Books you gave up on ever being ebooks

[disconnected]

I just got an email from Amazon. It said they could see the problem (and it did sound like someone actually checked) and would forward it to the proper section to be looked at. Meanwhile they issued a refund, although I hadn't asked for one; I'd have been willing to wait and see if it could be fixed.

Just a week or two ago I reported a problem with another book. I can't remember what book it was but it was from an agency publisher and the book file was for the wrong book. The look-inside for that one was bad too -- I guess I have a habit of not checking first. I emailed about that one at the time, and within a day or so they had changed the product page to say "not available at this time because of problems with the file" and a few days later it was fixed.

The Lathen book is still showing as available and the look-inside is still bad. I hope it's a legal copy and will be fixed soon.

It isn't as if I don't have plenty to read already. I went crazy back in March and bought all the Mr. and Mrs. North books and I've been enjoying those. I know I read most of them a long time ago but now one thing that really strikes me about them is that they seem to spend quite an amazing amount of time with cocktails and cigarettes.

[sufue]

We must have similar tastes - I too was really happy to see the Mr. and Mrs. North titles, although I haven't yet persuaded myself to spend the $8 or $9 per title so am limited to one that has already been on sale and one that I had a decent Kobo coupon for. I'm hoping that Open Road will put a bunch on sale one day, as they did with a bunch of the Catherine Aird titles a few months after they came out.

Anyway, fingers crossed that these are legit and get fixed!

And thanks for letting us know...

Originally Posted by disconnected

I just got an email from Amazon. It said they could see the problem (and it did sound like someone actually checked) and would forward it to the proper section to be looked at. Meanwhile they issued a refund, although I hadn't asked for one; I'd have been willing to wait and see if it could be fixed.

Just a week or two ago I reported a problem with another book. I can't remember what book it was but it was from an agency publisher and the book file was for the wrong book. The look-inside for that one was bad too -- I guess I have a habit of not checking first. I emailed about that one at the time, and within a day or so they had changed the product page to say "not available at this time because of problems with the file" and a few days later it was fixed.

The Lathen book is still showing as available and the look-inside is still bad. I hope it's a legal copy and will be fixed soon.

It isn't as if I don't have plenty to read already. I went crazy back in March and bought all the Mr. and Mrs. North books and I've been enjoying those. I know I read most of them a long time ago but now one thing that really strikes me about them is that they seem to spend quite an amazing amount of time with cocktails and cigarettes.

[disconnected]

Originally Posted by sufue

We must have similar tastes - I too was really happy to see the Mr. and Mrs. North titles, although I haven't yet persuaded myself to spend the $8 or $9 per title so am limited to one that has already been on sale and one that I had a decent Kobo coupon for. I'm hoping that Open Road will put a bunch on sale one day, as they did with a bunch of the Catherine Aird titles a few months after they came out.

Anyway, fingers crossed that these are legit and get fixed!

And thanks for letting us know...

I bought all of the Aird books before they went on sale so I expect the same thing to happen with the Norths. I'm too old to wait for books to go on sale -- or so I tell myself.

Meanwhile the first step has been taken with Banking On Death. It's been marked as unavailable and waiting for publisher correction. Maybe there's hope.

[Little.Egret]

I copy from the SF bargains thread

Witch World (Witch World Saga Book 1) by Andre Norton

https://www.amazon.com/Witch-World-S...dp/B01GGQ2LNU/

Web of the Witch World (Witch World Saga Book 2) by Andre Norton

https://www.amazon.com/Web-Witch-Wor...dp/B01GGQFAHO/

Also Year of the Unicorn (Witch World Saga Book 3) by Andre Norton

https://www.amazon.com/Year-Unicorn-...dp/B01GGR72R4/

Also available in UK

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

I copy from the SF bargains thread

Witch World (Witch World Saga Book 1) by Andre Norton

https://www.amazon.com/Witch-World-S...dp/B01GGQ2LNU/

Web of the Witch World (Witch World Saga Book 2) by Andre Norton

https://www.amazon.com/Web-Witch-Wor...dp/B01GGQFAHO/

Also Year of the Unicorn (Witch World Saga Book 3) by Andre Norton

https://www.amazon.com/Year-Unicorn-...dp/B01GGR72R4/

Also available in UK

Good books, but I do have to point out that they have been available as ebooks at least since 2011, which is when I bought the Gates of Witch World (the omnibus volume of the first three Witch World books).

[Little.Egret]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Good books, but I do have to point out that they have been available as ebooks at least since 2011, which is when I bought the Gates of Witch World (the omnibus volume of the first three Witch World books).

Thanks

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?136607

The Gates to Witch World by Andre Norton

Was the ebook by Tor or Orb and when was it withdrawn ?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Little.Egret

Thanks

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?136607

The Gates to Witch World by Andre Norton

Was the ebook by Tor or Orb and when was it withdrawn ?

