Author Earnings looks beyond Kindle

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Specifically, downtown Seattle.
(At least the ebook universe does.)

Seattle's also monkey central

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I'm going to have to look into this. I really enjoyed his Quarter Share/Half Share/Full Share novels and also his Tanyth Fairport series.

Definitely. This is the first in a new Ishmael Arc that takes over after the end of Owner's Share.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by conan50

But the same price, or $2 more for a hardcover book than an ebook--who can say no to that?

I absolutely can. I hate hardcovers and bought them very seldom even in my pbook days. They're heavy and uncomfortable to hold, and take too much space on my shelves. These days I would never get a hardcover even if it was free.

That said, I also refuse to pay more than $10 for an ebook (unless it was an omnibus edition of several volumes). Usually I wait for the price to drop. My TBR list is longer than I can read in this lifetime anyway, so I can afford to wait.

Most of my library are indies, but I still buy books from the big publishers as well, if the price is reasonable.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I absolutely can. I hate hardcovers and bought them very seldom even in my pbook days. They're heavy and uncomfortable to hold, and take too much space on my shelves. These days I would never get a hardcover even if it was free.

That said, I also refuse to pay more than $10 for an ebook (unless it was an omnibus edition of several volumes). Usually I wait for the price to drop. My TBR list is longer than I can read in this lifetime anyway, so I can afford to wait.

Most of my library are indies, but I still buy books from the big publishers as well, if the price is reasonable.

LOL. I should qualify my statement. I would not want a hardcover copy of Stephen King's The Stand rather than an ebook even if it saved me money or was the same price. There are certain hardcover books I would exclude as they are bricks

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by conan50

But the same price, or $2 more for a hardcover book than an ebook--who can say no to that?

Someone who has no more space for physical books and has totally fallen in love with adjustable font sizes! Sometimes price isn't everything.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

Someone who has no more space for physical books and has totally fallen in love with adjustable font sizes! Sometimes price isn't everything.

Especially if the price is really low. I keep looking at Dollartree to sometimes buy remaindered hardcover books. Hey, why not? Only a buck. A waste of money for me though, I keep forgetting that I hardly made it through the first chapter of the last book I started reading. Wasn't because the book was bad, but because reading on paper is no substitute to reading on my Voyage. Just too convenient and always looking the same and light on the Voyage. Holding book with two hands while turning a page seems like a rather unnessesary chore to me. I also find myself poking the pbook every now and then for the dictionary.

[JSWolf]

These numbers are worthless. The US is not the entire world. Get the numbers for the rest of world or stop with these worthless numbers.

[fjtorres]

The purpose of these reports is to help Authors figure out how to run their careers, not to support anybody's perceptions of how important a given ebookstore or format might be.

As to the whole, "there is more than the US out there" attitude, well, there is this:

http://www.economist.com/news/essays...ountered-vault

and this:

http://www.thebookseller.com/futureb...ok-market-2014

The US alone is well over half the world ebook market.
Add in the UK (where Amazon is even more dominant) and the ratio skews even further against epub, which seems to be what offends so many.
(Oh, and in the third biggest market, Japan, Amazon is also over half the market.)

Like it or not, Authors are going to take their stories where the money is.

Like this:

http://kriswrites.com/2015/10/07/bus...thor-earnings/

This is where the business is headed.
Handwaving it isn't going to stop it.
Competing ebookstores stepping up is the only solution and, so far, they aren't.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

[snip]

Competing ebookstores stepping up is the only solution and, so far, they aren't.

It's probably too late for that.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

It's probably too late for that.

It shouldn't be.

Creating a stable website isn't rocket science.
Providing a search feature that actually works would be a good start.
Getting your parent company to give you a link on their home page isn't asking for much.
Providing fair and accurate ranking lists is actually easy.
Providing good customer service isn't impossible.
Providing a level playing field for all kinds of books and a website geared to matching books to readers' tastes shouldn't be too hard although, admittedly, they'll have to forgo whatever "coop" payola they are accepting to promote BPH titles over other tradpub and Indie titles in their catalog. But they need to start focusing on gaining marketshare (and relevance) if they intend to stay in the business. And that reliance on the BPHs (who are actively engaged in an anti-ebook campaign that is harming them more than Amazon) has to be reduced.

What they're doing isn't working: time to try something else...
...or fold up the tents and go home.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

What they're doing isn't working: time to try something else...
...or fold up the tents and go home.

Try something else? They have but when you're hampered by exclusivity, agency contracts and MFN the ideas/results will be limited. Everything you listed needed to be accomplished years ago. Even if B&N did all you listed, would it suddenly tear people away from Amazon and their Kindles.

