Amazon offers indie authors reward for going exclusive

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Now, to JSWolf: It's back to B&N now, at least through June 2012. Then I'll re-evaluate.

So, yes, it could disappear again.

Thank you for your honesty, but surely you understand that several people in this thread -- myself included -- are not enthused at the prospect of paying $2.99 to rent your book for a whopping 3 months, at which point you intend to possibly remove it from our accounts and cut off device-sync.

If you pull your book from the B&N store in June, will you refund all your B&N sales before doing so?

I wouldn't buy a book from an author who was open to robbing my house and stealing my copy. I'm not sure why I should buy e-books from authors who are open to revoking my book license. Saying "You can backup to Calibre" ignores the fact that such actions are basically telling me that I could always (possibly) break the law and (definitely) break store TOS in order to suit an author's decisions.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Thank you for your honesty, but surely you understand that several people in this thread -- myself included -- are not enthused at the prospect of paying $2.99 to rent your book for a whopping 3 months, at which point you intend to possibly remove it from our accounts and cut off device-sync.

If you pull your book from the B&N store in June, will you refund all your B&N sales before doing so?

I wouldn't buy a book from an author who was open to robbing my house and stealing my copy. I'm not sure why I should buy e-books from authors who are open to revoking my book license. Saying "You can backup to Calibre" ignores the fact that such actions are basically telling me that I could always (possibly) break the law and (definitely) break store TOS in order to suit an author's decisions.

If an author joins KDP, and sales of that ebook are pulled from B&N, are the archive items also pulled? Or are some trying to spread a little FUD.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

If an author joins KDP, and sales of that ebook are pulled from B&N, are the archive items also pulled? Or are some trying to spread a little FUD.

This question has been answered multiple times in this thread by people (including myself) WHO HAVE HAD THIS VERY THING HAPPEN. Please do not make accusations of bad faith (FUD = fear, uncertainty, and doubt) without at least attempting to read the entire conversation first.

[5thWiggle]

@vaughnmr: Not just B&N, but Smashwords as well. Several authours I have bought pulled their books to go Kindle exclusive. No further downloads. At least one has come back and republished the same book I bought, but I no longer own it and cannot download it again without repaying. Book is still in my calbre library (and backed up), so I'm not too worried, but needless to say I am a bit p*ssed off and will not be buying from these authours again. Going exclusive with a *new* book I can understand, but unpublishing a previously sold book.....

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Now, to JSWolf: It's back to B&N now, at least through June 2012. Then I'll re-evaluate.

So, yes, it could disappear again.

Risen was on my To Buy list when it was on Smashwords or Kobo but was pulled before I bought. B&N doesn't sell to Canadians, and I don't do Amazon. Sorry, but Risen has been taken off my list. See above.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

This question has been answered multiple times in this thread by people (including myself) WHO HAVE HAD THIS VERY THING HAPPEN. Please do not make accusations of bad faith (fear uncertainty and doubt? really.) without at least attempting to read the entire conversation first.

Sorry, I did read back several pages, but couldn't find where anyone had bn books pulled from their archive due to kdp, although I did find some references to the old 1984 thing.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Sorry, I did read back several pages, but couldn't find where anyone had bn books pulled from their archive due to kdp, although I did find some references to the old 1984 thing.

Please consider being more polite the next time you ask for information. Many of us do not like to be unduly accused of spreading baseless rumors and lies about indie authors, especially when (in this case) I actually happen to be an indie author and an indie purchasing enthusiast.

I'm more than happy to help educate new people, but (understandably) I don't like to be unfairly accused of smear tactics.

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Thank you for your honesty, but surely you understand that several people in this thread -- myself included -- are not enthused at the prospect of paying $2.99 to rent your book for a whopping 3 months, at which point you intend to possibly remove it from our accounts and cut off device-sync.

If you pull your book from the B&N store in June, will you refund all your B&N sales before doing so?

I wouldn't buy a book from an author who was open to robbing my house and stealing my copy. I'm not sure why I should buy e-books from authors who are open to revoking my book license. Saying "You can backup to Calibre" ignores the fact that such actions are basically telling me that I could always (possibly) break the law and (definitely) break store TOS in order to suit an author's decisions.

If I decide to no longer sell Risen through B&N, and B&N's practice is to then take it out of their customers' archives as if it never happened, then that is a B&N issue. Once you buy it, it should stay in your B&N library forever, IMO, whether I'm still selling it or not.

Personally, I think that anyone who trusts to B&N, Amazon, or anyone else to maintain their library is skating on thin ice. I put out Risen with no DRM for exactly this reason (and others). Once you have it, you can copy it to your computer, your work computer, your tablet, your flash drive, or burn a CD or DVD. You can put it on the Cloud somewhere: your back-up program (Mozy, Carbonite, etc.) can back it up for you. You can send it to your mother to keep for you. It's yours!