No idea when it was withdrawn. I wasn't even aware that it had been withdrawn. According to Amazon, I purchased it in 2008 and I can still download it, but I don't see it available for purchase.

As ebooks have become more popular, I thought that once a book became available, it would stay available, I mean what's the point of removing it? There is no storage cost and much of the point of ebooks from an author's point of view is that you get a steady monthly stream of sales rather than having a couple of months blip every 5 to 7 years when it's reprinted. Obviously, some copyright holders feel differently. I assume it has something to do with whomever has the copyrights to her books and contracts.

[cadele]

Originally Posted by crossi

Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton cozy mysteries.
Louise Cooper's Time's Master and Chaos Gate triologies
Fool's Run by Patricia Mckillip last published in 1988
David Eddings Elenium and Tamuli series, they keep appearing and disappearing.
The Changeover by Margaret Mahy.
Most of Lisanne Norman's books.
Brother Jonathan and Lifter by Crawford Killian

Books 4 and 5 of Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton series are now up for pre-order on Amazon (and I have pre-ordered, which I rarely do).

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ndefined%2C440

The Elenium and Tamuli series by David Eddings appear to be back as well.

I have Lisanne Norman's Turning Point (Sholan Alliance book 1) and the later ones in the series, but very annoyingly there is a gap of about 4 books after the first one. Drat that publisher

[cadele]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

As ebooks have become more popular, I thought that once a book became available, it would stay available, I mean what's the point of removing it? There is no storage cost and much of the point of ebooks from an author's point of view is that you get a steady monthly stream of sales rather than having a couple of months blip every 5 to 7 years when it's reprinted. Obviously, some copyright holders feel differently. I assume it has something to do with whomever has the copyrights to her books and contracts.

I have missed out on quite a few books that have gone out of 'print' in ebook form, which is why I justify buying them now when I see them.

I have also been caught where an omnibus version has been withdrawn and then split up, with the individual books being a lot more expensive to purchase.

I'm not sure whether this was due to rights changes or whether it has been to offer the first book at a discount/free and then price the rest more expensively.

[JustinThought]

Books I don't ever expect to see as e-books? Any of the Robb White adventures for young people--and most especially what I consider to be his best work, The Lion's Paw.

I did find his Up Periscope on archive.org at one point, so now I have that as a perfectly-formatted and well-proofread epub sitting in my Calibre library bookshelf. (Right beside, @cadele, my epub version of the Little House series.)

[rkomar]

Yay! Another Robb White fan. I mentioned his books earlier in this thread. I found Up Periscope in a used book store last year, but his books seem to be disappearing fast. It's a pity.

[sufue]

Cross-post to the mystery thread, where the first three books in William Marshall's Yellowthread Street series will be coming out in July, and at fairly reasonable prices too. Hopefully the rest will follow...

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=3341687

Originally Posted by sufue

Emma Lathen's John Thatcher series

R. B. Dominic's (pen name for Emma Lathen, which is itself a pen name for Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Henissart) Ben Safford series

Margot Arnold's Penny Spring/Sir Toby Glendower series

Patricia Moyes' Henry and Emmy Tibbett series

Richard and Frances Lockridge's Mr and Mrs North series (other than Dishonest Murderer)

Michael Pearce's early Mamur Zapt series (the last few have come out in ebook)

Manning Coles' Charles and James Latimer books and The Far Traveller

the rest of Helen Chappell's Hollis Ball/Sam Wescott series

Marvin Albert's Stone Angel series (supposedly coming sometime from Wildside Press - the first one is out, but no more have followed)

the early Andrew Greeley Bishop Blackie books (the beatitudes titles)

William Marshall's Yellowthread street series

Philip MacDonald's books (The Rasp is coming, perhaps the others will soon)

most of Delano Ames' books

Caroline Roe's Isaac of Girona series

and a whole bunch more authors...some of whom have one or two out in ebook, but not all...

Timothy Holme, Charles Goodrum, Kathryn Lasky Knight, Constance and Gwyneth Little, Frank Parrish, Hilary Waugh, James Yaffe, Richard Martin Stern

and Alfred Crosby's The Columbian Exchange

[crossi]

Eddings books are still missing in action in the US.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by crossi

Eddings books are still missing in action in the US.

That one really puzzles me. Situations like Eddings, i.e. no living relatives, is why I would argue that copyright should not extend past the lifetime of the author. What public good is had by the books not being available? Copyright is a bargain between the government and the author, not a one way street.

[ottdmk]

The author is entitled to leave the rights to whatever heir he/she so designates. In Eddings' case, the US rights to certain novels were left to a university. To date, said university has shown no interest in exploiting them (or at the very least are really, really taking their time in doing so.)