Who's left to go home? Not Apple and Google since ebooks fit into their ecosystem and they have the cash. Kobo probably not as they seem to do well internationally and Rakuten bought Overdrive so there's some synergy. That leaves B&N ...

[JSWolf]

But one thing to note. Outside the US, Overdrive does not support Kindles. So if you do want to use Overdrive outside the USA, then ePub is what you need. So getting a Reader that supports RMDSK is what you'll need to get. That means you'll be wanting eBooks in ePub and not some Amazon format.

The thing is, we need to see numbers for outside the US to know if it's best to not go Amazon exclusive. But as we don't have these numbers, any US only numbers are worthless. The links posted by fjtorres don't have any numbers that mean anything. So until we get such, this entire article that started this thread is meaningless.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But one thing to note. Outside the US, Overdrive does not support Kindles. So if you do want to use Overdrive outside the USA, then ePub is what you need. So getting a Reader that supports RMDSK is what you'll need to get. That means you'll be wanting eBooks in ePub and not some Amazon format.

The thing is, we need to see numbers for outside the US to know if it's best to not go Amazon exclusive. But as we don't have these numbers, any US only numbers are worthless. The links posted by fjtorres don't have any numbers that mean anything. So until we get such, this entire article that started this thread is meaningless.

If I remember fjtorres right, the US Amazon is 50% of all ebook sales.
Therefore the numbers are not worthless.
Now if I knew that I would make the bulk of my money from Amazon especially if you throw in Amazon UK, would it be worth my time and effort to upload to other sites?
Since exclusive is only a 90 day commitment or none if I choose not to go select. I could reassess every few months or if I don't choose select I could upload at other sites at any time.
See I could choose to do Amazon alone but not choose their select.
My guess would be with 1 book, the money probably wouldn't be worth the time invested. More than 3 books would take some serious thinking.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Who's left to go home? Not Apple and Google since ebooks fit into their ecosystem and they have the cash. Kobo probably not as they seem to do well internationally and Rakuten bought Overdrive so there's some synergy. That leaves B&N ...

Google is the one that most needs to step up or shut down; they have the money but their ebook operation is producing nothing but trouble and their recent acquihire of oyster staff is proof they know it. I figure they'll hang around at least another year or two but they have shut down other high profile operations so they won't be around forever if all they have to show for it is low single digits and lawsuits.

As for Kobo, I wouldn't count on Overdrive synergy; rather I see the Overdrive buy as a vote of no-confidence because Kobo is a b2c operation and both Rakuten and Overdrive are b2b. Any synergistic deal with Overdrive could've been sealed years ago. (Amazon did it without buying Overdrive.) They definitely need to step up or pull out: their US operation is so shoestring it can't be costing them much of anything (which is why it produces so little) but I could see them pulling out of the US if they drop any further.

Apple won't quit out of sheer cussedness no matter their marketshare. They can keep it running as a face-saving hobby no matter the financial outcome.

Which leaves Nook and I'm not even going to try to guess what they'll do. An outfit that couldn't turn a profit even when they controlled a quarter of the market isn't playing with a full deck.

As for things to try, I can think of at least a half dozen moves that can be tried ranging from subscriptions to micropay rebates to book clubs to bundles and more; all things that can be done without BPH support. (Indeed, they would be more effective if the excluded the BPHs.)

Remember, Amazon exclusivity is gossamer; it is on a per title basis and can be ended at the drop of a hat evefy 90 days. For example, if Google or kobo were to merely copy KU (no innovative thinking required) plenty of authors would happily rotate a few titles between the systems every 90 days just go keep Amazon honest.

Authors *want* viable options to Amazon but they aren't about to sacrifice their business supporting incompetents or crooks.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But one thing to note. Outside the US, Overdrive does not support Kindles. So if you do want to use Overdrive outside the USA, then ePub is what you need. So getting a Reader that supports RMDSK is what you'll need to get. That means you'll be wanting eBooks in ePub and not some Amazon format.

And I'm sure that is extremely relevant... for people who mostly check books out of the library.
Exactly the consumers that ebook retailers aren't targeting!

The thing is, we need to see numbers for outside the US to know if it's best to not go Amazon exclusive. But as we don't have these numbers, any US only numbers are worthless. The links posted by fjtorres don't have any numbers that mean anything. So until we get such, this entire article that started this thread is meaningless.

Do they mean nothing because you say so, or do they mean nothing because they name numbers that deal with the US in relation to the rest of the world?

Or do they mean something to everyone but you?



It never ceases to amaze me how often you can declare something worthless at the drop of a hat.