No, I won't refund your money if I stop selling at B&N and they take your book away. They should do that.

But I still have trouble believing that this happens. It would be a very stupid business practice! If B&N takes books out of people's archives once the author stops selling there (can someone verify or refute this?), then, no, I won't tell you to get Calibre. I'll tell you to get a Kindle!

I'm not promising I won't rob your house, either. Do you own any valuable paintings? I need another Van Gogh to balance out the one I stole from that museum in Cairo. Floral motif preferred.

(Note to the Egyptian police: That was a joke.)

[anamardoll]

Personally, I have serious issues with an author blaming B&N (and Smashwords) for the author's own actions.

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

But I still have trouble believing that this happens. It would be a very stupid business practice! If B&N takes books out of people's archives once the author stops selling there (can someone verify or refute this?), then, no, I won't tell you to get Calibre. I'll tell you to get a Kindle!

So because an author exercises their Copy Right (their legal right to distribute how they see fit) to not distribute through a seller, you consider it appropriate to (a) blame the seller for respecting your rights, (b) not refund your readers' money, and (c) also tell readers that they need to buy a completely different e-Reader in order to be one of your readers? I... wow.

Also, 10 points to Gryffindor for basically saying ("I still have trouble believing this happens") that the readers in this thread who have had this happen are lying, mistaken, wrong, etc.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

This question has been answered multiple times in this thread by people (including myself) WHO HAVE HAD THIS VERY THING HAPPEN. Please do not make accusations of bad faith (FUD = fear, uncertainty, and doubt) without at least attempting to read the entire conversation first.

Based on BN's EULA, I believe that it would be illegal and a breach of contract if BN did this.
If anyone was affected, they should send letters to BN demanding that the book be restored to the archive or face legal action. Heck, walk into the store and talk to the manager.
My guess is that if you do SOMETHING, your book will be back. Time to stand up for yourselves..

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

If I decide to no longer sell Risen through B&N, and B&N's practice is to then take it out of their customers' archives as if it never happened, then that is a B&N issue. Once you buy it, it should stay in your B&N library forever, IMO, whether I'm still selling it or not.

But it is you who is pulling the book, not B&N. I don't blame B&N. I blame you.

You see, if you had not gone with Amazon and were not thinking of maybe doing so again, you would have at least 3 or 4 sales just from putting it back out in ePub. But it is your choice to with your book as you want. I am not going to buy a book that may be pulled for sale only with Amazon. Now if you want to rethink this and tell us that you won't be pulling it, then sure, I can go ahead an buy, but not as things stand now.

Question, if someone was to buy your book in ePub as a gift for someone else and before that someone else got to downloading it, you pulled it for Amazon. Would you refund that person's money since that person did not get a chance to download it before it was made unavailable? Are you sure that when you pull your ePub edition to go to Amazon, that you are not in fact causing some people to not get a copy that was paid for?

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But it is you who is pulling the book, not B&N. I don't blame B&N. I blame you.

You see, if you had not gone with Amazon and were not thinking of maybe doing so again, you would have at least 3 or 4 sales just from putting it back out in ePub. But it is your choice to with your book as you want. I am not going to buy a book that may be pulled for sale only with Amazon. Now if you want to rethink this and tell us that you won't be pulling it, then sure, I can go ahead an buy, but not as things stand now.

Question, if someone was to buy your book in ePub as a gift for someone else and before that someone else got to downloading it, you pulled it for Amazon. Would you refund that person's money since that person did not get a chance to download it before it was made unavailable? Are you sure that when you pull your ePub edition to go to Amazon, that you are not in fact causing some people to not get a copy that was paid for?

Well, I mean, THIS. Yes.

I backup my books, but not necessarily the day I buy them. I've been buying 1-indie-a-day all week, but I'm in the middle of moving to a new house and I've not backed them up. If those authors decide to pull out tomorrow and go to Amazon, I'm out money and I'm not going to blame B&N. You can consider me wrong to do so, but I'm a customer and it doesn't work that way. No matter how wrong you may think me, I'm still not buying from that author again. That's not good brand-growing.

And here on Mobile Reads, I think it's a little disingenuous that we say out of the left side of our mouth most readers aren't tech-savvy enough to backup their stuff and out of the right side of our mouth if you don't backup your stuff, it's your own fault when I yank my book. It's one or the other, in my opinion. I think at least 50% of readers can't backup their material for whatever reason. If someone thinks it's okay to steal from them because B&N is respecting your distribution rights, well, I hope you didn't need those readers' money down the road, because that's all you're getting from them.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Well, I mean, THIS. Yes.

