Downloading updated ebooks: Kobo and Amazon

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I don't get it either. Some people just have no imagination. I bet they never read stuff based on other worlds either.

Now that you mention it, it was a discussion of mysteries, not other genres.
I don't remember what book sparked the discussion.

[Fbone]

I'm not sure what is worse.

A book published with numerous typos or an email telling me the author updated the book correcting the typos and you need to complete a 7-step process to read the updated book.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

The edition number does change on the sales page and shows Edition 3 in the case of the Sedona book. (I changed the cover a while back for Edition 2 and fixed some minor typos.)

I read reviews and talk about books with friends. And for that a new edition number is needed for changes so you can know if you have read the same book as the reviewer or your friends.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I'm not sure what is worse.

A book published with numerous typos or an email telling me the author updated the book correcting the typos and you need to complete a 7-step process to read the updated book.

I know. Although, if Amazon decides the changes are minor, they just make them available if someone is looking at the book in the manage kindle books page. It's definitely a double-edged sword, no two ways about it. So far as I can tell, there is no way for the author or publisher to look good in these cases. But I have gotten update notices for books that were poorly scanned that I was interested in receiving. I think I got one where I never did figure out what the update contained. And most people I ask have a rather vehement opinion on the subject too.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I didn't think readers would want such updates either, but I saw a discussion over at DailyCheapReads a while back and a lot of readers seemed to think that some of the backlist books should first be updated with things like cell phones before being brought to e-readers. I was surprised. When I read, I can readily just immerse myself in whatever the time period is, but I was in the minority with that opinion. It seems some readers were really frustrated by some descriptions because "Today they could just pick up a cell phone and call..." .

Hmmm..... how far back should we go with updating old stories with new technology? Romeo and Juliet could have a different ending if they had been able to communicate with cell phones......

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

Hmmm..... how far back should we go with updating old stories with new technology? Romeo and Juliet could have a different ending if they had been able to communicate with cell phones......

Ha! I always hated that story. So, hey, I'm all for it.

But yes, it's a dangerous tool, I agree. I was as careful as possible not to change the actual story line. And I'm still not sure I should have done it, but I think removing references that were long/out of date improved the story. And in ten years will the equipment be out of date again? (I actually tried to be very careful to avoid this.) But theoretically, what then? Do I have to go in every ten years and instead of analyzers and servers and racks use some other term in order to make sure the thieves are stealing valuable enough equipment?

I think this is a learning experience for me. Or maybe just an experiment. I don't know.

[eschwartz]

And it would all be so much simpler if more people had the capacity to simply imagine they live in a world where fill-in-blank-here.

Speaking as a lover of Sci-Fi/Fantasy, of course.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

And it would all be so much simpler if more people had the capacity to simply imagine they live in a world where fill-in-blank-here.

Speaking as a lover of Sci-Fi/Fantasy, of course.

Agreed. I admit, I was stunned there was even a conversation about updating old books to reflect new technology. And I wouldn't advise any author to actually INSERT cell phones just to be modern. Even if they did--then they just have to have a paragraph about how the cell phone ran out of battery juice or got smashed. Doing all that to be "modern" seems like a wasted exercise if the plot ends up being: "No communication so the thief got away." It really doesn't matter if it's because the character forgot their cell phone versus they hadn't been invented yet.

But it is always interesting to see the varied opinions on such a topic. And I couldn't help wonder if the real problem with the story in question was that the reader was BORED with the story so put it aside with a flippant, "Well, if she had a cell phone there isn't even a story here." Because then the REAL problem is that the story wasn't engaging the reader.

But I'm analytical like that. Sometimes what a person perceives to be "wrong" with something is actually an indicator of something else entirely. For example, a person might be eating something and think a dish needs salt. But the reality is, that dish might be bland because the cook forgot the garlic. But if the eater isn't a cook and has never made the dish, their only experience might be: Add salt!

[disconnected]

I love old mysteries and I'd hate to see them updated to make them more "modern". I know it's sometimes down for pc reasons and I can understand that except that once you start where does it end.

I also hate when British mysteries are Americanized for the US market.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I love old mysteries and I'd hate to see them updated to make them more "modern". I know it's sometimes down for pc reasons and I can understand that except that once you start where does it end.

I also hate when British mysteries are Americanized for the US market.

Speaking of which -- Harry Potter.

Apparently Americans are so stupid we won't even recognize the Philosopher's Stone if it hit us in the face!

[Kiya]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Speaking of which -- Harry Potter.

Apparently Americans are so stupid we won't even recognize the Philosopher's Stone if it hit us in the face!

I totally agree. For cripes sakes you speak the same language (or at lease dialects of the same language), and if the kids reading it do not understand the word they will learn. We have dictionaries and Internet for that and they can always check. And on plus side they expand their vocabulary.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Kiya

I totally agree. For cripes sakes you speak the same language (or at lease dialects of the same language), and if the kids reading it do not understand the word they will learn. We have dictionaries and Internet for that and they can always check. And on plus side they expand their vocabulary.

Of course, there are other books out there that happily use the Philospher's Stone. I believe The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel were pretty popular lately, and they used the actual Stone. Seems people somehow managed to catch on...

I am not so upset about changing spelling (just not my acre, what can I say) but changing the actual meaning of the book, as opposed to merely matching regional spelling (which I consider "translation", just like translating to Spanish, Hebrew, German, French, etc.) -- that is just wrong.

Especially when it seems the only reason is to dumb it down.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I love old mysteries and I'd hate to see them updated to make them more "modern". I know it's sometimes down for pc reasons and I can understand that except that once you start where does it end.

I also hate when British mysteries are Americanized for the US market.

I agree with both points and I'm not even certain I like the changing of the PC stuff because in general the stories reflected the time period and that means that you get a glimpse of history. Of course for those who don't understand history or are young, they may not grasp that it's a reflection and they may take away some bad habits. But oddly enough I read the original Nancy Drew books and never picked up on some of the politically incorrect mentions. I was taught to treat all people respectfully so any nuances were over my head (granted I was reading at a VERY young age so it wasn't just PC stuff over my head either.)

When I read Harry Potter, I didn't notice the words had been translated until one day, when I was working at the library, one of the librarians was testing the Harry Potter audio in the back. "HEY! She has an English accent!!!" I stood there looking at the audio player and thinking about King's Crossing and thinking, "Huh. I forgot it was published there first." When I'm immersed in a world, I'm *immersed.* But I did wonder why it was okay to record it with an English accent and not use the English words! I mean, I have a hearing problem in one ear and actually have a harder time with accents than a few English words in a book (which doesn't even give me pause). The whole idea of translating English to American is just silly.

It's more work for authors too. Jacka Benedict was blogging one day about having to proof the "American version." I can't remember which version he had already proofed, but he essentially had to do the blooming thing TWICE because they did two versions of the book just to change a few references/words.

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I
The whole idea of translating English to American is just silly.

Not quite. If it's set in Britain, fine, but you might still wish to avoid choices that bring a US reader to a screeching halt.

So 'bollard', 'lay-by', even 'absolute majority'.

And more so if it's SF or fantasy.

Mind you there was a US author who decided "this space colony was founded by Brits" and changed 'truck' to 'lorry'. I know this because he changed 'truck garden' to 'lorry garden'.

The blog https://britishisms.wordpress.com/ may be of interest if you don't recognise something odd as British

[eschwartz]

I accept Americanization as a form of translation, not unlike translating to Spanish/French/Hebrew/German/etc.

It is changing the actual story, like "updating" the time period it is set in, or making up ridiculous garbage because you think Americans are too stupid to know what the Philosopher's Stone is, that drives me nuts.