazon offers indie authors reward for going exclusive

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

We're dealing with three different formats here, there's no converting. Granted, the ebooks I've seen prove that there's a lot of converting going on that shouldn't be, but I would never (in this hypothetical scenario or in reality) convert mobi to ePub if I was planning to sell it. But it also doesn't make sense (to me, at least) to do the reverse if one wants to make the most of each format. Anything in the ePub not supported by Mobi would have to be fixed to display properly anyway, so it seems to me that starting from the text and building each format makes the most sense.

The third format, of course, is the Smashwords Word doc. That's its own monster to deal with. (If I ever do get around to writing that book, I really hope they have a better system in place at some point.)

So to me, the option would seem to wait until all formats are completed, or putting the first format up for sale while working on the others.

The last time I converted an ePub to Mobi using Calibre, the conversion came out very nicely. True, not all ePub features will convert well. But I've been noticing a lot of DUMBING DOWN of ePub in order to satisfy a conversion to Mobi. For example, a page of links and the headers all linked to go to this page of links and in the real ToC, an entry to go to this page of links and also CSS code to sort of simulate a blockquote instead of actually using a blockquote that would work better.[/quote]

You say "we" but I wonder how many people actually feel this way, or even think about it at all. (I'm serious, I do wonder about this, but there's no way to get any accurate data on that.) Yes, in the case where books have been pulled, I can see why some would be upset. And disappearing series would definitely cause consternation. But preemptive judgment based on a debut or new release seems odd if there's no precedent of yanking books back to KDPS later.

It also kind of comes across as a convenient self-fulfilling psuedo-prophecy.

The way I look at it, if an author has gone the exclusive route, I feel there's always a chance that the author may go back if the author even then decides to come out of it. If an author puts a book up on Amazon while working on the ePub version, there is nothing to stop said author from deciding to continue after the 90-days is up. So really, for me, trust is lost.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Now to all authors here who feel it's OK to go exclusive with Amazon, do you really want to risk stealing eBook(s) from people?

Wait. Amazon doesn't offer the option of being exclusive "from here on"? Because if they do, so that all books that have already been bought in other stores are still available to their buyers, that removes a large part of what most here seem to take issue with.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

@CWatkinsNash,

If you're interested in my two cents, I just went through the process.

The best thing, in my opinion, is to start with a clean ePUB. You can get that from Sigil (free!) and Sigil is perfect for fine-tuning. You can also load the ePUB in half a dozen computer ePUB readers and view how it will look (Nook app, Kobo app, Aldiko, Moon+, etc.). You can then load that ePUB directly for sale on B&N and GoodReads.

If you want to make sure your book is clean when using Sigil, before you load it, turn off HTML Tidy. Tidy will add the CDATA style to each XML file when these really belong in the CSS. Did you do this with your book or did you let Tidy reek it's havoc? If I feel I want to tweak the ePub to fit how I want it, I'm stuck having to then fix all the XML files because of Tidy.[/quote]

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Does it support italics and pictures and bold and hyperlinks? I'm curious; my book has all those things.

But I'd want a clean ePUB anyway, not the meatgrinder version.

If you want to know how an ePub will look coming from Word, save it from Word as RTF and let Calibre have a go converting it to ePub. Then you can see how it will look from Smashwords.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

Wait. Amazon doesn't offer the option of being exclusive "from here on"? Because if they do, so that all books that have already been bought in other stores are still available to their buyers, that removes a large part of what most here seem to take issue with.

Once you decide to go exclusive with Amazon, your book has to be removed from any other venue that has it for sale. So if you have it on B&N and I've not yet downloaded it, it's gone and I've lost access to it. So if you were to gift me a book and by the time I saw the email and got to B&N and went to download it, it could be on Amazon. Your money wasted and my book snatched from me. If the author then decides to stop being exclusive with Amazon and puts the book back up on B&N, it's still not available to my B&N library as the link is different. So once it's left B&N, it's never mine again.

I can't say what happens on other sites as I just don't know.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

Wait. Amazon doesn't offer the option of being exclusive "from here on"? Because if they do, so that all books that have already been bought in other stores are still available to their buyers, that removes a large part of what most here seem to take issue with.

I used to own several books through B&N that were eventually taken down to enroll in the Amazon Encore program. The links stopped working for me to download after that. I don't know if that was a feature or a bug.

However, even if the download kept working, I presume that updates/changes to the book over time (which DOES happen a lot with indie books) are not being uploaded to B&N once the author goes KDP Select.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I used to own several books through B&N that were eventually taken down to enroll in the Amazon Encore program. The links stopped working for me to download after that. I don't know if that was a feature or a bug.

However, even if the download kept working, I presume that updates/changes to the book over time (which DOES happen a lot with indie books) are not being uploaded to B&N once the author goes KDP Select.

The B&N download had to stop because to go exclusive with Amazon, an eBook cannot be available any place else.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The B&N download had to stop because to go exclusive with Amazon, an eBook cannot be available any place else.

Yeah, that's my understanding too, but I can only speak to the books that disappeared from MY account.

I don't remember being issued a refund, either. Since my TBR pile is 2,000 books deep, I didn't really worry about it, but yeah, it annoyed me.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Yeah, that's my understanding too, but I can only speak to the books that disappeared from MY account.

I don't remember being issued a refund, either. Since my TBR pile is 2,000 books deep, I didn't really worry about it, but yeah, it annoyed me.

I would be surprised if B&N offered a refund. What I would be doing i trying to contact the author and asking for a refund since the author took away the book that was paid for.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

This is very probably why your GoodReads upload came out wonky.

I didn't think Goodreads had an option for that, just HTML and unformatted text. Its been a long time since I've been there, though, and I'm not too keen on going back. Smashwords handles non- block formatting a lot better.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

And I am left wondering why the EPub bookstores have yet to come up with something that would help counter Amazon's program which would hurt Amazon and benefit the EPub bookstores.

An excellent question. I've always wondered why B&N has done such a terrible job fighting against the Amazon tide. I think the answer lies in the poor quality of the leadership at B&N.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Once you decide to go exclusive with Amazon, your book has to be removed from any other venue that has it for sale. So if you have it on B&N and I've not yet downloaded it, it's gone and I've lost access to it. So if you were to gift me a book and by the time I saw the email and got to B&N and went to download it, it could be on Amazon. Your money wasted and my book snatched from me. If the author then decides to stop being exclusive with Amazon and puts the book back up on B&N, it's still not available to my B&N library as the link is different. So once it's left B&N, it's never mine again.

So in other words, strip the DRM, or don't buy from either source?

How very lame.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The B&N download had to stop because to go exclusive with Amazon, an eBook cannot be available any place else.

It can't be available for sale anywhere else.
Does Amazon require that download links for previous customers be removed, or is that just how B&N have chosen to do it?

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

It can't be available for sale anywhere else.
Does Amazon require that download links for previous customers be removed, or is that just how B&N have chosen to do it?

I don't know about what B&N requires - but from author chatter I've read that the author must not allow any copies of the work (including free chapters/samples) to be found anywhere but Amazon.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

I don't know about what B&N requires - but from author chatter I've read that the author must not allow any copies of the work (including free chapters/samples) to be found anywhere but Amazon.

Not in libraries either?