I backup my books, but not necessarily the day I buy them. I've been buying 1-indie-a-day all week, but I'm in the middle of moving to a new house and I've not backed them up. If those authors decide to pull out tomorrow and go to Amazon, I'm out money and I'm not going to blame B&N. You can consider me wrong to do so, but I'm a customer and it doesn't work that way. No matter how wrong you may think me, I'm still not buying from that author again. That's not good brand-growing.

And here on Mobile Reads, I think it's a little disingenuous that we say out of the left side of our mouth most readers aren't tech-savvy enough to backup their stuff and out of the right side of our mouth if you don't backup your stuff, it's your own fault when I yank my book. It's one or the other, in my opinion. I think at least 50% of readers can't backup their material for whatever reason. If someone thinks it's okay to steal from them because B&N is respecting your distribution rights, well, I hope you didn't need those readers' money down the road, because that's all you're getting from them.

Dang it! >.< I can't give Ana any more karma today. Otherwise there would be some floating your way right now.

I do this myself. I go on shopping sprees and then later go back and download my purchased books. Cause what good are ebooks if I can't enjoy the flexibility of them. Sometimes I don't d/l until I'm ready to read. Sometimes I d/l only when I'm at certain computers. Sometimes I NEVER d/l and read online (see Smashwords).

So, this KDP select thing is making me re-think purchasing any more self-published works. My husband loves this, btw. I used to spend thousands of dollars a year on books.

It's getting easier and easier to keep my money in my pocket. I boycott Agency6 ebooks (only purchased used DTB) and now I'm feeling I should leave most self-pubs alone, too. Oh,well...at least there's Baen and Harlequin. And my TBR Mountain.

[J. Strnad]

anamardoll, you're conflating two separate issues.

One is offering a book for sale. I do that right now at B&N. I don't guarantee that I'll do it forever. If you go to Costco and find something you like, that doesn't mean they will always carry that product. If I decide I don't want to sell to B&N anymore, I'll stop doing it.

The other, separate issue is your "library" of books you've already purchased from B&N. I don't have any control over that. I can't "go into your house and take the book back." If that happens as a result of my ceasing to sell new copies through B&N, that is indeed a B&N issue. I have no access to your library whatsoever!

I say "if" it happens with B&N that books no longer sold there disappear from your library, because I don't have a Nook, I don't buy from B&N, and I have no direct experience with them on this matter. I don't mean to call anyone a liar. My jaw is just hitting the floor that such a situation could exist and I think that maybe somebody is mistaken.

When you buy ("license") a book from Amazon, it goes into your library and it stays there, happily syncing with your other devices, even if the author stops selling through Amazon. That's how it should work. You've "bought" it. Whether the author continues to sell new copies through Amazon or not doesn't rewrite history, and no one "breaks into your house" to take your copy away.

If you need this functionality, and if B&N doesn't offer it, then my advice is sound: Buy a Kindle.

So, I will stand firmly by my statement: If I stop selling my book through B&N, and B&N goes into your library and removes the copy you've already purchased, that is indeed, 100%, no doubt about it, B&N's doing and you should direct your anger at them.

For my part, there's no DRM. Being able to back up one's files should be in every computer owner's toolbox, like being able to set a parking brake is for drivers. I put nothing in my book to inhibit people from protecting their book, but I can and will only do so much. People have to take a little responsibility for themselves.

From my POV, I see you and JSWolf wanting me to close my options and guaran-damn-tee that I will forever after offer my book through B&N before you'll even consider buying it. Sorry, but that's asking too much. I don't believe any publisher in the world will make that guarantee. If you want my book and $2.99 seems like a reasonable price, you definitely have until the end of June 2012 to buy it (unless B&N goes out of business or decides to stop carrying it or something). If you're afraid B&N will take it away from you once you've bought it, back it up.

[J. Strnad]

<<I boycott Agency6 ebooks (only purchased used DTB) and now I'm feeling I should leave most self-pubs alone, too.>>

See, to me this is an indication that you might possibly be taking a position that is a tad bit on the extreme-ish side.

[rhadin]

I guess I must innately not trust authors and retailers because I immediately download a purchased book and add it to my automatic backup (with Carbonite) list. This is like software. You buy it today and tomorrow it is considered obsolete and unsupported.

If I can't immediately download an ebook to my hard drive, then I don't buy it; I'll put it in my wishlist and buy it when I can.

As for the "controversy" over Risen, I think we miss the point that just as we need to do what is best for our interests, so does J. Strnd need to do what is best for his interests. Consequently, I just don't buy the book (or any book from an Amazon exclusive author) or recommend it to anyone and if anyone asks, I simply tell them to be careful because it is a here-today-gone-tomorrow ebook.

There are so many books available that I could live 20 lifetimes and still not come close to reading 10% of them, so why get my feathers overly ruffled by an exclusive author. In all the time that Konrath has been exclusive to Amazon, I haven't missed him one bit.